Football Features

    From Lucas Leiva to Simon Adingra: 12 done deals you might have missed this past week

    By Ben Green

    From Lucas Leiva to Simon Adingra- 12 done deals you might have missed this past week

    Published: 16:01, 28 June 2022

    We are now just 40 days away from the Premier League starting, and summer activity is seriously beginning to hot up.

    In the past week Gareth Bale and Sadio Mane have found new homes after leaving Real Madrid and Liverpool for LAFC and Bayern Munich respectively.

    Quieter deals have transpired like Chelsea picking up Southampton teenager Eddie Beach and Arsenal sending promising Danish forward Mika Biereth out on loan to RKC Waalwijk.

    Somewhere in-between there has been a glut of business done by a range of top-flight European clubs ahead of 2021/22. Here we break down those transfers.

    Lucas Leiva

    To: Gremio

    From: Lazio

    Fee: Free

    Lucas Leiva has finally left Europe, returning to boyhood club Gremio, whom he initially left for Liverpool in 2007. The elegant anchorman was a hit on Merseyside as he claimed the club’s Player of the Year award in 2011/12, and then repeated those exploits in the Eternal City, scooping Lazio’s Player of the Season in successive campaigns between 2018 and 2019. After 544 appearances in Europe, he is now preparing to kick a ball on Brazilian soil for the first time in 15 years.

    Taiwo Awoniyi

    To: Nottingham Forest

    From: Union Berlin

    Fee: £17m

    Steve Cooper’s first major piece of transfer activity comes in the guise of a former Liverpool frontman. The Nigeria international spent six years on the books at Anfield, enduring seven loan spells in that time before completing a permanent switch to Union Berlin. In the German capital last term, Awoniyi bagged 15 Bundesliga goals, as well as studying for a business degree. Some may argue his acquisition is savvy business from the newly-promoted club.

    Joe Rothwell

    To: Bournemouth

    From: Blackburn

    Fee: Free

    Forest aren’t the only newly-promoted club who have been busy this past week, with Scott Parker successfully luring Joe Rothwell to the South Coast after the Manchester United academy graduate ran down his contract with Blackburn. A smooth midfield operator, Rothwell brings some much-needed depth and tempo-setting creativity to Parker’s squad.

    Malcolm Ebiowei

    To: Crystal Palace

    From: Derby

    Fee: Undisclosed fee

    Palace have shown a penchant for bringing through talented youngsters and fans at Selhurst Park will be hoping Malcolm Ebiowei can force his way into the first-team reckoning. The 18-year-old former Arsenal and Chelsea academy prospect tore it up for Derby last season and earned high praise from former manager Wayne Rooney, who had few inhibitions thrusting the precocious winger into the spotlight. Ebiowei has talent, potential and the right platform to continue his rise.

    Alphonse Areola

    To: West Ham

    From: PSG

    Fee: £7.8m

    Alphonse Areola referenced the “love from fans” he felt in east London last season as motivation for sticking around, and match-going Hammers will certainly be overjoyed with this acquisition. Utilised as David Moyes’ cup keeper last term, the towering Frenchman was a sensation in the Europa League as the club reached the semi-finals, and he also shone in the League Cup wins of Manchester United (keeping a clean sheet) and Manchester City (winning a penalty shootout). There are some suggestions he may displace 37-year-old Lukasz Fabianski in the league next term, and few West Ham fans would begrudge that decision (if it transpires).

    Johann Lepenant

    To: Lyon

    From: Caen

    Fee: £3.7m

    From one four-lettered club to another, Lyon have continued their shrewd summer of activity following the return of Alexandre Lacazette on a free transfer from Arsenal with the capture of teenage wonderkid Johann Lepenant from Caen. Reportedly in the crosshairs of both Arsenal and Marseille, the £3.7m couriered to Normandy for his services is an absolute snip if he lives up to his promise.

    Nick Pope

    To: Newcastle

    From: Burnley

    Fee: £10m

    It’s perhaps not the marquee signing Newcastle fans were expecting this summer, but if the Tynesiders are to establish themselves as a powerhouse in Europe, then sensible signings like Nick Pope will go a long way to carefully pushing them up the table. A formidable shot-stopper, the England international joins Eddie Howe’s men after suffering relegation with Burnley. With a World Cup fast approaching, Pope will no doubt want to keep himself in the limelight to stand a chance of making England’s final squad.

    Jose Luis Morales

    To: Villarreal

    From: Levante

    Fee: £1m

    It’s quite the underwhelming first signing from a Champions League semi-finalist this summer, picking up a veteran La Liga winger, who will turn 35 next month, but who are we to question Unai Emery who, last season, took a band of north London flops and turned them in European greats? Morales is familiar on the La Liga circuit and joins The Yellow Submarine to bring some attacking depth, and all without the club have to break the bank.

    Salis Abdul Samed

    To: Lens

    From: Clermont Foot

    Fee: £4.3m

    Lens have made their third signing of the summer with 22-year-old defensive midfielder Salis Abdul Samed, who joins from fellow Ligue 1 club Clermont Foot. The Ghanaian turned out 31 times for The Lancers last term as they just avoided relegation to Ligue 2 by the skin of their teeth.

    Oscar Fraulo

    To: Borussia Monchengladbach

    From: Midtjylland

    Fee: £1.7m

    The Denmark U19 international has upped sticks for Germany and will be hoping to break into the Gladbach starting XI in the years to come. The 18-year-old joins as Laszlo Benes leaves the club for Hamburg, offering head coach Daniel Farke an immediate replacement.

    Lucas Alario

    To: Eintracht Frankfurt

    From: Bayer Leverkusen

    Fee: £5.6m

    The Europa League winners have been busy this summer as they prepare for the Champions League next term, signing no fewer than nine players to date, including Mario Gotze, Jens Petter Hauge on a permanent (following his succesful loan spell), and now Lucas Alario. The nine-capped Argentina international trades Leverkusen for Frankfurt following five years at the BayArena, during which time he appeared 293 times and scored 111 goals.

    Simon Adingra

    To: Brighton

    From: Nordsjaelland

    Fee: £6.9m

    Brighton have almost proven a Football Manager fantasy in recent years, collecting some of the game’s most under-the-radar talents and hidden wonderkids. In 20-year-old Simon Adingra, they have an absolute star for the future. The precocious Ivory Coast winger is coming off the back of a stellar breakthrough season in the Danish Superliga and will be aiming to translate that form to the Premier League next term.

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