Ahead of the close of the transfer window on September 1, Whoscored crunch the numbers to come up with a list of potential bargain buys on the radar of Premier League clubs.
Thursday 28 August 2014 11:08, UK
Just one week remains of the summer transfer window and even though we have already seen millions spent, be sure that the busiest period is still to come.
As we have seen in the not so distant past, buying English - or even just from a fellow Premier League side - means paying over the odds, particularly as teams become desperate in the window's latter stages.
Thus, looking abroad is often the answer and may well be in the coming days, with these five players potentially set to be imported into England's top tier.
Torino's previously largely unknown strikeforce was one of the deadliest in Europe last season and as is the case with so many surprise package teams these days, the off-season is a time of struggling to hold on to your prized assets. Southampton have been picked apart and the Turin-based side have already lost half of the front two that fired them to a European place (albeit via Parma being denied a license to compete in UEFA competition) snapped up by a circling poacher.
Ciro Immobile has long since departed for Borussia Dortmund but for now Torino still have Alessio Cerci on their books. The former hit most of their goals (22), but had Cerci to thank in part for that as he provided 10 assists, while he also attempted the second-most crosses in the Italian top flight (260). Creativity is far from the extent of his talents, however, as he also hit double figures for goals (13). In doing so, he was was the only player in Serie A to attain more than 10 in both departments. In the previous campaign in Italy, the only players to do so were Marek Hamsik and Francesco Totti. Some company for the player, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal.
Even though Chelsea have already brought in Diego Costa and Didier Drogba this summer, they are reportedly in talks with Roma about this £20m forward. It may seem strange but it in fact makes perfect sense when considering the recent failings of one Fernando Torres (who himself is being linked with a move to Milan).
Injury has plagued much of the 23-year-old Italian's short career already, so for that reason he is something of a risk, but the way he rediscovered form last season despite a lengthy layoff was simply astounding. He started just 15 league matches in 2013/14 and yet ranked in the top 15 goalscorers in Italy. He was thus the most prolific Serie A player in front of goal, averaging fewer minutes per goal (95.1) than anyone else. Comparatively, the now-departed Demba Ba scored most frequently for Chelsea last term with a goal every 132.2 minutes. Destro doesn't need many chances to score either; of the 24 players to hit 10+ Serie A goals last season, Destro scored the highest proportion of his shots (33.3%) and the highest proportion of his shots on target (59.1%). Considering Liverpool paid £16m for Mario Balotelli (whose respective goalscoring rates were 9.2% and 27.5%), £20m for Destro could prove a snip.
After a trip to the World Cup quarter finals in Brazil this summer, in which Belgium conceded only three goals, defender Toby Alderweireld may be looking for a move to a club where he can be guaranteed slightly more first team football. Having moved from Ajax to Atlético Madrid last summer, he made only 12 appearances in their triumphant Liga campaign and played only 307 of a possible 1200 minutes in a run to the Champions League final.
There has been talk of him moving to either Arsenal or Southampton, and while the former may be the more attractive and lucrative offer, it may be in the Belgian's best interest to go to St Mary's and get a run of first team football. His 3.0 tackles per game at the World Cup put him amongst the top 20 defenders at the competition, while he also averaged an impressive 4.3 clearances, too. He certainly has the quality to play regularly in one of Europe's top leagues and he could be well suited to England.
Some of the bargains that are reported from the Bundesliga make one wonder quite why it is a market so few Premier League teams tap into, but rumours are circulating that Steve Bruce and Gus Poyet are chasing the £3m signing of Schalke's left-back Christian Fuchs. The 28-year-old has lost his place in the team in Gelsenkirchen and looks like he could be on his way to England.
Although an adept defender, his strengths on WhoScored show that he is perhaps best going forwards, with key passes, crossing and taking set-pieces amongst his best assets, while his assist tally (22 in his last 106 Bundesliga appearances) will certainly appeal to potential suitors. A serious knee injury for first-choice left-back Sead Kolasinac this weekend may mean Schalke are reluctant to sell their back-up, but after three years there he may be looking to move on.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.
