Bruno Fernandes (Sporting to Manchester United, £46.5m + £21.2m add-ons)
Bruno Fernandes has done for Manchester United what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta: he has made them relevant again. His arrival was the catalyst for a 19-match unbeaten run that suggested they might finally be turning a corner after seven years of post-Ferguson muddling. It’s not just his goals and assists – a record 13 in his first 10 Premier League games – but his personality, infectious standards and irrepressible positivity, which have dragged other players closer to his level. He is proof that playmakers can also be leaders. His belting volley at Brighton, at the end of a blistering counterattack, symbolized United’s improvement either side of lockdown, and he won both player and goal of the month for June. No United signing since Eric Cantona has had such a profound impact. Even his bad games made him look good: when he tired towards the end of the season, United suffered their first blip since he signed. It was confirmation that, after just six months at Old Trafford, he is United’s most important player.
Danny Ings (Liverpool to Southampton, £18m + £2m in add-ons)
Sam Allardyce used to say that he would get a really big coaching job if he was called Sam Allardici. In terms of external respect, Danny Ings has a similar problem. If he was called Ingzaghi, we would marvel at the range of accomplished finishes he has produced this season: 22 in total, just one behind the Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy. Instead there is an unspoken consensus that his form is probably a one-off rather than the age-old tale of a good player going to the next level. That’s also in part because of Ings’ style – he looks like a blue-collar worker, with a relentless, scurrying manner, and it’s notable that his pressing from the front has led to a number of Southampton goals this season. In some ways he is like a swan in reverse, with all that furious paddling on the surface obscuring a tranquil mind. There is a cool precision to his finishing – look at how often he finds the bottom corner – and any striker, British or otherwise, would be proud of this season’s portfolio.
Raúl Jiménez (Benfica to Wolves, £30m)
Raúl Jiménez might be the best all-round center-forward in the league – a better link player than Sergio Agüero, a better dribbler than Harry Kane, a more reliable goalscorer than Roberto Firmino. The occasional rabona aside, there is an unobtrusive class to Jiménez’s work, and his double act with Adama Traoré is among the most lethal in the league. He scores all kinds of goals, from the mundane to the spectacular; he beats players, holds the ball up and is a good passer. And he’s even rotation-proof: Jiménez has started all bar one of Wolves’ Premier League games. The more you watch him, the more you wonder what the catch is, and why Benfica sold him so cheaply. With each passing game, the suspicion grows that there isn’t one.
Rodri (Atlético Madrid to Manchester City, £62.8m)
Rodri is a scholar of the unseen details that determine a football match. At least we think he is; we can’t see them. But we know because Pep Guardiola, the world’s leading authority on the work of a deep-lying midfielder, says so. Such players reach their peak at a later age than most, so Rodri’s maturity is a revelation for a 24-year-old. Amid City’s egregious title defense, Rodri has done enough to confirm he is Fernandinho’s long-term successor. He has been the most accurate passer in the entire league this season. His 178 completed passes against West Ham in February set a new Premier League record and highlighted his role as the tiki to everyone else’s taka. Rodri’s defensive role is even more important; he reads danger well and, yep, is an excellent judge of a tactical foul. As with all the best deep-lying midfielders, Rodri offers both darkness and light.
Allan Saint-Maximin (Nice to Newcastle, £16.5m + £3.5m add-ons)
In the age of Covid-19, Allan Saint-Maximin puts a new twist on an old maxim: he is worth the Sky, BT Sport and Amazon subscriptions alone. Newcastle have not been the easiest team to watch in recent years but Saint-Maximin, an outrageous bargain at £20m, has changed all that. He’s not so much a street footballer as a playground dribbler, who receives the ball and decides it’s time to take on the world, just for the hell of it. His speed, trickery, ceaseless imagination and confidence make him a nightmare to play against, not least because a defender has no idea what is going to happen next. Nor does he. Saint-Maximin’s dribbling style is similar to that of Ronaldinho, who almost convulsed with excitement at what he was going to do next. On his good days – and there have been plenty of those, especially since lockdown – Saint-Maximin can be devastating. He picked up a hat-trick of assists when Newcastle thumped Bournemouth 4-1 at the start of July. On others, his decision-making can be woefully awry. But that’s all part of the fun.
The Guardian Sport
