Just shy of the halfway point in the league season, and following a hectic World Cup break, club football has returned with an almost daily feast of games across a variety of competitions. This week also spells the opening of the January transfer window, where some clubs and sides will be spending big to recover their seasons or maintain their success.

We have seen many examples of big signings being made in January, however after what was such a big summer window for many sides, their spending may be slightly reduced in some cases. Reaching this milestone of the halfway point, and right at the start of a new window of spending for clubs, it’s now a perfect time to review the previous transfer dealings and pick out the top 5 signings of the 2022 summer transfer window (so far).

This list has picked out our 5 most influential players in the Premier League who arrived/moved in the summer window. This list is based on personal opinions, statistics and records of their work so far and also their overall influence on their club and their respective season to date.

As with all these rankings and listings, our choices are subjective, and we have unfortunately been quite obvious in some selections. That said, we’d love to hear who you have rated as the best 5 signings from the summer window and their respective impact on their new club so far. Maybe this is someone from your club, maybe it’s in the lower divisions or overseas, or maybe you agree entirely with our choices. Don’t forget if you want to submit your opinions or discuss our selections, you can do this over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog).

*This post was written in the first week of January, and all stats/records are correct at time of writing.*

5. Bernd Leno

Kicking us off on this list, or perhaps I should say, standing between the sticks, is Fulham’s shot-stopper Bernd Leno. Following his injury against Brighton in his Arsenal playing days, he struggled to every really recover his place in the side with the emergence of Martinez and subsequently the club spending on Aaron Ramsdale as their first-choice. Understandably, after sitting in the shadows of the newcomer at Arsenal, Leno decided to make a move, and after a short jump over to Fulham for just over £3million with potential to rise up to around £8million. A reasonable price and quite a large coup for a newly promoted Fulham who have ambitions to prevent yet another yo-yo season, and the acquisition of such an experienced player has proven an absolute bargain.

Playing in 16 of Fulham’s 18 league games thus far, the 30 year old has been crucial to Fulham’s early success, and currently sits as joint 2nd in the goalkeeper average ratings (according to Sofa Score). With his side sitting in the possible European positions in the league at 7th, they are ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Brighton, West Ham and many other big sides. Considering even I personally had essentially had them as almost odds-on for relegation, this is quite a huge start from the whole side, with Leno proving a key aspect of this impressive start.

His stats have been very impressive, conceding 25 goals in his 16 games, which admittedly is close to 1.6 per game, however this is level with the goals conceded by Spurs in 5th and much less than their fellow new arrivals in the league. With 4 clean sheets from his 16 games, he is in terrific company of Kepa and Alisson who are obviously expected to keep the clean sheets considering their whole squad. 3 of the goals conceded came from penalties which is pretty understandable, and only 1 from outside the box, he has been a huge last line of defence for Fulham and most certainly has earned his place on the list purely down to his help in getting Fulham into 7th at this almost halfway point.

4. Lisandro Martinez

In fourth spot, we had to include Martinez, not so much his statistical performances of specific moments, but honestly his influence at the club at such an early stage of his time. Going to Manchester United as another central defensive investment, he has massively outperformed his predecessors of the past 5 years, and has absolutely become a cult-icon in just under half of a season.

The now World Cup winner’s impact at the club can be shown purely in his return in their midweek match over Bournemouth, where the Old Trafford crowd gave him such a huge reception, not only for his success in the Argentinian side, but also I’m sure as relief he has returned to them uninjured and ready for the rest of the campaign.

Having been so heavily criticised by so called pundits at the early stage of his season, he has proved to be a hero of the Old Trafford crowd, who didn’t turn on him despite questions of his height, and instead grew to love the physicality and desire he plays the game with. “Argentina” chants have been heard at every single United game since his arrival and this is due to the passion he shows on the pitch and fight he plays with. The last player to leave the field, he has been the epitome of what their fans want to see in a season that was plagued with off-field issues and the whole Ronaldo saga.

Of course, he hasn’t purely made 4th place on this list purely on ‘vibes’, and actually his performances have been outstanding to watch. Obviously coming under criticism in the first games of the season where United were humiliated, and questions were asked of his physicality and height, but Martinez has been a leader on the pitch and begins to solve this issue that plagues United at centre back. With Varane an injury magnet, Maguire being shot of confidence and Lindelöf stepping into a ‘squad’ role, Martinez is surely one of the first names on the team sheet.

With 14 league starts so far, he has made team of the week on 2 occasions, kept 5 clean sheets and has been faultless in terms of errors leading to goals or even shots. His stats simply do not do the player justice, as his tackles per game, interceptions per game and clearances per game sit at reasonable levels, however when put into context of United’s lacking attack and scoring, his defensive work is the reason why they have only conceded 20 goals so far, and sit in 4th spot despite scoring fewer than 8 other teams in the league.

3. Casemiro

Staying in the red side of Manchester, this spot has partially been based upon recency bias, however it’s impossible not to acknowledge how crucial Casemiro has been since his admittedly surprising arrival at Old Trafford.

Personally, I will admit I was in the sceptical camp of the transfer initially, especially considering how United had been so persistent on De Jong, and then to seemingly splash big money on a 30 year old, experienced player who perhaps had begun to move past his prime. However, unlike some of those other ‘pundits’ who stuck to their opinion on the Brazilian’s arrival at Old Trafford, I have quickly backtracked on my initial thoughts.

Manchester United have always been heavily reliant on the kind of ‘subtle genius’ midfield players, of which you could name plenty. The likes of Keane, Scholes, Butt, Robson, Carrick all spring to mind as hugely influential players at the club who in the most part didn’t steal the limelight or headlines, but were crucial in the success of the club previously. Since the departure of Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher, United have been lacking so heavily in this area, and the likes of Pogba, McTominay and Fred simply couldn’t cut it in the same way. As a result, the spine of the club has been so woeful in the post-Ferguson era, however Casemiro completely plugs the gap, and brings back the memories of the aforementioned legendary talents.

The way Casemiro plays the game is so terrific to watch, and yet goes so easily under the radar. The passing ability, versatility, vision and reading of the game is one of the things that is so beautiful to watch, that there have been several occasions where I stopped watching the ball to simply admire what he was doing on the pitch. His link up again with Ronaldo never amounted to anything, however his influence at the club is surely going on and likely to help those around him.

Again, another example where perhaps stats don’t do enough justice to his influence on the team, however with 2 goals, 2 assists and 2 team of the week performances from just 10 starts, he is settling into life in Manchester very well. A guaranteed starter who had taken some time to be embedded in the squad, his passing accuracy sits at 80%, has 4 big chances created and has some terrific defensive stats in addition.

The money spent of course would not necessarily put him as a bargain, however, for simply his influence in solving an issue at the club that has existed for at least 5 years, makes him certainly one of the top signings of the summer, especially considering how we are only just getting to see how good he can be in this league.

2. Erling Haaland

Of course we had to put in the robot goal machine in this list, and perhaps we are being a bit controversial in only putting Haaland in second place, however when we look past the individual performance and think about his influence on the team, City weren’t exactly lacking in their attacking performances pre-Haaland, and so for this reason we have to go for second.

We can’t even do Haaland justice for how quickly he has settled into life in Manchester, where many previous players have struggled to make the move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League. Admittedly, his overall game doesn’t particularly do much on the eye-test, with only 24.9 touches averaged per game, however the ability to find the back of the net cannot be understated.

His scoring records are blowing everyone out of the water in the league, with 27 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions, and 21 from 15 starts in the league, on an individual level he could genuinely break all scoring records in an unbelievable short space of time. At such a young age and having already made a big move to England, we aren’t yet considering the long-term impact of Haaland on the Premier League in the way we have previously with Kane, however to be netting 1.3 goals per game, he should be aiming for at least 40 goals this season, if not getting close to 50.

With Haaland, there are still questions that could arise, as his move to City isn’t for just another league title, but instead European focus, and we know how Guardiola can get when the big European games role around, therefore we may have to see what happens in the second half of the season when rotation may halt his league scoring run. Furthermore, we can’t yet make any long-term projections for Haaland after such a blistering start, as he seems the kind of player who could move again, especially if there’s a post-Guardiola era in the offing over the next few years.

Purely if we were going on individual performances, Haaland would be no.1, as you simply cannot question how impressive his start has been in England, however for a team like City who often gets sides to roll over in 3+ goal victories, we have to look at overall performances, where perhaps Haaland hasn’t yet been utilised, simply acting as a target man and an almost poacher like attitude. I would love to see how he might develop in a different setup where service might not always be direct, but of course it’s worked well for the player and club so far. Additionally, if the Haaland transfer hadn’t happened, I would also imagine City would be in pretty much the same situation as they are now, which of course is impressive, however the Haaland headlines are yet to result in any team success, but once again I may have to eat my words in the next few months.

1. Gabriel Jesus

In first place, and for this list, he has ticked every single box, is the man who arguably was pushed out by Haaland’s arrival, Gabriel Jesus. As mentioned from the start, this list of signings is based on their individual performances, their impact on the team and club and also their impact based on value, and for me in the first half of this season, nobody comes close to Jesus in these areas.

Although currently injured, and perhaps lacking in his individual scoring stats, he has still played a crucial role in getting Arsenal to a 5 point lead at the top of the league. When many had expected the club to push for top 4, perhaps have to settle for Europa League, they have stunned many with how competent they look as a team unit, and Jesus has spearheaded this fantastically.

Arriving from City where he had been arguably underrated in his rotation/squad role, he has thrived under Arteta who has shown confidence in him to lead his impressive attacking line, and as a result he has been crucial to Arsenal’s success.

Of course, the debate will maybe be looked at again if Arsenal begin to slip up, or their form drops off, however they are doing the unthinkable currently in holding off City and Haaland by some distance. Not only have they picked up some big wins, but also they are putting in huge performances to get scrappy results, where the club have struggled and crumbled in recent years.

Jesus on an individual level has been impressive, but still with room to improve, as his 5 goals and 5 assists in the league don’t even put him into the top 20 in the scoring chart, but does see him into joint 4th in the assist chart. Despite this, his detailed stats all show an impressive start to life in London, and in my opinion his arrival is a huge reason for Arsenal’s success so far, and if they are to do the unthinkable and maintain their standing in the league this year, this will be massively due to the £45million they spent on the 25 year old.