This has been a busy July for all football clubs and there has been hundreds of players trade in their old football kit and seek greener pastures.
Whether it be the prospect of football trophies, football medals or even just a change of scenery, players have traversed oceans and leagues in search of a new start.
We’ve picked out some of the most interesting transfers to whet your appetite for the season ahead, with the first footballs being kicked in a couple of week’s time.
Andy Carroll has been eager for a return to Newcastle and despite the Magpies submitting an offer the Liverpool striker has ended up being sent out on loan to West Ham with a view to having a buy out clause for £17m should the Hammers stay in the Premier League in their first season back in the top flight.
Carroll was not happy about it though and he has repeatedly said he does not want to leave Anfield, presumably unless it’s to return to Tyneside, but he clearly is not featured in new Reds boss Brendan Rogers’s plans this season.
It’s not all disappointment for the Magpies though. Australian defender Curtis Good has been drafted in from the land down under’s Melbourne Heart on a six year deal. Good is a graduate from the Australian Institute of Sport and is an Australian U19 international, so it could be ‘Good’ times ahead for the youngster providing he can pull up his football socks enough to match the pace of the Premier League.
Everton has played a spectacular one-two by buying back Steven Pienaar from Spurs just 18 months after they sold him to the London club.
Pienaar started only four games for Spurs before being loaned back to Everton and starting in 14 matches, looking strong and confident in a team with less talent to obscure him and giving him the chance to shine. The South Africa international says he’s delighted to be back at the Toffees and hopefully he will have learned a lot of useful tricks form his time in London.
The Toffees will be pleased to have him back after they sold midfielder Tim Cahill to the New York Red Bulls and Major League soccer.
Spurs have brought another star to the Premier League by capturing Ajax’s highly rated defender Jan Vertonghen for an undisclosed fee. Although to give an indication of how much they paid, Ajax rejected two bids from Spurs because they wanted £12m for the Belgian international, so the figure is likely to be around that mark.
Welsh Premier League side Swansea City have managed to pull off a season-long loan agreement for Villareal midfielder Jonathan de Guzman. The Netherlands U19s international has played under Michael Laudrup before and the midfielder is Laudrup’s second signing since becoming Swansea boss. Although born in Canada he moved to the Netherlands when young and played over 100 games for Feyenoord after joining their youth academy.
So plenty of new talent has arrived in the greatest league on earth, let the games begin.
