135 chances created, and a name most English fans have not worn out yet
Christos Tzolis set up 135 chances in the Belgian top flight last season. That was 35 more than anyone else in the country, and 52 of them arrived from set pieces. Declan Rice, the man Arsenal usually hand that job to, managed 27.
Tzolis is now at the Emirates, brought in to cover the Leandro Trossard-shaped hole, and he already has two assists from the Community Shield win over Manchester City.
The Premier League returns on Friday, and with it the annual gamble on new arrivals. Rayan Cherki, Adrien Truffert, Senne Lammens and Hugo Ekitike all took to England quickly last year. Opta has run the same exercise for 2026-27 and landed on 10 names.
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Newcastle, Brentford and Villa went shopping in different aisles
Bazoumana Toure replaces Anthony Gordon on Tyneside, and the profile could hardly be more different. The 20-year-old is left-footed, sits on the left flank and creates far more than he finishes. Nine of his 14 goal involvements in the Bundesliga were assists, and his 115 open-play crosses ranked fourth in the division.
Brentford’s move for Mamadou Sangare still has plenty of people in France puzzled. The Malian ranked second across Europe’s big five leagues for ball recoveries per 90 minutes at 8.01, trailing only Elliot Anderson. Ball-winning is not the whole picture either. His 31 pre-assists were the fifth-best figure in Ligue 1.
Aston Villa lost Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans in the same window. Johan Manzambi, 20, arrives from Freiburg to patch the hole. At the World Cup he became the youngest player in at least 60 years to record five goal involvements in a single tournament.
The promoted clubs did not shop quietly either
Coventry turned heads with Caleb Yirenkyi. The 20-year-old Ghana midfielder came through Nordsjaelland, caught the eye at the World Cup and completed 91.8% of his passes in the Danish Superliga, the best figure of any midfielder in the division.
Hull beat off larger clubs for Lucas Herrington, an 18-year-old Australian defender signed from Colorado Rapids. Ipswich went bigger still, spending 24 million pounds on Brazilian forward Emersonn, who scored six times in 28 Ligue 1 outings last season.
Three gambles at the bottom of the table. Watch how they age.
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