5) West Ham: Andre Ayew – £20.5m
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Having moved to a brand new stadium, West Ham needed a squad worthy of fighting at the top of the table and at least qualifying for Europe. Slave Bilic had overseen a Hammers revolution last season, partly due to the inspired signing of Dimitri Payet.
13 players have been signed this summer and Andre Ayew was their most expensive player. Signing a player from another Premier League club automatically sees a player’s market value increase and the Hammers paid £20.5m to sign him – much more than their previous record signing; Andy Carroll for £15m from Liverpool.
Unfortunately, Ayew suffered a thigh injury in the 2-1 loss to Chelsea that could keep him out for two to four months depending on whether he opted for surgery or not. Eventually opting to undergo rehabilitation instead of surgery, Ayew will be out for a while before he returns.
4) Leicester City: Islam Slimani – £29.7m
Defending EPL champions Leicester City have signed a total of seven players this summer. While their biggest loss was N’Golo Kante to Chelsea, they have tried to add some firepower to the squad.
Jamie Vardy now has some competition up front with two new forwards signed – the exciting, pacy youngster Ahmed Musa and deadline day signing Islam Slimani who cost the club £29.7m to sign from Sporting Lisbon.
Nicknamed the ‘Dragon Slayer’, the 28-year-old Algerian scored 31 goals in all competitions last season and was visibly moved to tears when he played his final game in Lisbon, a club he has played for since 2013.
“I saw the amazing success of last season and the passion of the club’s supporters,” Slimani said. “That’s something that I’m so excited to be a part of.”
