Yannick Vestergaard
Yannick Vestergaard capped 28 times by Denmark is clearly a very talented player, there could be no question about it. Leicester city's 17 million euro acquisition of him reeks of panic with Evans Justin and castagne three of their four most used defenders last season out injured, the foxes were already thin on the ground when wesley furfana was cruelly sidelined in a horrific pre-season challenge against villarreal. Brendan Rodgers realising Siyonshu was his only fit senior centre-back acted swiftly to bring investigar to bolster his resources. However, a knee injury picked up by the new man in training meant he's been forced to feel tsunchu and amarty as his starting centre-backs in all three games during which they've conceded five goals. At 29 Vesterguard clearly isn't a long-term option and while Justin and Evans are fully fit he won't be the first choice. His arrival has certainly eased the immediate panic at the king power but we can't help but think that his 17 million euro fee would have been much better spent on that much-needed right-winger.
David Zappacosta
Chelsea's incomings have courted marine glances from across europe this summer their outgoings have been arguably just as impressive. They have made over a hundred million pounds in sales for the fourth time since 2011-12 more than double any other premier league side. While many fans struggled with the departures of homegrown players like Abraham guaji liveramento and tomori few of any shed a tear over the exit of Zappocosta, signed by Antonio Conte ahead of his disastrous second season in 2017-18.
He only ever made 52 appearances for the club with just 13 league starts. After a highly forgettable 2019-20 campaign spent on loan at roma, he did make more of an impact at Genoa last term but it was still some surprise when Atlanta decided to fork out 9.4 million euros to sign the 29 year old this summer. With Hatteboea out until early October, Gasparini needed a back-up to mahler on the right-hand side but given the fact he completed just 41 of his dribbles and only put in 2.3 tackles and inceptions per 90, we'd be surprised if Zappacosta made much of an impact in Bergamo this season.
Willian Jose
Nothing about Willian Jose's six-month loan spell at wolves in 2020-21 suggested he would move this summer. The former brazil under-20 international arrived in difficult circumstances following Jimenez's harrowing injury. Turning out for a side exhausted from playing back-to-back seasons with a minuscule squad he underwhelmed, often isolated he managed just one goal in 18 appearances.
No surprise given he only filed off 1.1 shots per 90 and struggled to bring others into play too. Only creating 12 chances in over a thousand league minutes. It was therefore surprising that when Real Betis loaned Loren to Espanol in late august Manuel Pellegrini turned to the Real Sociedad man to fill the void. Luckily for the striker the pitches of Laliga have been far more kind to him recently with four consecutive seasons of at least 10 league goals prior to the 2021 campaign. With Borque iglesias having largely struggled in Seville since his 29 million euro signing two years ago, Pellegrini will be hoping the tiger-ish Real Sociedad Willian Jose turns up rather than the meek wolves version who averaged just 0.1 expected goals per 90 last term.
Joe Hart
Having made a grand total of zero premier league appearances over the last two seasons, Joe Hart was arguably very lucky to secure a move to Celtic this summer and there was a definite air of panic around his arrival. The boys season had got off to a dreadful start having been knocked out of the champions league by Micheland and beaten in that opening league game by hearts. With Scott Bane and the hapless facilis barcass who was central to their UCL exits, the only keepers on the books new manager poster Coglu was certain he needed a new number one if Celtic were to improve on a disappointing 2021 campaign.
In terms of what Hart can bring he's obviously incredibly experienced having kept 127 premier league clean sheets, 11th in the all-time list. Winning two titles and being cut 75 times by his country but his last two seasons of regular top flight football with West Ham in 1718 and Burnley the following year saw him concede 6.3 goals more than expected. As his skills between the sticks seem to be deteriorating, the pressure is firmly on the Englishman to disprove the doubters at Celtic park.
Matthias Vina
It's always difficult when you lose a player but to lose one of Leonardo's spin at solar's quality during a game in which he was playing for his national team was a particularly cruel blow for Jose Mourinho's Roma. With the left back expected to be sidelined for at least six months and with a paucity of options in that position. The former Spurs boss was quick to move for Palmyras as Matias Vina.
The 23 year old already capped 16 times by Uruguay has a pretty solid CV including titles in both Brazil and his home nation but when you lift the lid on the player signed for an initial 13 million euros, it's a little bit underwhelming. While two goals and three assists in 12 copper livers Zedora's game suggests he should be more than capable of contributing in the final third. His 0.7 dribbles per league game almost half that of spin at Zola suggests he isn't quite at the italian's level just yet. What's more he's never managed to complete 80 of his passes across a single campaign. A promising player but potentially nothing more than a stop gap.
Marko Arnautovic
After spells with Inter, Wolfsburg and Stoke, Marko Arnautovic had finally established himself as a dependable premier league forward. Having netted at least 10 goals in three of the four previous seasons when he was tempted by the lure of the Chinese super league in July 2019 but while other imports such as eren Zahavi, Paulinho and Graziano Pela enjoyed a lot of success in China.
While Arnautovic largely struggled only hitting 19 league goals in three seasons fewer than he managed in his final two campaigns in east London. So, it screamed of panic when Bologna fresh from losing Rodrigo Palacio to pressure leapt at the chance to sign Arnautovic. On paper, that sounds like an incredibly strange sentence. After all with Palacio at 39 years of age exchanging him for a player 7 years younger seems like a smart bit of business. But the fact is that the 27 capped Argentine had been immense for the Rosso blue, contributing 20 league goals over the last two seasons,19 of the team's total. Arnautovic back in Serie A for the first time in 11 years has big shoes to fill.
Luuk de Jong
After a summer that had seen Barcelona's greatest ever player forced out of the club and their leadership group take pay cuts in order to even register their new signings. Most Blagrana fans expected a quiet deadline day but instead the circus continued. Mundo deportivo reported that they'd made a 75 million euro offer for RB Leipzig's Danny olmo before deciding to loan out Antoine Griezmann to his former club Atletico Madrid and replace him with Sevilla's Luuk De Jong.
Let's leave the decision to loan Griezmann, a player they paid 120 million euros for in 2019 to one side and focus on their new striker. Having recently turned 31 and capped 38 times by his country, De Jong offers Coleman an experienced alternative at number nine but in terms of goal scoring he's pretty underwhelming. De Jong has never managed to score more than six league goals in a single season outside of the Eredivisie and last season manages four in 34 La liga appearances for Sevilla. With Brathwaite, De Jong and Aguero, Coman now has three options with a combined age of 94 who scored 10 league goals between them in 75 appearances last term. It looks like it really will be on memphis to carry the attack this season.
Edin Dzeko
On the 12th of august 2021, Romelu Lukaku's return to chelsea was confirmed and the majority of inter milan fans were absolutely gutted. Months after the Belgium had fired them to the scadetto with an incredible 35 league goal contributions and declared that he was happy in Milan, the lure of a return to his childhood club proved too much. Luckily for them Simone and Zaghi acted decisively to replace the club's outgoing stars, bringing in Shannon ogle and Jekyll on free transfers and Huaqing carrera for just a 5.2 million euro loan fee.
Although, there was a definite sense of panic around Dzeko's arrival in particular, given the fact he played in a friendly against Dynamo Kiev prior to being announced. He's actually started exceptionally well with a goal and an assist in his two games to date. But at 35 years old and having scored 28 fewer goals than xg predicted over the last five seasons, he's clearly not at the peak of his powers. Nevertheless for a two-year deal it's not the worst panic buyer of the window.
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