We rank the best new signings of the Premier League season so far - with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and even Spurs providing entries in our Top 10.
We’re only five games into the Premier League season (and the odd cup tie here and there), so it’s really far too soon to start judging all the new signings teams made over the summer – but that isn’t going to stop us. Don’t you know there’s a three-week international break on? For goodness sake.
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We’ve decided to fill some of the cavernous Premier League void by pulling together our Top 10 of the best new arrivals so far. Whether our list looks remotely similar by the end of the season, we don’t know, but these are the guys who have got us excited over the past few weeks…
10. Christos Tzolis – Arsenal
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Tzolis started his season off like a steam train, causing Coventry City conniptions on the opening night of the season and providing four assists in his first five games (if you include the Community Shield, at least). The 24-year-old winger hasn’t been quite as good over the last few games, but he’s still created more chances than any of his team-mates bar Martin Ødegaard, and will get an extended opportunity to prove that he wasn’t a flash in the pan after Arsenal failed to sign another left-sided forward during the summer transfer window. The early indications are that Tzolis will take that chance.
9. Mamadou Sangaré – Brentford
Signed from Lens to be a midfield destroyer, the Malian has lived up to the hype he generated during an astonishing season in France – and has even been productive in the final third. Sangaré scored in pre-season against Eintracht Frankfurt and followed that up with assists in both of his next two games, which included an absolutely stellar all-round outing against Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend. Hard-working, determined and very good indeed at winning the ball back, the 24-year-old has been exactly as advertised.
8. Jan Paul van Hecke – Tottenham Hotspur
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Just about everything seems to be going wrong at Spurs – again – but nobody can lay any of the blame for their dire form at the feet of Van Hecke, who has been the standout in a defence which has struggled far less than the Spurs attack has. Van Hecke has simply picked up where he left off at Brighton and has been just as impressive on the ball as he has been off it. Few defenders look so good in possession or have as strong of a positional sense. Shame about the other 10 players.
7. James Trafford – Leeds United
Leeds spent a fair bit of money to sign Trafford despite the limited volume of hard evidence that he would be able to live up to his billing or his £40m price tag. Thankfully, he’s been just as good as Daniel Farke would have hoped. His extraordinary 87% save percentage leads the entire Premier League, as does his total of 20 saves. Trafford has made Leeds’ already sturdy defence look even stronger and solved a major headache which was developing between the sticks.
6. Elliot Anderson – Manchester City
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Signed for a colossal £116m, Anderson has quietly cracked on with the business of being one of the best holding midfielders in the top flight. Fuss free, composed on the ball and perhaps the best one-on-one defender in the division at this point, Anderson has been nearly immaculate and has given Manchester City the kind of rock solid base for possession that they’ve been missing since Rodri started getting injured. There’s are many reasons that they’re at the top of the table, and Anderson is one of the big ones.
5. Konstantinos Tzolakis – Hull City
Hull City owe quite a lot of their early successes in the Premier League to the 23-year-old Tzolakis, who found some inspired form immediately after making the move to Humberside from Olympiacos. His 17 saves is second only to Trafford, his 81% save percentage is excellent, and the xG model suggests that he’s prevented the equivalent of 1.5 goals already compared to the shots he’s faced – a very high number indeed after just five matches. A brilliant signing, so far at least.
4. Luka Vušković – Brighton & Hove Albion
Given that Spurs’ defence isn’t really the issue, they can’t be given to much grief for trading Van Hecke for Vušković – but given that the young Croatian has arguably been even better and cost less, one has to acknowledge that the Seagulls have got the better of the deal at this stage. Vušković is excellent on the ball, a big presence and set pieces and his positioning is pretty near to faultless at the tender age of 19. If he’s this good already, heaven knows how good he’ll be in five or 10 years’ time.
3. Morgan Rogers – Chelsea
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Given how much Rogers cost, Chelsea had every right to expect him to hit the ground running – but the speed at which he, Cole Palmer and João Pedro seem to have gelled and even improved each other is quite remarkable. Rogers already has three goals and four assists for his new club, and while Xabi Alonso’s project is still a work in progress, the former Aston Villa man has found some of his best form from the very start. If he carries on like this, he’ll have been worth every penny.
2. Tarik Muharemović – Leeds United
The Bosnian centre-back was brilliant in Serie A with Sassulo last season, and has picked up where he left off since moving to Elland Road – Leeds have managed to get their hands on a first-rate all-round defender whose defensive stats are through the roof right across the board, who can play a pass, and who has even succeeded with every single attempted dribble he’s made so far. Muharemović was supposedly wanted by several elite Italian sides but they all decided to look elsewhere for one reason or another. It would appear that they all messed up, and that their loss is Leeds’ gain.
1. Jérémy Jacquet – Liverpool
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A serious injury obliterated the second half of Jacquet’s 2025/26 season in France and kept expectations low for his arrival at Anfield, but instead he’s slotted straight into the starting line-up and looked like the second coming of Virgil van Dijk. But even Van Dijk was never quite this good with the ball at his feet.
Jacquet has been physically imposing, utterly dominant in the air and on the ground, outstanding in possession, and simply hasn’t put a foot wrong so far. He’s made a solid case for being the best player in the Premier League after five games, and he’s only 21 years old. If he keeps this form up – and stays fit – then his signing could end up looking like one of the best deals in Liverpool’s recent history.