On August 9, that’ll be it. No new faces, no more new arrivals to the Premier League as the transfer window for the English top tier closes. Other top European leagues have the (arguable) luxury of a little more time for their sides to spruce up their squad. France, Germany, and Spain have until the beginning of September, while Italy has just a little over a week more.
Deadline week always produces a flurry of speculation, flooding tabloid headlines and furious pub chatter ahead of the last minute deals.
Credit must be given where due for of the superb business across the EPL. Here are the best Premier League transfers of the summer...so far, to whet your appetite for Deadline Day.
This is excluding deals which were arranged before the transfer window opened, so no Raul Jimenez to Wolverhampton Wanderers, unfortunately.
Harry Maguire to Manchester United (£80m)
We’ll start with the biggie. The Red Devils were always going to be criticised for breaking the bank and breaking records for a defender. But who can’t argue that in Maguire, an England international, Manchester United have neatly fit a square peg in a square hole. The 13-time Premier League champions bled goals last season, the joint third worst clean sheet tally in the division. Maguire is solely there to rectify that in what now looks like a world-beating backline.
Put it another way, perennial rivals Manchester City acquired Benjamin Mendy and John Stones for a combined £97.5million, the two defenders managing just 32 starts between them for the entire season. Maguire will start and he will improve the United defence.
Moise Kean to Everton (£29m)
What. A. Coup. Plug into any recent football podcast for just five minutes and you’re guaranteed to hear a snippet of praise for Everton picking up Moise Kean, a player cited to be spearheading the Italy attack for the next few years. The teenager scored six goals in 13 appearances in a strong purple patch for Juventus last season. And the Toffees have remarkably picked him up it in a perfectly straight deal. Is the 19-year-old the key to Marco Silva’s side breaking up the Top Six? That triptych of Kean, Sigurdsson and Richarlison shouldn’t be underestimated.
Tom Heaton to Aston Villa (£8m)
A deal that hopefully works well for all parties. If Villa are going to remain in the Premier League, they’ll need all the experience they can get, and that’s what in bringing 33-year-old Tom Heaton from Burnley to offer solid competition for Jed Steer. Burnley for their part can feel confident in relying on Nick Pope, and have also purchased Bailey Peacock-Farrell from Leeds United.
Manager Dean Smith has been positively over the moon about bagging Heaton.
“I was very surprised we were able to get Tom, he’s been a very successful keeper for Burnley; he played the last 19 games and was pivotal in their resurgence in the league last season. Tom gives us that experience as well, but it’s also his personality - he’s one of the leaders in and around the dressing room and one that would do well for us.”
Gary Cahill to Crystal Palace (free)
It’s not looking good for Roy Hodgson’s Palace for the forthcoming campaign, something that the 71-year-old gaffer has seemingly finally picked up on with his frosty pre-season comments.
Gary Cahill may not solve all of the South London outfit’s problems but his acquisition is a welcome boost. The Eagles have, however, now got the highly decorated former England international for absolutely nothing, with Cahill having left Stamford Bridge after being exiled by former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri.
Youri Tielemans to Leicester City (£40m)
Leicester City have gone more than some way to recoup the £40m expenditure for Tielemans. The Frenchman was superb in his second half of the season spell with the Foxes on loan from AS Monaco, with the deal for the midfielder’s permanent tenure at the King Power concluded on July 8. Has a lot to live up to from that 18/19 'cameo', but has proven to be unfazed by the task.
Che Adams to Southampton (£15m)
If forward Adams continues the way he has gone on in pre-season for Saints then this could legitimately be the signing of the summer! Manager Ralph Hasenhüttl finished second in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, and it shouldn’t go under the radar as to what a remarkable coup securing the Austrian at St Mary’s is ahead of his full season at the helm. Adams in particular stands to benefit from Hasenhüttl's tutelage if he continues to apply himself as well as he’s done so far since moving from Birmingham City.
Tanguy Ndombele to Tottenham Hotspur (£55.5m)
Mauricio Pochettino might not be entirely happy with Spurs’ overall transfer business this summer, but he can certainly be delighted with this signing from Olympique Lyonnais. Ndombele was courted by a whole clump of the European elite but has made his way to N17 to become the club’s all-time record signing. If the 22-year-old adapts quickly to the rigours of the Premier League from Ligue 1 than that Spurs midfield is looking extremely strong.
Pablo Fornals to West Ham United (£24m)
Fornals is the second most expensive signing in West Ham history, and - alongside the recovered and raring to go Manuel Lanzini - will inject much-needed energy and creativity into Manuel Pellegrini’s Irons. Much of Fornals’ success will of course rely on how well the Spaniard works alongside fellow recent arrival, striker Sebastian Haller.
