5 of the most underrated transfers this summer

We haven’t seen much business in the transfer window so far, mainly down to the World Cup. Last summer Premier League clubs spent a record £1.47 billion in the summer window. We haven’t seen anywhere near that much spent across Europe this summer, but with the season fast approaching, teams will be looking to get deals done.

We have seen a number of moves across Europe though. Manchester United paid around £50 million to sign Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, while Liverpool have splashed out over £90 million to bring Naby Keita and Fabinho to the club from RB Leipzig and Monaco respectively.

In Serie A, Inter Milan paid big fees to sign both Radja Nainggolan and Lautaro Martinez. Juventus have also spent a lot of money, paying over £30 million to sign Joao Cancelo, as well as making Douglas Costa’s spell at the club a permanent one.

In Spain, Atletico Madrid paid Monaco more than £50 million for the services of Thomas Lemar, while Real Madrid spent over £20 million to sign Alvaro Odriozola from Real Sociedad.

The biggest of the lot was Juventus' deal to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for a fee of around £88 million.

But it isn’t just the big money moves who will be looking to make their mark this season. There have been a few moves that have gone under the radar, and here are five of the most underrated deals of the summer so far.

#1 Justin Kluivert (Ajax to Roma)

Roma paid Ajax around £15 million to bring the son of Patrick Kluivert to the club. The 19-year-old will be looking to step out of his father’s shadow having spent his whole club career with Ajax. He is an exceptionally talented winger, who is also capable of playing through the middle, and there is certainly a lot to come from him.

He scored 12 goals in 44 league games for Roma, which isn’t too bad a record given that most of his appearances have come from the wing. He has already made his international debut for the Netherlands and will add pace and energy to an already quite young Roma squad.

He came to the attention of sides across Europe with a superb hat-trick against Roda JC and will be hoping for more of that when he moves to Serie A.

#2 Santi Cazorla (Arsenal to Villarreal)

Santi Cazorla

It has been a really tough few years for Cazorla, entirely due to a recurring Achilles problem, that has limited him to just 23 league appearances over the course of the past three seasons, and he didn’t appear once last year. It does look like he is finally returning to full fitness though, having begun training again at the end of last season. It wasn’t enough for him to earn a contract at the Emirates though, and he won’t be a part of Unai Emery’s squad.

This means he has returned to Villarreal, where he spent four years earlier in his career. Obviously, it will take a while for him to return to form, and he may never reach the levels he was at in his prime with Arsenal. But he is a very clever player, and he knows Spanish football very well, so knows what sort of thing is needed for him to succeed there. On a free transfer, it is a very shrewd piece of business by Villarreal.

#3 Alban Lafont (Toulouse to Fiorentina)

Alban Lafont

Lafont is one of the lesser known names on this list, but don’t expect it to stay like that for too long. He is only 19, but made 106 appearances in all competitions for Toulouse before he made the move to Italy this summer. He was also named as the second best goalkeeper under the age of 20 by the CIES Football Observatory earlier this year, behind just Gianluigi Donnarumma.

He became the youngest goalkeeper to appear in Ligue 1 in 2015, when he made his Toulouse debut at the age of 16 years and 310 days. There are high hopes for Lafont in France, and many believe that he has the potential to be the number one for the national team for many years to come. Fiorentina have paid just £6 million according to reports, and if they give him the game time that his potential deserves, he could prove to be a real bargain.

#4 Jonny Evans (West Brom to Leicester City)

Jonny Evans

It was only last summer that the Northern Ireland defender was being linked with a possible move to either Arsenal or Manchester City, but Leicester have now pulled off somewhat of a coup by bringing Evans to the King Power Stadium. Having been part of a West Brom side that were relegated from the Premier League, the Foxes were able to activate a £3 million release clause in Evans’ contract, and it could be a bit of a bargain.

Even though his side were relegated last season, Evans is a solid defender, with a lot of experience and leadership qualities. Leicester were also in need of a new centre back, having seen Robert Huth leave the club at the end of last season, while Wes Morgan isn’t getting any younger. He is likely to partner Harry Maguire in the back line, and given Maguire’s superb performances at the World Cup, they could form an excellent partnership.

#5 Ryan Fredericks (Fulham to West Ham)

Ryan Fredericks

There probably won’t be too many better free transfers in English football this season than Fredericks. It was a bit of surprise seeing him leave Craven Cottage after an excellent season with Fulham that saw him help the side gain promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs. He was a key player for Fulham, and certainly deserves the opportunity to show what he has to offer in the Premier League.

West Ham look like they mean business this summer. As well as Fredericks, they have already bought in Lukas Fabianski, Issa Diop and Jack Wilshere, as well as still working on deals for Andriy Yarmelenko and Felipe Anderson. Fredericks will be an important player in the coming season though. Pablo Zabaleta played at right back for much of last season, but he isn’t the player he once was, and it was important that West Ham looked to strengthen in that area this summer.