Angel Di Maria, Diego Costa and 10 Other Instant Premier League Hits
They were two of the biggest new arrivals to the Premier League this summer, and so far neither Angel Di Maria nor Diego Costa have let their new fans down.
The performances of the Argentina and Spain internationals at Manchester United and Chelsea respectively have seen them quickly establish themselves in the Premier League, but what about the other new arrivals to the division this season?
Here are 10 others who—having never kicked a Premier League football before 2014/15—have quickly settled in.
Leonardo Ulloa
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Goals at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Championship meant that Leonardo Ulloa already had a good grounding in English football before his switch to the Premier League this summer, but any questions over his ability to cut it in the highest division have emphatically been answered affirmatively.
The Leicester City forward has been one of the deadliest finishers in the campaign so far, scoring goals against the likes of Everton, Arsenal and Manchester United as well as a priceless winner in a victory at Stoke City.
As the Foxes continue to give the impression that a mid-table finish is a serious possibility, they’ll be banking on the Argentinean keeping up his fine form.
Diafra Sakho
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Given Mauro Zarate’s previous highs at Lazio and the fact that Enner Valencia had impressed at the World Cup for Ecuador, the signing of Diafra Sakho was very much greeted with minimal fanfare by West Ham supporters this summer.
The forward had only ever scored goals in the second tier of French football with Metz, but Sam Allardyce saw some qualities in him that could translate to Upton Park and he’s so far been rewarded.
Goals against Liverpool and Manchester United are the sort of thing that Sakho would have dreamed of when he made his move, whilst he was also instrumental in the recent victory over QPR which showed that any West Ham relegation worries can be forgotten about for now.
Alberto Moreno
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Left-back has long been a problem position for Liverpool, with even the more successful Reds sides of the recent past featuring the likes of Djimi Traore, Emiliano Insua and Andrea Dossena there, whilst last season’s duties were often shared between Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan—who are more used to the right.
Reds fans will hope that their issues have been solved by the arrival of the 22-year-old Alberto Moreno from Sevilla, with the youngster having a difficult debut at champions Manchester City before bouncing back to score a fine goal in a win at Tottenham.
Clearly happier going forward than defending, that description can also apply to the rest of Moreno’s teammates, and his new supporters have quickly taken to him.
Graziano Pelle
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Southampton’s Capital One Cup second-round tie at Millwall at the end of August might not have registered too highly on the radars of football fans, but when Graziano Pelle scored in stoppage time at The Den after a miserable evening featuring several missed chances, you got the sense that a burden had been lifted.
He’s pretty much not stopped scoring ever since, finding the net twice in a home game against Newcastle and scoring a wonderful acrobatic volley against QPR, also at St. Mary’s.
His goals earned him a call-up to Antonio Conte’s Italy squad ahead of more established names like Mario Balotelli, and Saints fans will hope that the strikes are just the start of Pelle showing similar form to that he managed under Ronald Koeman when the pair were previously together at Feyenoord.
Alexis Sanchez
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The celebrations from Arsenal supporters when their club signed Alexis Sanchez this summer were more akin to those you see when a club wins a trophy, and having seen the Gunners lift the FA Cup in May those same supporters were imagining the Chilean spearheading the assault on more glory.
Arsene Wenger is still finding where best to field the several talents that he has at his disposal—with the injury to Mesut Ozil now hardly doing him any favours—but he has to find a role for Sanchez in his plans, perhaps fielding him alongside fellow new recruit Danny Welbeck to form a potent attacking pairing.
Sanchez’s excellently taken goal against Manchester City was perhaps the highlight of his Premier League career so far, but there promises to be so many more to come.
Abel Hernandez
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Uruguayan forwards have dominated headlines in England for a while now, and following the departure of Luis Suarez the Hull City forward Abel Hernandez promises to keep the nationality in the spotlight.
The club-record arrival has scored with a fine header against West Ham and a penalty against Manchester City so far, and given that Steve Bruce appeared to spend the transfer window revolutionising his attacking options—adding the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Gaston Ramirez and Mo Diame—then Hernandez promises much.
The former Palermo man appears made for the Premier League, and if he can do half as well as Suarez, then goals will be a given.
Daley Blind
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Other Manchester United arrivals will take the headlines and the plaudits, but Louis van Gaal’s signing of his compatriot and Dutch World Cup player Daley Blind promises to be just as crucial an addition as any of the others made by the club this summer.
With his mobility and effective screening of an often suspect defence, Blind is a huge upgrade on the ageing and currently injured Michael Carrick in a position which has let United down so much in recent years.
His versatility may also come in handy in the future given the injuries which are currently affecting the United back line, but right now Blind’s best position is in a defensive midfield role which is so crucial to United climbing back towards their perch.
Dusan Tadic
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The former FC Twente midfielder Dusan Tadic was one of the more eye-catching arrivals at Southampton this summer as plenty wondered just how they’d cope following the losses of several of their most high-profile players. It turns out they’ve coped pretty well.
After setting up a goal for Nathaniel Clyne at Anfield on his Premier League debut with a clever flick, Serbian Tadic has proven to be a top-quality performer and one who fits in exactly with the philosophy that coach Ronald Koeman is trying to implement.
His introduction to English football may have been a gradual one, but that only serves to heighten the expectations of Saints fans the longer the season goes on.
Enner Valencia
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As mentioned earlier when discussing Diafra Sakho, West Ham fans would have seen Enner Valencia in action had they watched an entertaining but limited Ecuador side play at the World Cup where he scored all three of their goals—including two strikes in a win over Honduras.
There is little doubt that the highlight of Valencia’s time in England so far was his stunning, spearing 25-yard drive into the top corner in the 2-2 draw at Hull City, and although he’s so far shown himself to be a plenty capable of these great moments rather than any great consistency, the forward is an added element to what has become a fairly vibrant West Ham side.
Sam Allardyce is in uncharted waters.
Radamel Falcao
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Everything that Manchester United fans read and watched about Radamel Falcao following his breathless arrival on transfer deadline day focused on his goals—and lots of them—so they would have been somewhat surprised to see the Colombian register two assists on his first two starts for the club.
They both aided Robin van Persie in scoring against Leicester City and West Ham, before Falcao was doing what he does best in popping up with a poacher’s strike in the win over Everton shortly before the international break.
It promises to be his first strike of many this season.
Angel Di Maria
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As Jamie Carragher noted on Twitter, Manchester United’s most expensive signing and costliest player brought to the Premier League has a habit of producing inadvertent brilliance, with several assists and a goal against QPR all looking rather fortunate.
The chaos that Angel Di Maria creates in an opposition defence always makes such moments seem likely, though, and with further goals against Leicester and Everton already on his United CV, the Argentinean is shaping up to be worth every penny of the £59.7 million that his club paid to take him from Real Madrid.
Di Maria is the player who United fans have pinned their hopes on as they bid to return to former highs, and that looks to be a pretty safe bet so far.
Diego Costa
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Fish to water, Sven-Goran Eriksson to money, Diego Costa to the Premier League. Some things are just drawn to each other, and Chelsea’s centre-forward is a perfect example of that.
Whereas last season the division came under the spell and the guile of Luis Suarez, this campaign already looks as though it will be dominated by the brute force of the Brazilian-born Spanish international, who has scored nine goals in seven appearances so far—including a hat-trick in a win over Swansea City.
Suarez scored 31 goals last season to claim the Golden Boot, and Costa looks like going very close to that.
