1 signing each Premier League club NEEDS to make
Here is one signing that each Premier League club should make during this window…
The following analysis was originally broadcast on the 23rd of July via BBC Radio Stoke
Arsenal - Lucas Paqueta - £30m
Despite Arsenal’s astute signing of Albert Sambi-Lokonga earlier in the window, there is still room for another midfield option.
Arsenal ranked 12th in the league when it came to big chances created and consequently seek a playmaker in midfield.
Lucas Paqueta would be a viable source of creativity in the centre of the pitch.
Last season, he amassed 14 attacking returns in 30 games from central midfield & created 49 chances during that time.
With Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard completing their loan spells and returning back to parent-club Real Madrid, Arsenal are now missing an experienced, disciplined and creative asset in central midfield.
Aged 23, he’s proved he can shine on the big stage - most recently producing some top class performances for Brazil, and helping them to reach the final with a couple of vital goals at Copa America.
The Gunners would need to pay around £30m for the Brazilian’s services.
Aston Villa - Leon Bailey - £30m (TRANSFER CONFIRMED)
With Jack Grealish’s pending transfer to Manchester City, it looks as though Aston Villa will need to find a viable replacement.
It goes without saying, they are not going to be able to bring in a like-for-like player who can match Grealish’s impressive stats. But they can bring in someone who plays the game in a similar vein to the England winger.
Presenting, Bayern Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey.
The Jamaican forward is an astute replacement for Aston Villa, should they lose Grealish, and would allow Dean Smith’s side to continue their positive play-style from the wings.
Bailey, who was linked with Manchester United just last season, has impressed for Leverkusen - amassing 17 attacking returns and creating 56 chances in 30 games from left wing.
Villa have of course signed Emi Buendia earlier on in the window, but I believe there is room for Leon Bailey in the forward line, should Grealish complete his proposed move to Manchester City.
Villa would need to pay around £30m for the Jamaican.
Brentford - Frank Onyeka - £9m (Transfer Confirmed)
In what is an under the radar kind of signing, the ever-shrewd Bees have completed the coup of Frank Onyeka from sister-club, FC Midtjylland.
This is a transfer that excites me.
Since Thomas Frank came in, Brentford have been associated with the notorious 4-3-3 system, but having switched to a 3-1-4-2 formation towards the end of last season, it looks as though Brentford will start the Premier League campaign with a midfield 5.
The departure of their primary right-back Henrik Dalsgaard has only added to this assumption of a system change, and the signing of a ball-winning midfielder in Frank Onyeka has all but confirmed this.
The 23-year-old Nigerian will slot nicely in the centre of a 3-5-2 system and brings a presence that the Premier League is accustomed to, earning comparisons with the likes of Yves Bissouma and fellow countryman Wilfried Ndidi.
Onyeka is a bargain at £9m and brings Champions League experience to an ambitious Brentford side who will be looking for a positive first season in England’s top flight.
Brighton - Tammy Abraham - £34m
This is a transfer that makes complete sense for both parties.
In terms of goals scored last season, Brighton ranked 15th, with just 40 goals scored.
From the quality of the chances that they produced during the 20/21 Premier League season, they should have finished the campaign with 52 goals scored.
It was the men up-front who were mainly responsible for Brighton’s misfiring infant of goal, with Neil Maupay the main culprit missing 11 big chances & Danny Welbeck not far behind, missing 9 big chances.
Tammy Abraham can be the man to end Brighton’s xG nightmare.
Abraham shone when given the opportunity under Frank Lampard, scoring 15 goals in 34 appearances and helping Chelsea to secure a top 4 finish during the 19/20 season.
Fast-forward to the Tuchel era and Tammy Abraham’s chances have dried up.
With 21 goals scored across the last couple of Premier League seasons he has shown promise.
Abraham needs to find first team minutes, because he has the ability to shine under a manager who trusts him and a team who rely on his output up top.
Brighton would need to fork out around £34m for Tammy Abraham, but could look to sign him on an initial loan basis.
Burnley - Marc Albrighton - £4m
My original suggestion of Marc Cucurella is far too exotic and out of character for Burnley, so I’ll stick to my guns and recommend a different Marc - Marc Albrighton.
At 31-years-old, Albrighton still has a lot to give and has been a regular feature for Leicester City, making 31 appearances for the Foxes in the Premier League last season.
However, just 17 of those appearances were starts, so if he fancies starting almost every game, he should get his agent to talk to Sean Dyche's side.
Dyche would snap him up fast, with Burnley lacking a solid creative and affordable option on the right flank.
Albrighton fits the quota at Burnley and with 43 chances created in those 31 appearances for Leicester last season, represents a solid option for an extremely affordable price in today’s market.
At most, Burnley would need to splash around £4m for Albrighton.
Chelsea - Erling Braut Haaland - £100m/£175m
This transfer saga feels similar to United’s initial opening with Jadon Sancho last year.
It almost feels inevitable and with Haaland’s impressive exploits in-front of goal, it seems like a transfer that any club who has the opportunity to sign him should.
In terms of goals scored last season, Chelsea ranked 8th. A rather lacklustre statistic for the team that won the Champions League.
However, in terms of big chances missed, they ranked 3rd.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, it was the new boys in Timo Werner and Kai Havertz who were the main culprits in terms of big chances missed for the Blues.
The man to put an end to this inconsistency in-front of goal is the Norwegian wonder-kid, Erling Haaland.
With 33 attacking returns in the form of 27 goals and 6 assists for Borussia Dortmund last season, Haaland not only brings a greater goal threat to Chelsea, but also mass potential.
Signing 21-year-old Haaland at this stage in his career almost guarantees a ‘double your money’ scenario for Chelsea as he will continue to get better with age and above that, it’s a signing that could genuinely take Chelsea to a different level of attacking threat.
He could cost Chelsea anywhere from £100m to £175m but with his impressive numbers aged just 21, it’s a price tag that seems worth it for this calibre of player.
Crystal Palace - Callum Hudson-Odoi - Loan
After letting go of 9 first-team squad members, Crystal Palace are in the middle of a rebuild and so far their strategy looks entirely positive.
The signings of Michael Olise, Joachim Anderson and Marc Guehi are exciting and represent exactly which direction Palace want to take their rebuild project.
Last season, Palace actually over-achieved in terms of expected goals and whilst that may sound good in principle, it means that they did not statistically create enough chances to justify the 41 goals they scored.
To back this up, Palace were ranked 19th in terms of chances created with just 33.
So clearly, they need another creative outlet who can bolster their attacking threat.
This is where Callum Hudson-Odoi enters the fold, a player who created 35 chances in 23 appearances.
The 20-year-old needs more game time at this point in his career and a loan move across London to join Patrick Vieira’s exciting rebuild could be tempting.
Hudson-Odoi would most likely join on a season-long loan, with Chelsea most likely wanting to keep hold of the promising winger for the future.
Everton - Denzel Dumfries - £20m
With the long-serving Seamus Coleman in the last year of his contract, Everton need to look towards the future.
During Ancelotti’s, albeit, short reign, the full-backs were an important part of the Toffees’ attacking threat.
In fact, the majority of Everton’s big chances came from left-back in the form of Lucas Digne, who provided 11 of Everton’s 47 big chances.
If Rafa Benitez wants to add even more threat, he should look for an attack-minded full-back like Denzel Dumfries - yes, the same player who has just had an astonishing Euro’s campaign for Netherlands, scoring 2 goals in 4 appearances.
With Dumfries, Everton would have more consistency at right-back and also strike more of a balance by causing threat from both flanks, rather than relying solely on the left side of the pitch.
Leeds United - Evander - £6m
How do you improve Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United side?
Well, even though they have over-achieved in terms of league position and had an emphatic campaign whilst playing some scintillating football, there is always room for improvement.
Although Bielsa’s side ranked 6th for big chances created last season, most of these chances came from the wings.
As we know, especially with the recent reliability in data analysis, systems can get worked out relatively quickly in top flight football. Think back to Sheffield United.
As such, Leeds could do with a more creative outlet in the centre of the pitch to help mix up chance creation opportunities.
FC Midtjylland’s 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder, Evander, could help to solve this solution.
Evander chipped in with 8 attacking returns in 8 games in the Danish Superliga last season and comes with a lot of promise.
He’s young, cheap and has champions league experience - recently scoring during the first-leg of the Champions League qualifying game against Celtic.
At just £6m, this is a player that most fans will not be aware of, but a player who Bielsa could turn into a midfield maestro.
Leicester City - Adama Traore - £30m
Despite finishing 5th for goals scored last season, Leicester City lacked an out-and-out chance creator.
Most chances came from the middle of the pitch, so a winger who can help to find consistency for both himself and the Foxes comes in the form of Adama Traore.
Despite just 4 attacking returns in 37 appearances, Adama created 57 chances and played well in that regard.
Essentially, Adama was creating chances that were not getting converted into goals - a scenario that would have most likely been different if Raul Jimenez hadn’t got injured.
I believe that Adama would shine at an ambitious club like Leicester, under a more astute manager like Brendan Rodgers and it’s a move that, although could be deemed risky, could also turn out to work wonders for both parties.
£30m would most likely seal the deal, allowing Rodgers to align a deadly attacking trio of Barnes, Vardy & Adama.
That concludes part one of this summer transfer series. Look out for part two which will go live on the site within the next week.