This article is part of our The Clean Sheets series.
Laird:
The Daily Mail has a great list today of the 190 transfers that Liverpool have made since their last Premier League title.
Every club has a long list of flops and successes, and I've always felt it a little unfair to classify a player a flop if they are hurt, though sometimes you know coming into the deal that they're injury prone (looking at you Andy Carroll).
Reading it immediately made me think of who the best transfers were into the Premier League last summer and my first thought was obviously Alexis Sanchez. I honestly cannot fathom where Arsenal would be without him and I think he's without a doubt the best newcomer this year.
Following Sanchez is Diego Costa, who has been exactly what Chelsea needed after coming up short last year. While injuries have taken their toll a bit (and we knew that was a possibility), he's led them to the Capital One Cup and the Premier League title. Not quite the quadruple that people were talking about early in the season, but still a success.
So who is after that? Here's a list of who I think are the best ones (including frees):
Cesc Fabregas (£30m)
Ryan Bertrand (£10m)
Aaron Cresswell (undisclosed)
Emre Can (£8m)
Gylfi Sigurdsson (undisclosed)
Daley Blind (£16m)
Angel di Maria (£59m)
Fraser Forster (£10m)
David Ospina (undisclosed)
Diafra Sakho (undisclosed)
Graziano Pelle (undisclosed)
Dusan Tadic (£10.9m)
Lukasz Fabianski (free)
Daryl Janmaat (undisclosed)
Costel Pantilimon (free)
Sadio Mane (£10m)
Bafetimbi Gomis (free)
Remy Cabella (undisclosed)
Mame Diouf (undisclosed)
Wilfried Zaha (undisclosed)
Cheikhou Koyate (undisclosed)
Loic Remy (£10.5m)
Ander Herrera (£29m)
Alberto Moreno (undisclosed)
Adam Lallana (£25m)
Enner Valencia (£12m)
Didier Drogba (free)
Joleon Lescott (free)
Danny Welbeck (£16m)
Eric Dier (£4m)
Jack Colback (free)
Ayoze Perez (undisclosed)
Marcos Rojo (£16m)
George Boyd (£3m)
Luke Shaw (£27m)
Dame N'Doye (£3m)
Leonardo Ulloa (£7m)
Brown Ideye (£10m)
Marc Albrighton (free)
Flops:
Eliaquim Mangala (£32m)
Mario Balotelli (£16m)
Felipe Luis (£20m)
Lazar Markovic (£20m)
Dejan Lovren (£20m)
Fernando (£12m)
Michel Vorm (£5m)
Rickie Lambert (£4m)
Injured: Abel Hernandez (£10m), Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers (£16m), Mohamed Diame, Leroy Fer
January: Juan Cuadrado, Wilfried Bony, Jermain Defoe
Thoughts?
Pitner:
I remember during our post-transfer window podcast, we mentioned how it was a record-breaking summer for spending in England.
That activity was headlined by Manchester United's signing of di Maria from Real Madrid. While di Maria started well at Old Trafford, I think manager Louis van Gaal's constant tinkering disrupted di Maria's ability to ever build a rhythm with his new teammates, making that piece of business a bit disappointing. However, if we're talking about flops, look no further than loanee Falcao, who appears a shadow of his former self following last season's ACL tear.
Conversely, I would have to agree that Alexis was the signing of the summer, as he's now supplied 22 goals in 45 total appearances for Arsenal this season. That is an unbelievable rate, even as the Chilean has shown signs of fatigue over the course of his first campaign in England.
Speaking of which, Southampton's Eredivisie additions, Tadic and Pelle, started their Premier League careers in sparkling form, but have cooled mightily over the second-half of the campaign. As Tadic and Pelle took a step back, so did Southampton, but one player who's been outstanding for the better part of the season is Bertrand, who was just named the left-back on the PFA Team Of The Year.
Bertrand came from Chelsea, who made all the right signings this summer. In Costa, they bought someone to take pressure off Eden Hazard in the final third. Then, Fabregas added creativity next to the steel of Nemanja Matic, while Thibaut Courtois was recalled from Atletico Madrid, where he had already blossomed into one of the world's best goalkeepers.
I also think another London club, West Ham, pulled off some good deals. A relatively unknown commodity entering the season, Cresswell has emerged from their defense, while Sakho and Valencia both had their moments over the course of the season. Additionally, Cheikhou Koyate's versatility added a nice element to the Hammers' squad.
When it comes to Liverpool, I can't help but compare their post-Luis Suarez recruits to Tottenham's post-Gareth Bale additions from the previous summer. Basically, Liverpool replaced a fearsome shark with a bunch of goldfish and one clownfish (Balotelli), and paid a premium because every other club knew they had money to spend.
That brings me to Manchester City, whose Frank Lampard deal was awkward enough, but then they shelled out around £30 million mid-season for Bony, a move that was supposed to help put them over the top in the title race. Well, after waiting a month for Bony to return from the Africa Cup of Nations, City has given him just two league starts, resulting in one more Premier League goal than you or I scored this season…
Laird:
What's so strange about the di Maria thing is that if I told you in August that Manchester United was fourth in the table, just two points behind Man City and Arsenal for second, and di Maria was tied for second in assists while also chipping in three goals (he only had four in La Liga last season), you'd probably think he would be up for PFA Player of the Year. Instead, he's a flop who can't even grab a starting spot ahead of Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini or Ander Herrera.
Wayne Rooney's injury may open up a spot for di Maria to get back into the starting XI, but what a strange ride it's been for him. I wonder if they'll try to sell him this summer, with PSG really the only option. Barcelona has a transfer ban, Real Madrid doesn't want him back, and they won't sell him to Man City or Chelsea.
I was hesitant to include Falcao because he was a loan, but I guess when you pay £8 million just to borrow him for a year, you have to be considered.
One other one I omitted was Romelu Lukaku since he spent last season with Everton, but I'll bring him up now. Do you think Everton are regretting spending £28 million on him? Chelsea has to be thrilled, especially when you consider they paid only £32 million for Costa (considered a bit of a steal at the time and even more so now), but I'm not sure Lukaku has really lived up to that price. He's clearly their best offensive player, but that's surely a hefty price. Maybe there was a bit of a premium given that Everton weren't likely to land a player of his caliber on the open market.
Finally, who do you think will be the biggest transfer this summer? Paul Pogba seems like a done deal, it's just a matter of which club lands him.
Pitner:
I think when judging Lukaku's price against the mere eight Premier League goals he's scored this season, Everton can feel slightly disappointed. However, at the time they bought him, Lukaku had just come off scoring 32 goals and 10 assists over his past two seasons in England. Additionally, the Belgian tallied eight goals in the Europa League and two more in FA Cup play this season, and he's still only 21 years old. Bearing all in mind, Lukaku has still done pretty well and has plenty of time to further justify his high transfer fee.
When it comes to potential big money transfers to the Premier League over the summer, players like Pogba, Hummels, Reus, Cavani, Koke, Firmino, Depay, Icardi, and Lacazette have all been mentioned as possibilities. Similarly, with manager Jurgen Klopp's recent announcement that he's leaving Borussia Dortmund after this season, I know a "Klopp to the Kop" movement is gaining steam among Liverpool supporters. However, as with most summer moves, there's often more speculation than substance, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
