Tottenham Hotspur's Paulinho And Real Madrid's Isco Feature In Top Five Transfers This Summer

Among all the frantic additions in the summer transfer window so far, hereai??i??s a look at the top 5 transfers so far in terms of value addition to the squads.

1. A?lvaro Negredo

Sevilla to Manchester City

Transfer Fee: A?23 million

Manchester City have welcomed Manuel Pellegrini with open arms and a sackful of money to spend this summer. Itai??i??s quite a relief to see this money put to good use. A?lvaro Negredo is a player bought to play the role of the target man for Cityai??i??s front line. After the departures of Mario Balotelli and Carlos TAi??vez, attack is one area City were seriously short on cover. Edin DA?eko might have seen this as an opportunity to establish himself as the main target man for City, but with all due respect to the Bosnianai??i??s technical ability, Negredo is all that DA?eko is and more. Power, balance, a ferocious left foot and surprising agility for a big centre forward, Negredo looks to be the ideal target man for Sergio AgA?ero, Stevan JovetiAi?? and Samir Nasri to play around.

Hailing from the Madrid suburb of Vallecas, Negredo failed to hold his own at Real Madrid and started his career anew at Almeria where he hammered in 32 goals in 70 games. Sevilla came calling and Negredo has since grown from strength to strength, netting 70 goals in 139 appearances for the La Liga side. Nicknamed the Beast of Vallecas, Negredo has earned a reputation in Spain for his strength on the ball and for his feared left foot. He is joining Manchester City to be part of perhaps the strongest offensive line up in the Premier League. AgA?ero, John Guidetti and the recently bought Stevan JovetiAi?? have a wealth of talent but the man in direct competition with Negredo for the starting berth at City will be the Bosnian striker DA?eko. Both players are similar in playing style and technical ability. Both have thunderous left foots, good heading abilities and are good at laying the ball off to their teammates. Negredo though has a slight edge to his game – he is quicker and far more agile than the Bosnian.

A quick look at the stats tells us that Negredo has a higher ai???shots per gameai??i?? ratio than DA?eko (4.2 vs. 2.8), a higher ai???Aerial Duels Won per Gameai??i?? ratio (3.6 vs 2.9) and more goals per game (25 in 36) than DA?eko (15 in 38); although DA?eko played about half those games as a substitute. It might be unfair on the Bosnian if Negredo is favoured to him at the Etihad this season, but the Spaniard possesses the flair of Iberia with the strength of a beast, making him the perfect striker to adapt to the more physical English game and to chip in with moments like the ones below. Manchester City fans must be delighted to welcome the new striker to the blue half of the city.

2. Radamel Falcao

Atletico Madrid to Monaco

Transfer Fee: ai??i??60 million

As a newly-promoted club to the first division, how do you underline your ambition for the coming season? Easy – by beating off interest from the defending champions and signing a star forward even before a ball has been kicked in the new season. That PSG got their hands on Edinson Cavani is another matter. Much before Cavaniai??i??s move to Paris, Monaco, after gaining promotion to Ligue 1, hijacked the Colombian forward Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid amidst talks of various big clubs vying for his signature. It is almost never that one sees a player of such pedigree sign for a newly-promoted club to become part of a revolution. Monaco may have deep pockets and may have spent big this summer by adding the likes of JoA?o Moutinho,Ai??James RodrAi??guez,Ai??Ricardo Carvalho,Ai??Ai??ric AbidalAi??andAi??JAi??rAi??my Toulalan to their squad, but Falcao is the crown jewel.

41 goals in 51 appearances for Porto in the Portuguese league, followed by 52 in 67 games in La Liga for Atletico is no mean feat. Monaco have without a doubt thrown the gauntlet at Paris St. Germain for the coming season. The rich Qatari owners of PSG now look with growing anxiety at the principality of Monaco whose Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev seems to be building a proper project.

Falcao has undoubted ability and pedigree. He is in many ways similar to his South American counterpart Cavani and is a proven goalscorer in one of the best leagues in the world. 60 million euros is quite the price tag, but Falcao is one player who would have no problems justifying the money splashed out for him. With a goals per game ratio of 0.60 in the league and 0.92 in Europe, plus a pass success percentage of 79.9%, Falcao looks set to rule the roost in Ligue 1 and challenge Ibrahimovic for the top striker role in France. These are exciting times for giddy Monaco fans, who will be looking forward to a bit of this in the coming season.

3. Paulinho

Corinthians to Tottenham Hotspur

Transfer Fee: A?17 million

If thereai??i??s something more heartening to see than a new pretender to the top four elite in the Premier League, it is a pretender who got there with shrewd business and not due to a bucket load of riches. Daniel Levy is as shrewd as they come. And as Tottenham hold out for a staggering A?125 million plus a player in exchange for Gareth Bale, they go on increasing quality to the squad. Soldado looks set to join Spurs. They already have one of most highly-rated goalkeeper in the world, the quickest right-winger in the league, a promising back line consisting of Walker, Dawson and Verthongen, and a midfield that is as efficient as they come. Well almost. As powerful as Moussa Dembeleai??i??s runs from midfield and as effective as Clint Dempseyai??i??s guile are, they miss a third presence in midfield. Sandro is injury-prone, Tom Huddlestone has flattered to deceive and Scott Parker has more turning radius than a double decker bus.

This is where the Paulinho transfer makes a lot of sense. At 25, the Brazilian is the perfect foil to Dembeleai??i??s marauding runs from midfield. He will provide depth to a Spurs midfield seriously lacking it. Paulinho is a tackler in the Parker mould, but with much more speed about him. He can unlock defenses and intercept passes and score the goals. Paulinho has scored 4 goals in his last 7 games for club and country and this is another transfer that indicates the right direction Spurs are heading under Andre Villas Boasai??i??s management. Paulinhoai??i??s arrival gives the North Londoners a complete look and if they were to hang on the Gareth Bale for one more season, there would be few who would write them off from finishing in the top three in the Premier League this season.

4. David Villa

Barcelona to Atletico Madrid

Transfer Fee: ai??i??5.1 million

What a steal! David Villa for 5.1 million euros! The football world was left scratching their heads in bemusement at Villaai??i??s transfer to Atletico Madrid at such a throwaway price. Here is a Spanish international forward, who just three years ago won the World Cup, and a couple of years ago scored in the Champions League final on route to a victory. Admittedly Villa is 31 and is pushing past his prime, but he still has a lot to offer and Atletico Madrid seem to have gotten away with murder. After getting 60 million euros from Falcaoai??i??s sale to Monaco, they have managed to replace him with an older, but equally prolific David Villa for 1/12^th the transfer fee.

Villa had fallen down the pecking order at Barcelona last season and although he played 41 games last season, 18 of them were from the bench. With Neymarai??i??s arrival, Villa wouldai??i??ve fallen further into obscurity on the bench at Camp Nou so the move definitely suits the Spain international. But how Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone managed to make the deal happen when several big clubs were lining up to secure Villaai??i??s signature weai??i??ll never know; and that too at a bargain price. The transfer is one of the best bits of business seen in recent times and Villa is sure to be a success at the Vicente CalderA?n Stadium. Villa is a talented forward who can play up front or on the wing. To score 14 goals from an average of 1.8 shots per game last season is evidence enough of his expertise at finishing. Villa also has an unusually good passing success rate for a forward at 83% in La Liga. One of the definite bargains of the season, Villa is sure to get a starting berth and the guarantee of playing Champions League football for another year. What a steal indeed!

5. Isco

Malaga to Real Madrid

Transfer Fee: A?23 million

So Real Madrid have signed another budding Spanish youngster. Along with Illarramendi, Isco has ushered in a rare transfer strategy for the Madrid club. Having always been seen as a club that went after the Galacticos – the best players in the world, Madrid have had a slight change in plans. They may still be going after Gareth Bale like the Coyote after the Roadrunner, but the signing of Isco and Illarramendi are clues to Madridai??i??s changing transfer policy. They have often seen the talented Spanish youngsters sign for La Liga rivals Barcelona. Iscoai??i??s signing however, is a step in the right direction for the club.

Having spent a gazillion euros on creative midfielders like Kaka and Luka Modric who have flattered to deceive, Madrid now have the chance to build a young Spanish international play-maker. Isco will not have a better opportunity to learn with icons like Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas in the dressing room. After the ridiculous amount of spending Madrid have done on midfielders in the past, Isco seems like a more pragmatic bet. At 21, Isco is not even close to his peak, yet he has already impressed in Champions League football with Malaga last season and the Euro U-21 competition more recently, where he recorded a pass success percentage of 90% and scored 3 goals in 5 games for Spain. Playing slightly on the left in central midfield, Isco is expected to be the creator for the Real Madrid goalscorers. He might be able to fit into the Madrid philosophy of play where Modric and Kaka have failed miserably. With superb ball control and great vision, Isco has already proved he has what it takes to be a top player. Madrid have bought the future of Spanish football. Cue the orchestra.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Paulinho And Real Madrid’s Isco Feature In Top Five Transfers This Summer

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