EPL Summer Transfers That Are Extremely Underrated

Excited about the kick-off to the upcoming Premier League season and setting eyes for the first time on the plethora of word-class stars set to grace the top flight? Well, there are also an equal number of exciting new, but underrated, arrivals to set the pulses racing which may have slipped under the collective radars this summer.

And we are here to give you the fans a quick nudge in the direction of some of these less-celebrated performers so as to mark your card before the 2013/14 top-flight campaign finally gets underway on Saturday, Aug 17…

Gerard Deulofeu (Everton)

Age: 19
Position: Forward
Signed from: FC Barcelona
Transfer fee: None if the player features in more than 50 percent of all Everton’s games next season Transfer type: Season-long loan
Contract length: One season

Signed by Everton last week, the Merseysiders have got themselves  “a real diamond of Spanish football and a boy with incredible footballing talent” in the words of new Toffees head coach Roberto Martinez.

And it is hard to disagree with the Spanish coach, with the 19-year-old rated by his employers at Camp Nou as being the most talented and technically accomplished of all the current crop of young stars to have emerged from La Masia in recent times.

However, Deulofeu is far from being a household name even at Goodison Park, where it was rather embarrassingly misspelt when the player’s new shirt went on sale on Tuesday in the club shop, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham)

Age: 30
Position: Goalkeeper
Signed from: AS Roma
Transfer fee: Undisclosed
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Four years

Fulham head coach Martin Jol could not hide his delight after landing the experienced Netherlands international, commenting "He is a player of great quality and technical ability whose distribution and ability to react quickly and read the game is exceptional.”

And the Dutchman had good reason to be so happy, as the west London club have managed to lure one of the most underrated shot-stoppers currently plying their trade on the Continent, and a man who also featured in the 2010 World Cup final for the Oranje what’s more.

A brilliant coup by Jol and the Cottagers that has generally appeared to have passed unnoticed by most observers this summer.

Allan McGregor (Hull City)

Age: 31
Position: Goalkeeper
Signed from: Besiktas
Transfer fee: £1.5 million
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Three years

Newly promoted Premier League outfit Hull already know that they face an uphill task just to remain in the top flight next season.

However, the Tigers’ chances of beating the drop have now been greatly aided following the capture earlier this month of Scotland international No 1 McGregor from Turkish giants Besiktas.

The 31-year-old played 278 games for Glasgow Rangers, while he has also been capped 29 times by his country and is without doubt currently one of the most underrated keepers in Britain.

And so not for the first time in his managerial career, Hull boss Steve Bruce has once again pulled off a transfer blinder by bringing the Scot to the KC stadium this summer.

Iago Aspas (Liverpool)

Age: 25
Position: Forward
Signed from: Celta de Vigo
Transfer fee: £7.2m
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Unknown

Fans in the UK may know next to nothing about the Reds’ new diminutive Spanish attacker, who can operate in a number of different roles across the forward line, but those supporters who follow La Liga closely will recognise that Reds manager Brendan Rodgers has picked up a real bargain by signing Aspas.

The 25-year-old netted 12 times for his struggling employers last season, goals that effectively kept the Andalucians in the Primera Division, and this little pocket battleship of an attacker has already started banging them in for the Merseysiders in preseason.

Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City)

Age: 24
Position: Striker
Signed from: Sporting Lisbon
Transfer fee: 10m euros, with a possible 2m euros in add ons
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Four years

There may be a whole host of other bigger-name Dutch centre-forwards currently operating in Europe, however, underestimate Van Wolfswinkel at your peril.

The 24-year-old has a real eye for goal, and although he has only been capped on two occasions by the Netherlands since making his international debut three years, that is no reflection on his goalscoring abilities, more on the wealth of striking talent ahead of him.

And so expect the Dutchman to catch a few people on the hop in the upcoming campaign and to fully justify the Cannaries’ faith in making Van Wolfswinkel their club-record signing earlier this year.

Marc Muniesa (Stoke City)

Age: 21
Position: Defender
Signed from: FC Barcelona
Transfer fee: Free
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Four years

What a coup for new Stoke coach Mark Hughes to be able to lure the talented young Spain Under-21 international to the Britannia stadium this summer, and expect the utility defender to raise a few eyebrows with his abilities too.

Muniesa can operate at either left-back or as a central defender and was part of the Spain U21 squad that won this summer’s European Championship in Israel, while he was also on the substitutes’ bench for Barca when they beat Manchester United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final in Rome.

And this looks like being an extremely clever piece of business by former Barcelona striker Hughes, who has made full use of his many contacts in Catalonia to land the promising Spaniard.

Modibo Diakite (Sunderland)

Age: 26
Position: Defender
Signed from: Lazio
Transfer fee: Free
Transfer type: Permanent
Contract length: Three years

New Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has returned to his homeland and former club Lazio to snap up promising French defender Diakite on a free transfer after the 26-year-old had spent the previous seven years in the Italian capital.

And observers will be hugely impressed by the muscular and powerful central defender, who himself is sure to enjoy the physical nature of the Premier League, especially now that he has fully recovered after breaking his tibia at the start of the 2007-08 Serie A season.

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