-Chelsea
Chelsea have done some big business already this summer and their three main signings take care of the three areas of need.
Cesc Fabregas in the middle, Filipe Luis at left-back and Diego Costa in attack are £82 million-worth of talent combined, but they fill big holes in the Chelsea team and give it a phenomenally strong look about the XI.
As if all that wasn't enough, they scraped back the staggering sum of £50 million for David Luiz.
Great work all round.
-Arsenal
Arsenal
Whatever Arsenal do to their forward line, whoever they sell from this point onward, it doesn’t matter.
They’ve signed Alexis Sanchez, a phenomenal forward with pace, technique and goalscoring ability, and he is better than anything they have in the final third—so sales or not, the attack has improved for the Gunners this season.
Mathieu Debuchy is a very good replacement (and upgrade, even) on Bacary Sagna, while a big midfield name—Sami Khedira has been mentioned—will make them a Premier League force once more.
Oh, and they offloaded Nicklas Bendtner—a guaranteed win.
-Southampton
Southampton
Southampton might seem an odd choice as a success given they have made more sales than signings, but as a mid-table team unable to break into the top five or six, they were always going to lose their star players this summer.
The key for them was to do it quickly, get the money in and get the price they wanted.
Having recouped around £60 million for Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, they’ve certainly done that. The signing of Dusan Tadic is a good one who will add invention and goals to the attack, while new boss Ronald Koeman will be hoping Graziano Pelle can bring his Eredivisie scoring form to the Premier League.
That latter is a gamble, perhaps, but they have the funds in place to further strengthen the team and especially the attack this summer.
-Newcastle United
Newcastle United
Newcastle United’s car-crash of the second half of last season left few people in doubt that major reconstruction of the side was needed, and the Magpies have certainly gotten underway with that quickly.
Jack Colback is a controversial but astute acquisition on a free transfer, while Daryl Janmaat proved his ability at the World Cup with the Netherlands for those who hadn’t seen him at Feyenoord.
Goals and creativity should return to the Newcastle attack after the additions of Remy Cabella, Siem de Jong and Emmanuel Riviere, from Montpellier, Ajax and Monaco respectively. The latter in particular has the capacity to have a big impact on the Premier League in his debut campaign.
-Manchester City
Manchester City
Manchester City have spent less than £20 million so far this summer, but have strengthened their squad with three good signings.
Bacary Sagna will of course offer depth and ability at right-back, up against Pablo Zabaleta for the position, after arriving on a free transfer from Arsenal. Willy Cabellero will fight Joe Hart for a place in goal, having signed from Malaga for £6 million.
It is the signing of holding midfielder Fernando Reges, though, which offers City not just quality and value for money, but also strengthens a key area of the pitch—central midfield—which was lacking last season and which will allow them to more easily absorb injuries or departures in future.
Fernando as the holder allows Fernandinho to push on more, or the former can comfortably be paired with Yaya Toure. It’s a great capture for City for a relatively low fee of £12 million, allowing them to no doubt spend big in other areas.
