England

Ally Abdallah

This summer has been a summer filled with top quality transfers which are certain to leave an indelible mark on the Premier League. Here are the top ten pieces of business which I am sure will spice up the title race and soon be hailed as buys of the season.

10) Johan Elmander (Toulouse to Bolton Wanderers, £8.2M) 

A swaggering, energetic front-runner, Johan Elmander came to the fore for Sweden during UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying stage, where he led the line well in the absence of Henrik Larsson and, for much of the campaign, Zlatan Ibrahimović. He has scored eleven goals in each of the last two seasons with Toulouse in France’s Ligue 1. He will be able to quickly adapt to English football and give Bolton extra firepower upfront.

9) Philipp Degen (Dortmund to Liverpool, free transfer)

The pacy right back or left back bares much the same resemblance to Wes Brown in playing style and will not allow any winger to get past him because of his good speed and stamina. He has been prone to repetitive injuries during the past three years but he will be able to give Liverpool greater attacking threat from the full-back position. He made a fine contribution to FC Basel’s title winning team of 2003/04.

8) Andy Johnson (Everton to Fulham, £10.5M)

Andy Johnson didn’t have such an illustrative season at Everton last season and perhaps it was the reason that David Moyes was willing to lose one of his best strikers. Johnson is a player capable of having a great season in one season and having a bad one the next. Fulham really need a striker capable of scoring goals of great importance and Johnson is the best transfer for them. He will be able to make sure Fulham are devoid of the worries of relegation towards the end of the season.  

7) Peter Crouch (Liverpool to Portsmouth, £11M)

A transfer which certainly shocked me if not the whole Premier League world. Such a good striker with the potential to be right up near the top of the scoring charts this season. Crouch was pretty much overlooked with Fernando Torres taking centre stage since he arrived at Liverpool. The Spaniard was able to bag more than 25 goals which I think really tempted Rafa to sell Crouch. Crouch will be a big asset for Portsmouth, a deadly striker especially in the air, untouchable and unstoppable on his day. Peter Crouch is capable of bringing scoring fantastic goals and will have an impact on the club’s performance this season.

6) Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur £16.6M)

A star attraction of the Croatian league for the past three years, the clever, creative midfield orchestrator has been likened in both playing style and appearance to the great Johan Cruyff. Modric displayed an electrifying performances as Croatia went reached the quarter-final and didn’t lose hope until the penalty kick that saw off his country. Spurs will need Modric to give them a real boost in the absence of Robbie Keane.

5) Jose Bosingwa (Porto to Chelsea, £16.3M)

Jose Bosingwa was the focus of attention for supporters of Chelsea during UEFA EURO 2008 and he still is. The fans and supporters still want to see what this top class right-back is capable of doing at Stamford Bridge. The pacy 25-year-old agreed a move to the London club in May having just completed a hat-trick of Portuguese championship wins with FC Porto. He will be able to fill the boots of the Khalid Boulahrouz and is an addition to Chelsea’s stingy defence to make it much stingier.

4) Giovani dos Santos (Barcelona to Tottenham Hotspur, £4.7M)

The 19 year-old Mexican international is happy to be at the Lane and has insisted that playing with ‘the greats of the game’ at Barcelona namely Henry, Ronaldinho, Etoo and Messi, will help him to express his talent in England. He wishes to grow as a player at Spurs. The question remains: will he be able to cope with the challenging Premier League? A league which boast some of the paciest and toughest players on the planet. The answer is none other than a big yes. Giovani is full of pace and strong enough to make space for himself to showcase his bag of tricks and excellent attacking prowess.

3) Deco (Barcelona to Chelsea, £8M)

Brazilian-born but central to Portugal’s progress under compatriot coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Deco missed much of FC Barcelona’s 2007/08 season with injury. But he is back to boost Chelsea, hopefully again to the Champions League final. He was snatched from Barcelona after he was hailed as Portugal’s player of the tournament. Chelsea’ find his task to propel his new team again to the final and perhaps win it much easier after buying this intelligent, composed, hard-working and provider of a constant attacking threat, player.

2) Samir Nasri (Marseille to Arsenal, £12M)

Samir Nasri spent the last four seasons with Olympique de Marseille where the locals’ admiration stretched to calling him the ‘new Zinédine Zidane’. The gifted young French schemer has enhanced his international profile at EURO 2008 and will be looking forward to enhancing his club profile at the Gunners. The French playmaker is one of the liveliest players in the Wenger’s squad and could even help to bring the title back to Arsenal by the end of the season. Just sit back and watch this new Zizou turn on the style in the Premier League.

1) Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur to Liverpool, £19M)

Now to my number one top transfer of the season, the Irish playmaker, Robbie Keane. Keane is looking forward to helping Fernando Torres spice up Liverpool’s play. The former Spurs striker is a wonderful player to watch and will carry a constant threat for the full 90 minutes. Full of pace, stamina and super shots at goal, Robbie Keane will be able to remind Liverpool of Michael Owen just in the way he plays around the pitch. A magnificent attacking minded player, Keane is just the thing for Liverpool to make a super to the season and is the best catch a coach could make.

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