14 Premier League and Serie A Transfers from the 2022/23 summer window I think are just neat
Some clubs have spent better than others in this window
If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know I watch a lot of football. While I do follow other leagues intermittently and for work, my two great loves are the Premier League and the Serie A (and then usually I pick a random team that takes my fancy in another league and River Plate for Marcelo Gallardo).
So I thought for this week’s newsletter in line with the transfer window closing, I’d take a look at six transfers in the PL and Serie A that caught my eye this window.
Before I start I would like to say some honourable mentions from other leagues: Mo Camara to AS Monaco, Kaiky to Almeria, Callum Hudson-Odoi to Bayer Leverkusen (Loan), Isco to Sevilla, Fabio Silva to Anderlecht, Nico Schlotterbeck to Borussia Dortmund, Enzo Fernandez to Benfica (He’s going to be a world beater) and Amine Gouiri to Rennes.
Premier League
This is the section where we don’t talk about Erling Haaland because I just want to ignore his existence until he rolls up to Old Trafford in a few weeks.
The Premier League has massively outspent the rest of the world, but they have got a good return for their outlay. It was hard to narrow it down to just seven, but these players have all caught my eye and will likely be fine additions to the league (or in one case still be at their new club).
Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal
Jesus was a good player for City, but for Arsenal, he may become a great one. Under Pep Guardiola he learnt all the things he needed to be a great system striker but Mikel Arteta is now giving him the freedom he needs to put all the lessons he learned into practice with devastating effect.
So far he has three goals and three assists in five games; not quite the numbers of the aforementioned Norwegian but still outstanding compared to the players he replaced. And his all-round play has given Arsenal a directness and fluidity centrally that they were missing last season.
Armel Bella-Kotchap to Southampton
I wasn’t sure about Southampton’s strategy of buying young talent who would have to take a massive step up to compete in the Premier League, but so far it definitely seems to be paying off.
Gavin Bazunu or Romeo Lavia could both make an appearance here, but its Bella-Kotchap who has really caught my eye, playing like a defender who has experience beyond his 20 years. His last-ditch tackles against Manchester United and Chelsea showed unparalleled composure and he will be an asset for the long season to come.
Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United
A selfish choice on my part but I absolutely adore Martinez. Though Carlos Tevez currently holds the copyright of ‘and his bulldog-like approach’, the defender will soon take the mantle himself.
He was fantastic for Ajax last season and he has had a good start to the 2022/23 campaign at Old Trafford. I just wish that the pundits and commentators would provide us with more analysis than just ‘He’s a very short man.’
Boubacar Kamara to Aston Villa
If you followed me on Twitter over the past six months you will have known my disappointment that Kamara was allowed to go to Aston Villa… and on a free no less. He is an excellent young prospect who would be great for any possession-based side, so let’s hope that the manager who replaces Steven Gerrard can get the most out of him.
Luis Sinisterra to Leeds United
24 goals and 13 assists in 49 games; those are the stats that secured Sinisterra’s £22.5m move to Leeds United this summer. While I could explain what sort of player he is, Kees van Hemmen (a very pained Feyenoord fan this summer) gave a great summation in his Scouted Football piece in April:
‘While it would be easy to call Luis a ‘tricky winger’ given his explosive dribbling ability, it is likely more accurate to call him a ‘creative inside forward’. When at his best, the Colombian attacks defenders one-on-one at the edge of the box, either to drive to the byline for a cutback on the ground or to cut inside for a shot.’
Leeds have made some good signings in general, especially Wilfried Gnonto from FC Zurich, but it is Sinisterra who I think will prove to be the most exciting addition.
Neco Williams to Nottingham Forest
While Renan Lodi on the left-hand side is an equally baffling and exciting move given his stature in the game compared to Forest, I quite like the signing of Williams for the right-wing-back role.
Djed Spence was an important part of Steve Cooper’s tactics and promotion push last season and it seems that Williams will play an equally important role in helping the team stay up this campaign. He is fantastic going forward and offers a lot of creativity; he should be a hit (when you sign nearly 20 players at least some of them will be).
Lucas Paqueta to West Ham
It feels slightly cruel that the Paqueta - Bruno Guimaraes bromance will not be reunited this summer, but West Ham have stumped up a sizeable chunk of change for a player profile that they have been sorely missing.
Paqueta will give them creativity but also a goal threat behind the likes of Michail Antonio or Gianluca Scamacca, but watch out because sometimes he takes his Brazilian passport a little too seriously and tries to showboat instead of just making the pass or taking a shot.
Serie A
A lot of loans have been made permanent this summer which I am not including, so that excludes the likes of Beto from the list (although he is an excellent striker), but the Serie A have still had a great window.
A lot of teams have got creative with their scouting and that means there are a number of buys here who aren’t that great currently but could go on to do great things in the longer term.
Giacomo Raspadori to Napoli (Loan to Buy)
Sassuolo’s attack went through the wringer this summer, first, they lost star striker Scamacca to West Ham and then they lost Raspadori on a loan with an option to buy to Napoli.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is proving to be an excellent buy as a replacement for Lorenzo Insigne and I really like the addition of Tanguy Ndombele in the midfield, but I feel that Napoli have been missing the reliable numbers of Jose Callejon for a few seasons now and Raspadori will hopefully be able to add that through the middle rather than on the wing.
Luis Maximiano to Lazio
Lazio have played a blinder replacing Pepe Reina and Thomas Strakosha with Ivan Provodel and Maximiano this summer. While Provodel has been the number one so far this season, it should be expected that in the long term the Portuguese shot-stopper will usurp him.
He tried admirably to keep Granada in La Liga last season to no avail, but the Italian club realised his talent and picked him up for around £9m. An absolute bargain.
Dodo to Fiorentina
I don’t know what to say other than someone else should have bought Dodo, why did no one else buy Dodo. Though his namesake is an extinct flightless bird, the Brazilian right-back soars down the wing and provides his team with options while they are in possession and attacking down the right.
Charles De Ketelaere to AC Milan
CDK to AC Milan is in my personal opinion one of the signings of the season. With the Italian club needing to refresh their attacking options due to Olivier Giroud’s age and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury, they have gone out and picked up one of the best young goalscorers on the market.
He is able to play anywhere across the front three and even slot in behind the striker and his 6’3 frame makes him a difficult proposition to deal with as he bursts past defenders, but he also great at linking up with his fellow attackers.
He scored 18 goals and registered 10 assists last season, and while you would expect a drop-off since he has moved to a stronger league, I still expect him to be a key player for Milan in the future.
Filip Kostic to Juventus
Kostic has deserved a move for a long, long, long time. The Serbian has been assisting striker after striker at Eintracht Frankfurt, without anyone really realising the common denominator of to why players like Sebastian Haller, Andre Silva and Luka Jovic were scoring tons of goals at the German club but flopping elsewhere.
Now he’s got the move he deserves. Unfortunately, it’s to Juventus, but hopefully, he can finally get a tune out of Dusan Vlahovic who was starved of service last season in Turin (he needs to be played as a LWB though).
Domagoj Bradaric to Salernitana 1919
Salernitana somehow survived the 2021/22 season. No one can truly explain how but they managed it and now they are looking to do it again this season.
One way to do this is by conceding fewer goals, and to that end signing 22-year-old left-back and former Ligue 1 winner Bradovic will help that. At £4.5m it is an inspired signing and one I can really get behind.
Ademola Lookman to Atalanta
Ademola Lookman is a massively misunderstood player. Signed by Everton too early and then picked up and not used properly by RB Leipzig, he needed this move to finally realise his talent.
We saw it in bursts at Leicester but hopefully at Atalanta playing in Gasperini’s fluid system we will finally see the best Lookman and then Nigeria (who are quietly constructing a great national team) will also reap the benefits.
Thanks for reading this short transfer breakdown. I am currently looking for work so if you are reading this and have any paid writing opportunities, feel free to drop me a message on Twitter. Next week we will be back with the World Cup series covering France so if you’re not already, hit subscribe to get this straight to your inbox. See you then!