Arsenal man leads top 10 Premier League signings of the season but Spurs dominate
We have updated our ranking of the Premier League signings of the season with Cole Palmer refusing to let Chelsea’s season fizzle out.
Premier League clubs collectively spent a record £2.36billion during the 2023 summer transfer window, eclipsing the £1.92m spent the summer before.
Nobody came close to Chelsea, who were the biggest spenders in Europe, spaffing close to £400million. Palmer is their only new player in our top 10 Premier League signings of the season so far.
The England star is joined by three Tottenham players, who have shown some great promise under Ange Postecoglou.
10) Andre Onana to Manchester United (£47m)
The highly-criticised Manchester United goalkeeper replaces Tottenham’s Gugliemo Vicario in our top ten, despite the Italian being as high as fifth when we last updated this at the beginning of April.
Perhaps dropping him down so drastically is on the harsh side, but Vicario has been pretty unconvincing in recent months and is a large contributor to Spurs’ Achilles’ heel being defending set-pieces. Reminiscent of a young David de Gea joining Manchester United, Vicario is lightweight and at the age of 26 (De Gea was 20 when he joined United), it would be surprising to see him improve too much in that aspect of his game.
While we have opened this by justifying Vicario’s omission, we obviously need to work just as hard to convince you that Onana deserves his place.
Onana’s performances in the Premier League have actually been very impressive. Yes, the Champions League campaign was abysmal and he was probably the reason the Red Devils were knocked out, but he has assumed the role De Gea had for years of ‘Imagine where we would have finished without him?’.
He has saved their bacon so many times and has been forced to deal with hundreds of different centre-back partnerships. Onana has more clean sheets than Vicario and only Luton’s Thomas Kaminski has made more saves than him. The company he keeps in that particular statistic is extremely worrying for United, who are giving up a silly amount of chances on a weekly basis.
9) Pau Torres to Aston Villa (£27.77m)
Aston Villa had to have at least one player in our top 10; they do sit fourth in the Premier League after all.
Moussa Diaby started well and his performances have been bettered by Leon Bailey, while Youri Tielemans and Nicolo Zaniolo have not yet got going in claret and blue.
Pau Torres, though, has adapted very well to life in the Premier League. His adaptation is all the more impressive when you consider he is not the most physical of defenders.
He has formed a lovely partnership with Ezri Konsa – who is now in the mix for a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad – and the two complement each other very well.
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8) Pedro Porro to Tottenham (£39m)
Pedro Porro has been the best right-back in the Premier League this season not named Benjamin White. Trent Alexander-Arnold was excellent before his injury but Porro has shocked us all by proving himself to be an excellent full-back, despite his signing being greeted with raised eyebrows as Antonio Conte – whose system he supposedly suited perfectly – was always going to leave Tottenham last year.
Conte’s exit came before the expiry of his contract last June. It was assumed that any success for Porro – who joined on loan last January before the move became permanent in the 2023 summer transfer window – would come under a manager who adopted a three-at-the-back system. Still, Ange Postecoglou has come in and used a back four from day one.
Porro has been solid defensively, registering the eighth-most tackles in Our League in 2023/24 and has excelled going forward, which Postecoglou needs from pretty much all of his starting XI. The Spaniard gets to the byline well and usually puts a decent ball into the danger area.
He has surprised us and probably quite a few Spurs fans. Thirty-nine million big ones well spent.
7) Ross Barkley to Luton Town (free)
Anyone who says they saw this coming is a liar. A bloody liar, I tell you.
Ross Barkley’s renaissance this season has been incredible to see and extremely surprising. After watching his career fade away at Chelsea, he spent 2022/23 at Nice and underwhelmed. He looked miles off playing in the Premier League but Luton took a chance on him. He has repaid them with some great performances and has helped the Hatters establish themselves as the best of the promoted trio.
There was talk of a spot in England’s Euro 2024 squad but Barkley’s form has dipped quite a bit after an incredible spell at the start of 2024. Still, he deserves a place more than Jordan Henderson.
The fact Barkley was a free transfer makes this signing all the more impressive.
6) Micky van de Ven to Tottenham (£34.5m)
While Pau Torres might not look like he is built for the Premier League, Micky van de Ven has already shown he is the perfect player for the best league in the world. Frighteningly rapid, comfortable on the ball, strong, aggressive and solid defensively, the young Dutchman has been superb.
With Van de Ven in defence, Spurs are so much better. And then even better with both him and Cristian Romero.
5) Mohammed Kudus to West Ham (£38m)
“It’s baffling to me that you do sign Antony over Kudus,” is what Ian Wright had to say when analysing Manchester United’s recent transfer business. He’s not wrong, you know. Kudus has done more in England than Antony has with an extra year under his belt. Erik ten Hag had both players at Ajax, for crying out loud. It’s madness. Funny, mind. But madness.
Seven goals and five assists in 30 league matches is a decent return and it has quickly become clear the Ghanaian is a top player and an outstanding pick-up by the Hammers.
A cheeky bonus is the fact his presence has helped Lucas Paqueta take his game to another level.
4) James Maddison to Tottenham (£40m)
There had not been a better signing this season than James Maddison…until he got injured. Post-injury, the England playmaker has not reached the same heights, with Spurs looking like becoming shoo-in for a top-four finish with him playing out of his skin.
Spurs’ form did not dip in Maddison’s absence but Ange Postecoglou’s side have been far from their best in the run-in, with Maddison one of their most disappointing performers. There might be a pattern forming with Madders, who usually starts the season well before struggling to influence in the latter stages. Spurs will hope that changes soon.
Before limping off against Chelsea on November 6, Maddison had nine goal contributions in 11 Premier League appearances.
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3) Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool (£35m)
Arguably the best player in the Premier League between January and April, Mac Allister has been Liverpool’s main man but their title challenge has fallen by the wayside.
His goal contributions were crucial in helping the Reds maintain their title push, having his say on results even when he did not score or assist. Sorry to be rattling on about fees paid, but…£35m! Brighton must have some big clauses in there.
2) Cole Palmer to Chelsea (£40m)
Has just scored his 21st Premier League goal of the season, making it a ridiculous 30 goal contributions in 29 Chelsea appearances.
In truth, it is about time the Blues got a signing right having spent an absolute fortune in such a short period. Palmer has been a revelation at Stamford Bridge since joining from Manchester City late in the summer transfer window.
Palmer has joined a club in disarray and took things by the scruff of the neck. Without him, the Blues would be a lot worse off, which probably would have cost Mauricio Pochettino his job by now.
If Chelsea are going to do anything of note this season, it is going to be because of Palmer, who would have benefitted from the signing of a striker in January. Imagine his assist tally if he didn’t have one of the most wasteful players in the league in front of him…
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1) Declan Rice to Arsenal (£100m)
There are not very many £70m+ Premier League signings who have been a success. In fact, before Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal, Virgil van Dijk was the only player in that price bracket to be an instant hit. Jack Grealish eventually came good at Manchester City, but there seems to be a bit of a curse.
The England midfielder has been a demon in the Arsenal midfield, adding a bite they have missed in the No. 6 role for so, so long. He has also contributed with some massive goals already, arguably solidifying himself as the best player in the league this campaign.
We said Jude Bellingham was a £100m bargain. Rice is proving himself to be just that as well. What a player.
Honourable mentions: Anthony Elanga, Thomas Kaminski, Jefferson Lerma, Joao Pedro, James Ward-Prowse, Kai Havertz, Guglielmo Vicario.
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