Premier League: Three summer signings who flattered to deceive this season

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Bengaluru, Nov 19: Premier League clubs had a total summer spending of around £1.5 billion this summer combined, a figure that could have easily been much bigger if Chelsea were not imposed a transfer ban by FIFA and Liverpool not particularly spending. After 12 games into the season, we have already seen some of the mega-money signings proving their worthwhile we have also seen some of the major signings flattering to deceive.

In this article, we will look at three such signings which have not gone well at all.

Pablo Fornals - West Ham United

West Ham signed versatile attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals this summer from Villareal for a fee around £24 million. The Hammers certainly had bigger expectations from the 23-year-old as they started the season with quite a capable squad especially boasting quality options in attacking midfield. Their season is not going particularly well as they languish in the 16th position after 12 games.

Fornals is yet to open his account in the Premier League. He did score once for the club that came on his debut against Newport in the League Cup but since then, he has hardly been able to make an impression. Appearing eleven times for the Hammers this season with six of those coming from the bench, the Spaniard is yet to find his first assist as well.

Joao Cancelo - Manchester City

With Manchester City desperately craving for a new world-class centre-back following the departure of Vincent Kompany, Pep Guardiola stunned everyone by not signing one and rather spending a fortune to bring Joao Cancelo to the club from Juventus. The Cityzens looked in no need for a new right-back and even after almost half a season, it is unclear why the Portuguese was bought.

The 25-year-old has made 11 appearances in all competitions for the Cityzens this campaign with five of those coming from the bench. In those games, he proved why he is the backup of a declining Kyle Walker who is still miles ahead of him. The £27.5million used to sign Cancelo should have been spent on a centre-back and Manchester City could have retained a better player in Danilo.

Nicolas Pepe - Arsenal

Arsenal made a strong statement in the summer when they signed Nicolas Pepe from LOSC Lille for a fee of £72m. The Ivorian was wanted by clubs like Liverpool and Bayern who are right now in a much better place compared to the Gunners. However, the Ivorian has so far been a major disappointment and has done no justice to his massive price tag.

Not only has the fleet-footed winger failed to make a serious contribution in open play, but he is also being outperformed by academy boys like Bukayo Saka. The 24-year-old certainly has an excellent ability on the ball but the final product has been missing. Even though he is still young and new to the Premier League meaning that he can improve a lot but expectations have to be big from a £72m signing and thus far he has flattered to deceive.