Sporting Life's experts analyse 12 of the biggest Premier League transfers to have happened this summer, including Raheem Sterling's move to Chelsea and Manchester United's capture of Lisandro Martinez.
Using data gathered by the Sky Bet Fan Hope Survey these are the 12 best Premier League signings of the summer, in this order, according to the fans polled.
What is the Fan Hope survey?
Using public opinion company YouGov, Sky Bet polled more than 2,800 Premier League and Championship fans ahead of the new season on a myriad of issues facing both the club they support and the leagues themselves.
The results will be revealed over the next two weeks.
- For more, visit Sky Bet's Start of Season Hub
Raheem Sterling: Man City to Chelsea
- By Andrew Beasley
- Read in full: Will Chelsea and Sterling work?
An underrated aspect of Raheem Sterling is his ability to remain fit. He has only had 11 reported injuries in the last six years, and only two of those absences lasted for longer than two weeks.
More important is the consistency with which he either scores or assists goals. In both 2017-18 and 2018-19, Sterling hit double figures in the league for both statistics, and only Leroy Sane, Son Heung-Min and Mohamed Salah (three times) have done this at least twice in the Premier League in the last five seasons.
In that period, Sterling has provided a non-penalty goal or assist every 117 minutes.
And while his rate has fluctuated in that time, as it does for all players, Sterling’s longest run of consecutive league starts without making a direct contribution to a goal is only four, and that has only occurred once.
Infogol’s data illustrates the City man’s reliability in front of goal. Across his time in Manchester, Sterling has scored almost exactly as many league goals as his underlying numbers suggest he should have. He might not enjoy red-hot seasons but neither does he suffer from ice-cold stretches.
Sterling’s talent is not in doubt. What might be an issue is whether Chelsea can provide him with the same quality of chances as City consistently have, as very few teams in world football can.
Erling Haaland: Dortmund to Man City
- By Alex Keble
- Read in full: The simple, correct conclusion
Currently Erling Haaland's numbers aren’t good enough in terms of his all-round game and they cannot solely be attributed to the difference in style between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.
According to FBRef, compared to all forwards in the ‘big five’ leagues over the last 365 days Haaland ranks in the 44th percentile for passes completed, the 27th percentile for pressures, the 43rd percentile for touches, and the 3rd percentile for tackles and interceptions.
He is well below average for both his defensive work and his contributions outside the penalty area, two things this high-pressing and possession-dominant City team demand of their forwards.
The good news is that Haaland has steadily improved over his three full seasons as a professional; his passes per 90 (up from 14.7 to 16.0), shot-creating actions per 90 (up from 2.12 to 2.59), assists (up from two to eight), and pressures per 90 (up from 11.9 to 12.8) are all on the rise.
The bad news is that they are rising only slightly, and are still considerably below the averages recorded by Sergio Aguero over his final four years at City.
Haaland is a very smart player, and with Guardiola’s elite coaching, he should improve considerably on these numbers over the next year. While the 21-year-old may never be quite at the usual City standard, this is not necessarily a problem.
Gabriel Jesus: Man City to Arsenal
- By Edward Stratmann
- Read in full: Jesus can take Arsenal to next level
Although Gabriel Jesus has regularly come in for criticism for missing some presentable chances over the years, there's still much to like about his finishing that's enabled him to score 95 goals in 236 appearances in all competitions.
Instinctive, two footed and with the confidence to back himself to find the back of the net from an array of locations using his handy repertoire of finishes, the Brazilian international's a major threat when in range - even if he can be wasteful at times.
Typically taking high quality shots from good locations, this duly enhances his capacity to convert his chances.
Whether hitting the top and bottom corners, nestling home headers, blasting efforts with venom, opening up his body to place his shots, shrewdly reacting to rebounds, slotting 1v1s or coolly directing one touch finishes, he parlays power and finesse nicely.
With plenty of room for improvement in his record that's seen him underperform his Premier League expected goals (xG) tally by 14.04 over the last five seasons, the hope is that with the continuity that regular gametime brings, his finishing will become far more consistent.
Christian Eriksen: Brentford to Man Utd
- By Alex Keble
- Read in full: Who suits Eriksen best?
‣ Manchester United - 10/11
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) June 17, 2022
‣ Tottenham - 9/4
Where will Christian Eriksen be playing his football in the 2022/23 season? pic.twitter.com/K5lNOQPlUv
United need another midfield creator and Eriksen would fit the bill.
The 30-year-old averaged a goal or assist every 187.5 minutes for Brentford last season - this is a better average than any registered by a Manchester United player. Only Bruno Fernandes (195 minutes per goal/assist) came close.
On top of this, Eriksen created 2.9 chances per 90 minutes - this too was a better tally than any United player.
It’s not yet known which formation Erik ten Hag will use as Manchester United manager, but his track record at Ajax suggests he will need midfield creators who can both carry the ball in quick transition and pass through an opposition low block.
Whether as a number 10, a left-sided attacker or even an advanced midfielder in a central trio, Eriksen would be a useful squad member.
Darwin Nunez: Benfica to Liverpool
- By Sporting Life
- Read in full: What does Nunez bring?
Darwin Nunez's numbers paint an impressive picture. Last season, the Uruguayan averaged an xG/95 of 0.70, highlighting his ability to get on the end of good scoring chances regularly.
Averaging close to four shots per 95 minutes, Nunez's ability to get shots away from various angles is a key factor in his game.
Normally fielded in an attacking unit as opposed to a lone striker role, he thrives when given the freedom to roam in the channels and utilise his pace to counter-attack. He is comfortable playing as a shadow striker and is less effective when asked to be a lone frontman.
When given the ball to feet he is proficient at skipping past his marker around the penalty area before cutting inside for a pass or a shot, which points to his attacking intelligence.
Richarlison: Everton to Tottenham
- By Graham Ruthven
- Read in full: How does he fit Conte's system?
The signing of Richarlison will give Conte greater tactical flexibility.
It’s not impossible that the Spurs boss could use the Brazilian in a 4-2-3-1 shape with Kane as the centre forward, Kulusevski as the number 10 and Son on the other wing. Richarlison himself even played as a number 10 in three Premier League matches for Everton last term.
Kane and Son netted 40 Premier League goals between them last season, but there was a significant drop-off between the pair and the rest in the scoring chart - Kulusevski was Tottenham’s next top scorer with five goals and he joined only in January.
Beyond the Swede, Steven Bergwijn was Spurs’ top scorer in the league with just three goals.
While Richarlison is good with the ball at his feet, it’s his quality out of possession that might be most appealing to Conte. The Brazilian averages 0.96 tackles won per 90 minutes, placing him among the 97th percentile for players in his position.
He is also in the 84th percentile for successful pressures, underlining his ability to press high up the pitch. These are higher numbers than those charted by any of Tottenham’s first-choice front three.
Kalidou Koulibaly: Napoli to Chelsea
- By Alex Keble
- Read in full: What does Koulibaly add to Chelsea?
Kalidou Koulibaly is a defensive powerhouse, a player of tremendous strength and speed who almost always wins his individual battles (more on that later), but of particular significance to the Tuchel project are his on-the-ball abilities.
In many ways he is a direct replacement for Antonio Rudiger, albeit Koulibaly tends to carry the ball himself while Rudiger passes through the lines.
The ex-Napoli captain is in the 98th percentile for dribbles (0.74 per match) among defenders in the ‘Big Five’ leagues over the last 365 days, per FBRef, while Rudiger is in the 51st (0.19 per match).
Conversely, Rudiger is in the 95th percentile for progressive passes (4.85 per match) and Koulibaly is in the 77th (3.35 per match).
Likely to start on the right of a back three instead of in the centre as Rudiger did, Koulibaly’s trade-off of dribbling for progressive passing is no bad thing; he will often be expected to roam forward to become an auxiliary right-back when Reece James advances into the tucked-in half-space position, and he will be able to do some damage from here.
Fabio Vieira: Porto to Arsenal
- By Edward Stratmann
- Read in full: What can Arsenal expect?
How and where he's deployed by Mikel Arteta will be intriguing, for he loves drifting infield from a nominal wide berth and operating in more central areas, which certainly gives Arteta options.
Extremely clever with his movement and quick to exploit vacant spaces predominantly in the half spaces or between the lines, but also out wide, inside the box or when dropping deeper into midfield, opponents struggle to keep tabs on him.
Frequently causing dilemmas for defenders in regard to who marks him in what zone, this indecision is enough to give him the separation he needs to receive possession in dangerous areas.
So aware of his surroundings due to his sound head scanning, this gives him a constantly updated mental imagery of where opponents, teammates and the spaces are in relation to the ball.
As a result, the elegant maestro expertly finds space while knowing if he needs to protect the ball, spin away from incoming pressure, hold up the ball, immediately bounce layoffs or turn and get on his bike.
Ivan Perisic: Inter to Tottenham
Perisic was converted into a left wing-back role by Conte during the 2020/21 season, starting 20 Serie A games and appearing a further 12 times from the bench as he shared the position with Ashley Young during Inter’s title-winning campaign.
But despite being moved into a deeper role, this is still the Perisic English fans will know from Croatia’s run to the final of the 2018 World Cup: a tall, powerful wide man with an excellent first touch and brilliant crossing ability.
From a high starting position, and regularly bearing down on goal with runs attacking the post, Perisic amassed eight goals and seven assists in 35 Serie A games last season. The under-lying statistics make for even better reading:
Compared to all defenders across Europe over the last 365 days, FBRef ranks Perisic in the 99th percentile for non-penalty xG, the 99th percentile for shots, the 99th percentile for xA, the 99th percentile for touches in the opposition penalty area, and the 96th percentile for progressive passes received.
Perisic loves to run at defenders before cutting inside to shoot, ranking second among Serie A defenders for total shots (45) in 2021/22 and fourth among defenders for carries into the final third (67).
But most impressive is his creativity, either by crossing (he completed the second-most from open play into the box, with 29) or a clever threaded pass (he was eighth for completed open-play passes into the box, with 61).
Lisandro Martinez: Ajax to Man United
- By Edward Stratmann
- Read in full: What will he bring to Old Trafford?
Fearless, fiercely competitive and intelligent in his stopping work, forwards know they're in for a battle when they face off with the tigerish Argentine international.
Reading the play coherently and scanning proficiently so he's aware of where opponents, teammates and vacant spaces are, this provides Lisandro Martinez with an ideal platform for success.
Attentive and alert to threats, Martinez then understands if he needs to step out to break up attacks, track a runner in behind, provide covering support for a teammate, take on a blown marking assignment or communicate with a colleague to advise them of incoming danger.
Undertaking his marking duties diligently, it's impressive how the 24-year-old reacts rapidly both to when his man drops deep with his back to goal, where he'll look to get touchtight and make life as uncomfortable for them in the hope of forcing a turnover, and when they look to run in behind, where his sharp turn of speed and agility hold him good stead.
Aaron Hickey: Bologna to Brentford
- By Edward Stratmann
- Read in full: Brentford's new signing assessed
Establishing himself as an integral component of Sinisa Mihajlovic's framework at Bologna, Aaron Hickey, who can play on either flank and as a wing back or a full back, made an impressive 36 appearances in all competitions last term.
Stamping his impact on both sides of the ball, the gifted stopper undertakes his responsibilities with conviction, confidence and quality.
A major threat going forward, Hickey never misses an opportunity to maraud upfield to join in attacks, where he can then receive possession with momentum in ideal forward facing body postures.
Providing crucial width and depth to stretch opposition backlines, this allows him to be a terrific outlet for switches of play, to isolate himself against his marker 1v1 and draw opponents out of their shape to generate openings for teammates.
If the ball is on the opposite flank, the youngster offers himself as a quality option for crosses and cutbacks into the box due to his dangerous blindside runs, which allow him to gain a dynamic advantage over awkwardly oriented, ball facing defenders.
Tyler Adams: RB Leipzig to Leeds
- By Graham Ruthven
- Read in full: Why Adams is ideal Phillips replacement
Positionally, parallels can be drawn between Tyler Adams and Kalvin Phillips, who left for Manchester City this summer, and both of whom are most comfortable at the base of the midfield. There are also similarities in the way the pair play the game.
Their profiles are comparable in that Adams and Phillips are both charged with stopping opposition attacks before they amount to anything.
Adams averages 2.25 passes blocked per 90 minutes while Phillips averages 1.8. The former averages 2.5 blocks in total per 90 minutes with the latter charting 2.37.
Phillips has the edge in successful pressures and dribblers tackled per 90 minutes, but this could be down to Leeds averaging a lower share of possession than RB Leipzig - Phillips has more pressures to make and more dribblers to tackle.
As a counter-presser, Adams is among the best. He can cover a lot of ground quickly and frequently surprises opponents who don’t expect him to arrive on the scene to make a tackle or intervention.
