Ahead of the start of the With the English Premier League season beginning on Saturday, we look at who of the new signings will have the biggest impact in the coming months new season.
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
Fabregas, said Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, "is the missing piece of our engine", the "football brain we need in our team".
None of Mourinho's significant new additions – Diego Costa at centre-forward, Felipe Luis at left-back – has Mourinho purring quite as much as the 27-year-old Spaniard, whose return to Barcelona from Arsenal three years ago appeared to put him in a job for life in his native Catalonia.
Fabregas became frustrated at Camp Nou with the irregularity of his first-team starts and, having mastered the Premier League before, returns to give extra fluency, scoring power and a range of passing to a midfield strengthened since January by Nemanja Matic.
Mourinho said he sees Fabregas playing alongside Matic either in the anchor positions of a 4-2-3-1 formation, or in a more attacking role, almost as a No 10.
“His best quality is the speed at which he analyses the game and executes,” Mourinho said.
The Spain international has points to prove: to show that his game has developed since he left Arsenal, who turned down the chance to re-sign him this summer, and that Barcelona did not get the best from him.
Dejan Lovren (Liverpool)
The final table standings of the 2013/14 season show that Liverpool missed out on the Premier League title by two points.
The residual heartache at Anfield speaks of the regrets that those points were dropped at the tail end of a swashbuckling campaign.
However, Liverpool also carried a disadvantage into a what was a compelling title-race: their loose defence.
Fifty goals were conceded in the latest campaign, and one of several priorities this summer – with the most important being to fill the large striking gap left by Luis Suarez – was to shore up the leaks in the rearguard.
Lovren is one of three players signed from Southampton, and he may turn out to be the most important if he imposes his authority in central defence.
The Croatia international, who cost £20 million (Dh122.7m), is combative, strong in the air and assured in his distribution.
He offers a threat at attacking set pieces, too, which, as Martin Skrtel has shown, is a profitable skill for a Liverpool centre-half to work at.
Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, likens Lovren, 25, to Jamie Carragher for his leadership skills, which is high praise indeed at Anfield.
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Only Lionel Messi scored more Spanish Primera Liga goals for Barcelona last season than Alexis Sanchez, yet, like Cesc Fabregas, he was allowed to leave Camp Nou as part of an overhaul following their disappointing campaign.
Arsenal still paid a high price for the 25-year-old Chilean, the initial £30m fee the largest the club have paid for any player apart from Mesut Ozil, whose presence at the club helped persuade Alexis – he wears his first name, not Sanchez, on his jersey – that Arsenal were the sort of Premier League team he wanted to join.
Others, namely Liverpool, were also keen on his signature.
He ticks many boxes, but the most important will be pace in attack, which Olivier Giroud, Arsenal's principal spearhead, does not have in abundance.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, will also want to see some of the improvisation on the ball that made Alexis such a standout star in the Italian Serie A with Udinese, and also for Chile, with whom he so impressed at the World Cup finals in Brazil as he helped his country reach the last 16.
At Barcelona, he was more discreet. He has the combative qualities to thrive in the Premier League and to give a new dimension to Arsenal’s football.
Ideye Brown (West Brom)
West Bromwich Albion finished 17th in the table last season, flirting alarmingly with relegation for much of a troubled, confused campaign.
Their response has been to invest a club-record £10m in a powerful, fast No 9.
The Premier League represents a step up for Ideye Brown in terms of the quality of opponent he will face each weekend, having gained his senior experience in the leagues of his native Nigeria, Switzerland, France and Ukraine. He does bring a sound scoring record from Dynamo Kiev, his last club.
His work outside the penalty box will also be appreciated. He is an intelligent runner, a generous provider of passes and can hold the ball up effectively.
At 25, he should be approaching his peak and will be determined to shake off the disappointment of having missed out on a place at the World Cup finals with Nigeria.
He had been an important member of the triumphant 2013 Africa Cup of Nations squad.
Good club form would put him back in the frame for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, an outcome West Brom will be mindful of, as it would take him away from England and potentially important fixtures in January.
Willy Caballero (Man City)
Second-choice goalkeeper has become a more acceptable post at Europe’s super clubs. Iker Casillas endured it at Real Madrid for 18 months while captaining the club, and Pepe Reina has just agreed to deputise at Bayern Munich.
The arrival at Manchester City of the excellent Willy Caballero nonetheless poses some interesting questions.
At Malaga, where he thrived under Manuel Pellegrini, now the City manager, he was consistently among the best keepers in the Primera Liga for three seasons and was deemed unlucky not to be picked by Argentina, whom he represented at youth and Olympic level.
Pellegrini dropped Joe Hart, City and England’s No 1, for a time last season, and Caballero will press Hart for a place in the side. He is certain to have a fair crack at making the position his.
Pellegrini admires his quick reflexes, his deft footwork and the confidence he has that allows defenders to press up the field with the knowledge they have a man behind them who can control and distribute the ball from outside his box.
Whatever Caballero’s role, Hart will know he has competition. How he responds will be intriguing.
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