2016-17 season Top 10 Premier League transfers
Paul Pogba – Juventus (ITA) to Manchester United, 89 million pounds ($116.4 million, 105 million euros)
The close season’s most long-running
transfer saga concluded with France midfielder Pogba returning to former
club United in a world-record move. Allowed to leave Old Trafford in
2012 after failing to win over legendary United manager Alex Ferguson,
the rangy 23-year-old midfielder with the dazzling haircuts and
blistering shot returns as one of the biggest names in the sport.
Leroy Sane – Schalke (GER) to Manchester City, 37 million pounds
The biggest signing to date of the Pep Guardiola era, 20-year-old winger
Sane arrives in England with a burgeoning reputation.
After scoring
eight goals in 33 Bundesliga appearances last season, he was named in
Germany’s Euro 2016 squad and made a late substitute appearance in their
semi-final defeat by hosts France.
Granit Xhaka – Borussia Moenchengladbach (GER) to Arsenal, 35 million pounds
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger moved to
address longstanding concerns about the lack of bite in his team’s
midfield by sanctioning a big-money move for Switzerland international
Xhaka. The 23-year-old was an ever-present for Switzerland at Euro 2016.
Sadio Mane – Southampton to Liverpool, 34 million pounds
After two fine seasons with Southampton,
during which he scored 25 goals in all competitions, 24-year-old
Senegal flier Mane left St Mary’s to join Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool
revolution.
Mane holds the record for the fastest Premier League
hat-trick, having scored three times in two minutes and 56 seconds
during Southampton’s 6-1 win over Aston Villa in May 2015.
Michy Batshuayi – Marseille (FRA) to Chelsea, 33.2 million pounds
A cunning and unorthodox striker,
22-year-old Belgium international Batshuayi moved to Chelsea following a
prolific season at Marseille in which he scored 23 goals.
With incoming
Chelsea coach Antonio Conte expected to deploy a two-man strike-force,
he could start the season up front alongside Diego Costa.
N’Golo Kante – Leicester City to Chelsea, 30 million pounds
The indefatigable driving force behind
Leicester City’s fairytale title triumph, France international Kante
became the first of Claudio Ranieri’s stars to jump ship when he left
for Chelsea. In the words of former Leicester coach Steve Walsh: “No
matter who we’re playing, we play three in midfield — Danny Drinkwater
in the middle and Kante either side.”
Eric Bailly – Villarreal (ESP) to Manchester United, 30 million pounds
Centre-back Bailly, 22, became Jose
Mourinho’s first signing as United manager when he arrived from
Villarreal in June on an initial four-year contract.
An Ivory Coast
international, he made six appearances as his country won the 2015
Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Gabriel Jesus – Palmeiras (BRA) to Manchester City, 27 million pounds rising to 31 million pounds
Dubbed ‘The New Neymar’, 19-year-old
starlet Jesus reportedly turned down an opportunity to join the Brazil
megastar at Barcelona in order to link up with Guardiola in
Manchester.
He will be loaned back to Palmeiras until the end of the
year before joining up with his new team-mates in January.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Borussia Dortmund (GER) to Manchester United, 26 million pounds
Mkhitaryan, 27, will become the first
Armenian to play in the Premier League after joining United from
Dortmund on a four-year deal.
The playmaker is the reigning Bundesliga
Player of the Year, having scored 11 goals and supplied 15 assists last
season, and is tipped to take Juan Mata’s place in United’s starting XI.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) to Manchester United, free
Ibrahimovic did not cost United a penny
in terms of transfer fee, but the charismatic 34-year-old Sweden star
could prove to have the biggest impact of all the division’s new
recruits. After four breathtaking years in France, where he won four
Ligue 1 titles and became PSG’s record scorer, Ibrahimovic has rejoined
forces with Mourinho, with whom he previously worked at Inter Milan.
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