Top five summer transfers in the premier league

James Rodriguez Joins up with Everton players to celebrate a goal against Brighton (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

The summer transfer window slammed shut on Monday night with winners and losers reeling and groaning respectively, but who are the top five premier league’s summer transfers?

5. Jack Grealish – Aston Villa (Penned new deal until 2025)

Aston Villa can look back at the just concluded window and celebrate even more than they did after the final whistle at the Emirates in June, where Arsenal beat Watford to relegate the Hornets and hand the Villans another season in the premier league.

Villa fans watched from distance in disbelieve as Jack Grealish led his men to a 7:2 annihilation of defending champions Liverpool and many of them must still be on their way back from dreamland, that’s stating it clearly that some lost their return tickets and would rather stay jubilant till the end of the current international break and beyond, in fact till a defeat deports them.

Manchester United were mooted to have penned the 3Lions midfielder for a swift transfer and had Aston Villa been relegated, he’d have been available for cheap for lots of suitors, however, knowing the tricky logic around release clauses and the potential bid from hungry lions, Dean Smith and the guys above swiftly handed Grealish a long term contract, big win for everyone at Villa Park

4. Gareth Bale – Tottenham Hotspur (Loan)

Who would have thought that the seemingly endless Gareth Bale saga would would swing the way it did? After being courted by Manchester United and some clubs in the rich Chinese provinces, flying Welshman, Gareth Bale eventually landed at his old home, albeit on a one year loan deal at least for now.

Questions will always be asked of the treatment he received from everyone at Real Madrid, considering how much he contributed to their successes in the seven seasons he lasted.

Alongside Sergio Reguilon, Bale will look to team up with Harry Kane and Heung Min Son upfront to help Spurs deliver on certain objectives and after the 6:1 destruction of Manchester United at Old Trafford, it is hard to rule out Spurs in the scheme of things with respect to the title.

3: James Rodriguez – Everton (Signed from Real Madrid until 2025)

After lighting up the World Cup in Brazil, James Rodriguez moved to Real Madrid from Monaco for a mouthwatering 100m Euros but hasn’t really lived up to the price tag or the hype around him, loan spells away from the Santiago Bernabeu hasn’t really worked out neither but he has since settled in well at Goodison Park, scoring freely and helping with assists.

If there’s anyone that has the magic wand to bring the best out of the Colombian, it has to be Carlo Ancelotti, the man who signed him at Real Madrid in the first place and from early days at Everton, it’s quite easy to say he will be a worthy addition.

Players like Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan are there to limit the back tracking that James Rodriguez has to do and depending on who’s called on to support him, Andre Gomes or Gylfi Siggurdsen, he (Rodriguez) has more than enough support, all these and more point to the fact that this will be a happy ride for the 2014 World Cup star.

2. Thiago Alcantara – Liverpool (Signed from Bayern Munich on a long term contract)

Liverpool would wonder if the result would have been the same had Thiago Alcantara been available for their trip to Aston Villa last weekend where they were left shell shocked by Villa to the tune of conceding 7 goals.

Signed from Bayern Munich for around 30m Euros including add ons, the Spaniard lit up the Liverpool midfield in a second half showing against Liverpool, breaking all records for touches and final third contributions, it’s no doubt a huge addition for the champions.

With Jordan Henderson ageing and Naby Keita undecided about his form, Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum (who was touted to be headed for Barcelona) now have another healthy sets of intelligent legs to rely on in the affairs of midfield operations.

What more does Alcantara bring to the table at Liverpool? Assurances and back four protection as well as deft passes to the men upfront, unfortunately, he went down to COVID and needed to isolate, thus missing the double header against Arsenal and the embarrassing defeat at Villa Park.

1. Thomas Partey – Arsenal (Signed from Athletico for 50m Euros)

After waiting for the entirety of the transfer window and with reports coming from several outlets on deadline day that Atletico will not be interested in discussing the sale of Ghana midfield enforcer, Thomas Partey, Arsenal went through the back door to land their man.

Mikel Arteta and Edu all through the season had made it clear that they wanted reinforcements in certain areas and Houssem Aouar from Lyon and Partey had been very recurrent in their conversations but frustrations grew among the fans as talks stalled; at around noon on Monday the 5^th if August when the transfer window was going to close for international transfers, news broke out in multiple news outlets that Arsenal were going to trigger the release clause of Partey and just before the window slammed shut, Arsenal got their man.

In a midfield that struggled against Westham, Liverpool and Sheffield United at some points, despite winning two of the three, it was a no-brainer for Arsenal to bolster the middle and then free up Dani Ceballos to go forward and unlock defenses, and for once in a very long time, it can be said that Arsenal fixed their problems in a window, to a certain extent after the acquisitions of Gabriel Maghaeles to shore things up at the back, Thomas Partey to protect the back four and Willian to add experience either on the flanks and in the hole.