There’s been a number of high-profile transfers already made in the Premier League this summer. As if often the case, big money deals by some of the division’s biggest clubs have tended to dominate discussions.
Transfers involving players like Erling Haaland, Darwin Nunez, Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus have all stolen a large portion of the limelight, however elsewhere in the division, other Premier League sides have been hard at work landing their own key targets ahead of the new campaign.
With this in mind, Mirror football have highlighted five new Premier League players who have the potential to go on to be huge successes following recent moves to the division.
Gianluca Scamacca - West Ham
West Ham had been searching for a new striker for some time, with David Moyes keen to bring in extra competition for Michail Antonio up front. This has ended with them signing Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo in a deal worth up to £35.5m.
It has the potential to be an excellent move for the Hammers with the 23-year-old improving year on year across recent seasons. In the 2020/21 campaign, he netted 12 goals and secured a further two assists whilst out on loan at Genoa. He kicked on last season back at Sassuolo, scoring a very impressive 16 league goals - only six players under the age of 25 from across Europe’s top five leagues scored more.
Beyond his ability to score goals, he’s a willing runner into channels, a threat playing on the shoulder and can link well with teammates around him, all things that tick plenty of boxes from a West Ham point of view.
Fabio Vieira - Arsenal
New signings like Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have attracted most of Arsenal's attention this summer, though Vieira could prove to be one of their most shrewd acquisitions. He scored five goals and registered 15 assists across all competitions last season.
He’s an extremely versatile player who has played as a centre-forward, in midfield and on the right of Porto’s attack last season. This means he can fill a number of different roles, depending on what Arteta needs.
The 22-year-old is a left-footer, yet he’s extremely comfortable using both; which is why he’s so dangerous across multiple positions. Vieira also has excellent vision and an ability to play a range of piercing through balls or tantalising crosses into the penalty area. His assist record speaks for itself, though he could also boast having the fifth-best Expected Assist (xA) average (0.28 per 90) across the whole Liga Portugal last season.
Sven Botman - Newcastle United
Botman has been linked with a host of top Premier League clubs over the past 12 months, however it’s Newcastle who finally landed the defender in a deal thought to be worth up to £35m.
The 22-year-old is a presiding figure who stands at 6ft4in. This aids him in the air which makes him both an asset when defending set-pieces, but also when attacking them.
In terms of raw defensive numbers, only four Ligue 1 defenders who played over 1500 league minutes could better his defensive duel success rate (74.22 per cent) last season, and only one posted a higher aerial duel success rate (72.64 per cent).
Taiwo Awoniyi - Nottingham Forest
Awoniyi is arriving back in the Premier League for the second time, having formerly been on Liverpool ’s books. It didn’t quite work out for the Nigerian international on Merseyside, however, he enjoyed life in Germany with Union Berlin.
He scored 15 Bundesliga goals last season, and has a lot of good traits well-suited to playing in England’s top tier. He’s big, strong and holds the ball up well, making him an ideal target man for Forest.
It’s therefore little wonder that manager Steve Cooper is confident he can become a top Premier League striker. "Our recruitment and coaching teams have been monitoring his progress closely over the last few months,” said the Forest manager shortly after his arrival. “He's a player who we really believe in and we look forward to him going on to fulfil his potential and become a top Premier League striker with Nottingham Forest."
Cheick Doucoure - Crystal Palace
Palace fought off some stiff competition to land Doucoure who is widely regarded as one of the more exciting young defensive midfielders across Europe. Chairman Steve Parish branded his arrival a “ statement of intent” from the club, and it's easy to see why.
The 22-year-old proved to be a good powerful runner at Lens, great at driving through space and bursting past opposition defenders. He’s also very good in defensive duels and pressing opponents without the ball.
He looks to have a very high ceiling and can play a key role for Palace this season.
