As the 2022/23 season has just started, it means that the annual summer transfer window is about to end. Many big transfers have been taking place in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. During the annual summer transfer window, teams can sign on new players or ‘sell’ players to boost the quality of their teams for the new season. Which transfer is superior?
Gabriel Jesus
Source:arsenal.com
As a striker of high quality who has played for the 2021/2022 season’s Premier League winners Manchester City, it is a great move by Arsenal to secure a new striker for a decent price of 52.2 million euros. Jesus has also performed in the preseason, scoring 85 seconds into his Arsenal debut. Overall, I would rate this transfer a solid 9/10.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Source:arsenal.com
Just like Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko lacked game time at Man City. Although he played as a left-back for his former club, he could potentially play as a central midfielder like he does when playing for the Ukrainian national team. This means he can serve as a replacement for injury prone Kieran Tierney or a potential midfield option for Arsenal. Due to Zinchenko’s versatility, I rate this transfer 7/10.
Raheem Sterling
Source:chelseafc.com
Bagging an amazing 109 goals and 63 assists in his Premier League career, Raheem Sterling is going on a trip around the top four. Starting his career at Liverpool, then winning 4 Premier League titles at Manchester City, it is needless to say that he is an experienced player. Despite Chelsea missing out on Raphinha to Barcelona, acquiring the 27-year-old will certainly improve Chelsea’s front 3 so I rate this transfer 7/10.
Lisandro Martinez
Source:manutd.com
Erik Ten Hag is reunited with none other than Lisandro Martinez, the 24-year-old from Manchester United. Last season, he kept 17 clean sheets (when one team prevents the other from scoring any goals)for Ajax in the Eredivisie and he has built a reputation of being a solid centre back. As a Manchester United fan, I certainly hope that he can break into the first team and significantly improve Manchester United’s terrible defence as seen in their subpar 6th place finish in the 2021/2022 season. Overall, I would rate this transfer 8/10.
Richarlison
In my opinion, there was absolutely no point for Spurs to buy the Brazilian attacker from Everton when they already have a brilliant front three consisting of Heung Min Son, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski. For a pretty huge fee of 58 million euros, it is uncertain that Tottenham Hotspur would indeed make their money worth. Richarlison has scored 10 goals and 5 assists last season, which is not too bad a number, so with Spurs in the UEFA Champions League, I hope he gets rotated in some of their cup games. Overall, I rate this transfer 6/10.
Erling Haaland
Source:mancity.com
It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room, Erling Haaland. The Norwegian talent has been highly regarded as one of the best youngsters in the world. He scored 22 goals for Borussia Dortmund last season, and is finally making his move out of the Bundesliga to his father’s former club, Manchester City. It might take him some time to adapt to the Premier League, which was proven in City’s 3-1 FA Community Shield loss. I really do not want to see him end up like Lukaku moving to Chelsea, but I still believe that Erling Haaland has a lot to bring to Manchester City and can be the perfect striker that they are looking for. I rate this transfer 9/10.
Darwin Nunez
Source:liverpoolfc.com
While there have been mixed opinions about this player, with some comparing him to Haaland, and some feeling that he is not worth his price, I feel that he is another top striker who just needs some time to adjust to the Premier League. He scored a whopping 4 goals in 45 minutes against RB Leipzig and scored shortly after that match in the FA Community Shield in their 3-1 victory over Manchester City. Darwin Nunez has certainly had a bright start to his Liverpool career and I hope he lives up to his 75 million euro price tag. I rate this transfer 9/10.
And what do Rafflesians think?
I created a Google forms survey and shared it with some of my friends and schoolmates to see what they had to say about this summer’s best and worst transfers.
Best Transfer
Coming in first is none other than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, who 20% of the 20 survey respondents voted for, Gabriel Jesus trails closely behind with 15% of the votes. One respondent said that “Erling Haaland is one of the best young strikers in the world right now and he has a lot of good abilities like physicality, speed, positioning, finishing.” Another chose Jesus as he felt that “Jesus fills the biggest gap in Arsenal last season. Looking good in friendlies too.” Newcastle’s new goalkeeper was also mentioned by a respondent who said that “He is a proven premier league and world class goalkeeper, which can be backed by his exceptional goalkeeping stats such as post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed, which is +0.12/90, in the top 84th percentile, indicating how he has an above average shot-stopping ability.” which made me realise he is quite an underrated goalkeeper and I hope to see him start for Newcastle this season.
Worst Transfer
The votes for this have not been too much of a surprise. He has to be one of the most hated players right now, Darwin Nunez. To a certain extent I can understand why people don’t think he’s very good, for example a respondent said that he was “too expensive”, given that he is a young striker from Benfica who does not have a lot of experience yet. Coming close from behind is Marquinhos, the youngster who came to Arsenal, Richarlison, Fabio Viera and Dean Henderson. For Richarlison and Marquinhos, the main reason was that the transfer was unnecessary and they weren’t going to play much. For example, Richarlison’s left-wing or striker spot is contested by Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. Dean Henderson(who went on loan to Nottingham Forest from Manchester United), was voted by a respondent who felt that “Manchester United should keep a backup keeper because he’s decent.”
There have been tons of exciting transfers this summer. But nevertheless, the transfer window will be coming to an end soon and the Premier League is underway. I certainly am excited for the new season, and I think that these transfers are only going to make it better.
