In the summer of 2021, the Premier League is once again the league with the most new players signed in the world. While minor leagues and other top leagues around the world struggled with the onslaught of the financial crisis, England's clubs squandered cash again, with some even breaking transfer records. Both Manchester City and Chelsea broke their transfer records, with the former breaking Britain's most expensive transfer record ever when signing Glalish from Aston Villa. Whether it's failing to meet expectations due to high fees or not performing well enough, so far, several large-scale deals in the first six months of the 2021-22 season have actually failed to work out optimally.
Glaliches (Aston Villa - > Manchester City, €118 million)
As a hero of Aston Villa, Jack Glalish left the club as a teenager in the summer to join Guardiola's Manchester City for a record Fee for a British player transfer fee. As Villa's captain, he has been fantastic and his threat from the edge of the penalty area has finally been raised to a new level last season, which gives City enough confidence that they can spend their money on 'Super Jack'. However, his life in Etihad did not begin to go exactly as planned. It's worth noting that immediate integration into Guardiola's Manchester City is a daunting task, and Rodri and Cancelo can attest to that, but Gralis has so far failed to come up with a £100 million worth of performance. With just two goals and two assists in 12 Premier League starts, he didn't inspire the team's attacking attributes, even though his creative stats are still impressive. Glalish was also recently penalized by Manchester City for disciplinary reasons.
Sancho (Borussia Dortmund - > Manchester United, €85 million)
Like Glalis, Sancho's life in Manchester didn't have a productive start. The former Manchester City youth player came to Old Trafford with a glorious reputation from Germany after a long time in Dortmund. However, this offensive talent and shooting ability is not well represented in the Premier League. Sancho scored eight goals and assisted 11 goals in just 24 starts in the Bundesliga last season, and considering his previous form, this season's form has been very sluggish. The England winger has scored just one goal in the English top flight this season with no assists. His performance against Wolves is a microcosm of United's career so far – zero shots, zero key passes and zero dribbling. Worryingly, these performances are frequently staged in Manchester. It's too early to draw conclusions about the transfer, as Sancho has been working on it.
Brian Hill (Sevilla - > Tottenham Hotspur, €22 million + Lamela)
After playing for Sevilla B, Brian Hill made his first league appearance against Atletico Madrid in January 2019 when he made his debut as a substitute for Ben Yeder. To help his development, he was loaned to Eibar for the 2020-21 season and was impressed with the Basque team. Although his talent can be seen in his performances and his offensive stats can be better, he has only scored six goals and four assists in his entire La Liga career. Tottenham invested in his much-anticipated talent in the summer but hasn't been successful so far, as he has only started twice in all competitions – none in the Premier League. Tottenham are clearly cautiously dealing with his adaptation issues after travelling from Spain to England, but it is a frustrating move considering the expectations that come with his arrival.
Saul (Atletico Madrid - > Chelsea, on loan)
Saul has been slowly declining in atletico Madrid in recent seasons, which is why Simeone wants to dump him this summer and bring in De Paulo instead. Chelsea decided to give him a chance in the hope of reigniting his former glory, but Tuchel was very disappointed with his signing on summer loan. His debut against Aston Villa set the tone for the rest of his Premier League career, and while he has been impressive in the last few games, he has so far been under-represented in West London. Against Villa, Saul didn't tackle or intercept, passed with just 81% accuracy, and was beaten to pieces by McGinn and replaced at half-time. The pace of the game was too fast for him and he was about the same when he was at Watford. Against Wolves and Brentford before Christmas, Saul appears to have gained a foothold, but so far it has been a complete disaster.
Vlasic (CSKA Moscow - > West Ham, €30 million)
The transfer went unnoticed throughout the summer, with West Ham signing former Everton player and Croatian attacking midfielder Vlasic from CSKA Moscow for 30 million euros. He only scored his first goal for the Hammers in a game against Watford on 28 December and was disappointed by such a high fee. Vlasic has played just eight games in the Premier League and in the London Bowl's appearance picks, he does fall behind Benrahma, Bowen and Fornals. It was a huge waste and they could have been used on the striker.