When Mamadou Sakho joined Crystal Palace for a fee of £23,000,000 in the early hours of Friday the 1st of September, it signalled the end of a money crazy transfer window which saw the 20 Premier League clubs spend a combined £1.47bn.
Incredibly, thirteen of the twenty clubs broke their transfer record, with Alvaro Morata and Alexandre Lacazette generating a combined £110,000,000 for their respective moves to Chelsea and Arsenal.
The money wasn’t just being splashed around at the top of the Premier League either, with Burnley, known for having a smaller budget than most, signing Chris Wood for a fee of £15,000,000 from Leeds United.
With the cost of players increasing dramatically, there is a strong demand for an instant impact from clubs for their new players and when reviewing this summer’s spending bonanza. Here are the top five Premier League summer signings.
Top Five Premier League Summer Signings
Romelu Lukaku
On the 10th of July, Manchester United signed Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku for an estimated fee of £75,000,000. This was a huge statement from Jose Mourinho that the Red Devils were serious contenders this year, with the former Everton man being brought it on the basis he would deliver in the big games, but most importantly against the lesser teams.
This was proved on the opening day of the season when United entertained West Ham. Lukaku scored twice on his competitive debut as the home side won the game very convincingly with a 4-0 win.
The Belgian scored once more the following weekend as United won by the same score line away at Swansea. On the 12th of September Lukaku, opened his Champions League account for the Red Devils with a goal against FC Basel.
Overall, the big Belgian has scored ten goals in his opening 14 games for Manchester United, a fantastic return from the forward and with the goals showing no clear sign of stopping, it is hard to deny that Romelu Lukaku may well prove to be the greatest signing of the 2017 summer transfer window.
Alvaro Morata
Alvaro Morata completed a £60,000,000 move from Real Madrid to Chelsea following weeks of speculation in late July. The forward was brought in to replace fellow Spaniard Diego Costa, who had been controversially informed over text message that he was no longer in Antonio Conte’s plans for the upcoming season and the former Real Madrid star made an instant impact in West London.
Morata is known for being deadly finisher and he was proving this early in the season. After scoring on his debut in the surprising 3-2 loss to Burnley, Morata netted against Everton and Leicester before a stunning hat-trick away at Stoke City in a 4-0 victory for the Blues.
In potentially their biggest victory of the season so far, Morata scored back on home soil in a 2-1 victory away at Atletico Madrid. In his opening 14 games in all competitions for Chelsea, Morata has scored seven times and contributed with three assists, a very good return for the Spaniard. He is repaying the faith of Conte to spend big to bring the striker to the club, making him one of the top signings of the summer.
Aaron Mooy
On the 30th of June, Aaron Mooy completed a £8,000,000 move to Huddersfield Town from Manchester City, having spent the previous season on loan with the Terriers playing an integral part in the club’s promotion to the Premier League. T
he fearless Australian is a real presence in the heart of midfield and with the newly promoted side impressing early in the season, it is no doubt that Mooy is once again playing a key part in this side.
The 27-year-old has been played in a more defensive role in seven of the opening ten games, with the tireless midfielder generating an average performance rating of 7.29.
From these performances, the former Man City man has also scored one and assisted one, including a crucial goal in arguably one of the club’s best results in recent history, a 2-1 home victory over Manchester United.
If Huddersfield town are to survive this season, then they will rely massively on the performances of Mooy. He is the engine in this Terriers’ midfield, not afraid to put a tackle in to help his side, and not afraid to carry the team forward to start attacks, it is of no surprise that Huddersfield splashed the cash to bring their man in.
Mohamed Salah
In the Summer of 2017, Mohamed Salah completed his return to English football by joining Liverpool for a club record fee of £34,000,000. Salah had previously featured for Chelsea in 2014 but struggled to maintain a starting role and moved to Roma where a string of impressive performances convinced Jurgen Klopp to spend big to bring the Egyptian to the club.
Salah joined a terrifying Liverpool attack, on paper, with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho all leading the Reds’ front line.
Salah has made a very impressive start to life in Merseyside with ten goals already to his name from 16 performances in all competitions. It is a fantastic return from a midfielder, with the pick of his performances coming in the 4-0 win over Arsenal where the Egyptian scored one and assisted one.
Salah’s good performances show no signs of slowing down and his they will be key this season. It can be argued that Klopp and Liverpool had a poor window, having placed all their chips in signing Virgil Van Dijk, however, the business to bring Salah to Anfield may go down as the clubs best yet and easily one of the best signings of the summer transfer window.
Nemanja Matic
When N’Golo Kante moved from Leicester City to Chelsea in 2016, the French midfielder played a huge part in the Blues winning the Premier League title.
When Nemanja Matic moved from Chelsea to Manchester United in the summer of 2017, many believed that Matic will have the same effect that Kante had at Stamford Bridge.
Matic has barely put a foot wrong since making his £40,000,000 move up north to Old Trafford, reuniting with Jose Mourinho. It came as quite a shock that Chelsea were willing to let the powerful Serbian go, given his strong presence in the heart of the midfield.
Jose had made it clear this was a position where the club needed improvement, and with Pogba and Matic in the side, Mourinho has the perfect midfield partnership with the correct balance in attack and defence.
The 29-year-old has featured 14 times for the Red Devils this season, assisting with one goal and generating an impressive pass success rate of 87.8%.
Matic has played an integral part in Manchester United’s solid start to the season, and with Mourinho favouring a more defensive approach when playing the bigger sides, you can expect the midfielder to play a huge role this season.
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