KAI HAVERTZ
(Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea)
The 21-year-old is technically flawless,
athletically impressive and tactically
versatile. The question is when, not if, he
will be considered among football’s elite.
ETHAN AMPADU
(Chelsea to Sheffield United)
Ampadu has15 Wales caps, yet began
this season with just12 league games
to his name – eight of which came at
League Two Exeter. The 20-year-old has
big potential, but needs regular football.
OLLIE WATKINS
(Brentford to Aston Villa)
Villa’s record signing will link up with the
manager that brought him to Brentford,
Dean Smith. Scorer of 26 Championship
goals last season, there is big pressure on
Watkins to step up to the Premier League.
ANTONY
(Sao Paulo to Ajax)
This deal was agreed in February, but
Antony had to wait until September for
his debut – and what a debut it was.
The left-footed right-winger struck
the winner from 25 yards in a1-0
win over Sparta Rotterdam.
NACER CHADLI
(Monaco to Istanbul Basaksehir)
Chadli was a rare positive on loan at
Anderlecht last season, scoring eight
goals in17 games. The Turkish champs
already have plenty of experience, and
the Belgium winger will add to that.
JONATHAN DAVID
(Gent to Lille)
By replacing Osimhen with David for
less than half the price, Lille have done
some tidy business. The Canada striker
scored 23 goals for Gent last season.
BRAHIM DIAZ
(Real Madrid to Milan)
Since leaving Man. City inJanuary 2019,
the diminutive winger has played just15
league matches for Real Madrid. Has
joined Milan on loan to replace Suso.EBERECHI EZE
(QPR to Crystal Palace)
Eze’s Premier League debut saw him
join Wilfried Zaha in Palace’s attack, and
few sides can boast such dribbling ability.
The 22-year-old is capable of magic.WUILKER FARINEZ
(Millonarios to Lens)
At 5ft 9ins, Farinez’s game is based on
reflexes rather than physical presence.
If he adjusts to European football on loan
at Lens, he’ll be on the move again soon.EVERTON SOARES
(Gremio to Benfica)
Part of Benfica’s€78m spending spree,
the 24-year-old winger – who won the
the 2019 Copa America Golden Boot- could take Portugal by storm.
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE
(Wolves to Swansea City)
Sometimes players havetotakeastep
back tomoveforward. This loanwillsee
Gibbs-WhitereunitewithSteveCooper,
with whom he won the U 17 World Cup
in 2 01 7,to help unlockhis potential.TAKEFUSA KUBO
(Real Madrid to Villarreal)
Kubo had an encouraging loan at
Mallorca in 2019-20; this time he will
play in the Europa League with Villarreal.
The hope is that he will return ready for
the first team – like Martin Odegaard did.DANI PAREJO & FRANCIS COQUELIN
(Valencia to Villarreal)
Valencia supporters were so outraged by
the sale of their midfield duo that they
staged a protest at the Mestalla. Picking
up the pair for less than€8m more than
makes up for the loss of Santi Cazorla.ADOLFO GAICH
(San Lorenzo to CSKA Moscow)
The highly-sought after 21-year-old is
a powerful centre-forward who hit six
goals in five games for Argentina U23s,
before making his senior debut last year.GABRIEL MAGALHAES
(Lille to Arsenal)
A soft underbelly has prevented Arsenal
from competing for years, yet in Gabriel
they may finally have found a solution.
The Brazilian has both physical presence
and excellent defensive awareness.WESTON McKENNIE
(Schalke to Juventus)
The first American to play forJuventus,
McKennie is on loan for the first year.
The early signs are that he will occupy
the deep-lyingregistaposition that his
new coach Andrea Pirlo mastered.IVAN RAKITIC
(Barcelona to Sevilla)
The Croatian returns to the club where
he spent four years, scoring 34 goals in
149 games. Can he help Sevilla graduate
from Europa League specialists to
Champions League contenders?RODRIGO
(Valencia to Leeds United)
Leeds have brought Rodrigo back to the
Premier League for a club-record £26m,ten years after the Spaniard scored one
goal in 21 games for Bolton Wanderers.DAVID SILVA
(Manchester City to Real Sociedad)
As a World Cup winner with four Premier
League medals, it might seem that Silva
has nothing left to prove; yet he is still
underappreciated in his home country.
Helping Real Sociedad improve on
last season will help change that.FABIO SILVA
(Porto to Wolves)
On one hand, the18-year-old was the
star of the Porto side that won the UEFA
Youth League in 2019. On the other, he’s
moved for £35m in spite of scoring just
one league goal in12 appearances.
Wolves are banking on his potential.EVANILSON
(Tombense to Porto)
Porto have replaced one promising
young forward with another. Evanilson
already has European experience from
a loan at Slovakian outfit Samorin in
2017-18, before returning to Brazil to
top the U20 league’s scoring charts.MEHDI TAREMI
(Rio Ave to Porto)
Porto also picked up the league’s joint-
top scorer from last season, who ended
the campaign with11 goals in as many
games. Now with the champions, Taremi
could be in for another prolific season.DONNY VAN DE BEEK
(Ajax to Manchester United)
The coronavirus outbreak prevented Van
de Beek joining Real Madrid inJanuary,
but now he has joined Bruno Fernandes
and Paul Pogba in one of the most
creative midfield trios in Europe.VEDAT MURIQI
(Fenerbahce to Lazio)
The tall goal poacher from Kosovo had
been the subject of Premier League
interest, so it will be interesting to see
how he handles the step up from Turkish
football, where he scored over 70 goals.SHON WEISSMAN
(Wolfsberger to Valladolid)
The 24-year-old rattled in 30 goals in
31 games in the Austrian Bundesliga
last season – only four players scored
more top-flight goals in Europe. Can
he translate that form to La Liga?S U M M E R W
IN
D O W 2 0 2 0- 2
1
THEREST
Japanese Messi...Takefusa Kubo
Returning...Ivan RakiticWonderkid...
Kai Havertz