As we know, the world of Premier League football is currently gripped by panic over the fact two of the Big Six – a whole third of the clubs that matter – have not yet made any first-team signings for the new season. This is a catastrophe for the clubs involved, because there is quite simply nothing more important these days than “getting your business done early”. It’s what proper successful clubs do. Except when they don’t.
The benefits of getting as many deals as possible sorted as early as possible in the window are obvious, but it still appears to be true that who you sign is more important than when in the window you sign them. While Chelsea risk being left behind by Liverpool and Manchester City and United risk being left behind by Spurs and Arsenal, those are still currently very much only risks rather than certainties.
Here are some examples from the last few years of players signed – gasp – beyond the end of June (a point it is worth reiterating we have not yet reached this year) who still turned out quite good, and that’s without going back as far as 2016 and Chelsea themselves signing N’Golo Kante as late as July 16 having finished a lowly 10th the previous year and then, um, winning the league.
Players turning loan deals permanent have been excluded on the basis that they aren’t strictly ‘new’ arrivals and thus most of the arguments in favour of Getting Business Done Early don’t fairly apply to them anyway. Players rejoining a club after lengthy absences are allowed, though. The summer of 2020 comes with its own caveats, of course, but we’ve simply shifted from June counting as Business Done Early to July.
2021
Jose Sa (Olympiacos to Wolves, July 15)
Relatively unheralded keeper who faced the arduous task of replacing Rui Patricio, ended up a godsend for anyone compiling one of those teams of the season where you can only pick one player per club.
Marc Guehi (Chelsea to Crystal Palace, July 19)
Had never kicked a ball in anger in the Premier League until joining Palace deep into July. Ended the season an England player.
Conor Gallagher (Chelsea to Crystal Palace, July 30)
Another who managed to thrive despite not swapping Chelsea for Palace – temporarily in his case – until even later into July and finished the campaign with England honours.
Ben White (Brighton to Arsenal, July 30)
Played a full 90 minutes in 31 of Arsenal’s first 33 Premier League games of the season despite the shamefully…
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