Top 5: Premier League 2016 summer signings

07 August 2016 Wembley: FA Community Shield - Leicester City v Manchester United :Zlatan Ibrahimovic of United.Photo: Mark Leech

With the Premier League season now well underway, we can already begin to see those players who are making an almost immediate impression for their clubs and who, almost undoubtedly, will be setting the Premier League alight throughout this campaign.

This summer’s transfer window saw more money spent than ever before by Premier League clubs, with over £1 billion being laid out on some of the world’s best players.

During the summer, 13 of the top-flight clubs broke their own transfer records and bought in players from the best leagues from all over the world.

Manchester United splashed out a world record £89m this summer to re-sign Paul Pogba from Juventus – Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

With the likes of Ahmed Musa, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, İlkay Gündoğan, Leroy Sane, Paul Pogba, Vincent Janssen and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all arriving this summer, there was never going to be a shortage of talent in England this season.

Whilst several of these big names have already highlighted their worth, there are some players who have gone almost under the radar after making their switch to the Premier League, but who have made just as much of an impact as any of the players named above.

Now five games in to the new campaign, here are five summer signings who have already proved their worth in the Premier League season so far…

Idrissa Gueye

Photo: Paul Roberts / Offside.

When Ronald Koeman went to Championship side Aston Villa to make Idrissa Gueye his first signing for Everton, many eyebrows may have been raised – and rightly so – as he activated a £7.1m release clause in his contract.

However, after an impressive debut against Tottenham, the central midfielder will have quietened his critics and answered any questions about his attitude and potential level of performance.

The Senegalese international has gone on to play every minute of Everton’s matches so far this season and seems to have adapted playing the ‘N’Golo Kante’ type role for The Toffees.

Islam Slimani

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Whilst Islam Slimani has only made one Premier League start for champions Leicester City, he has already showcased his potential and the extra dimension that he can add to Claudio Ranieri’s side.

The Italian manager must have been keen to bring the Algerian to the King Power Stadium as he broke the club’s record transfer fee for the Sporting Lisbon star.

The £29m striker announced himself with two goals on his debut and appeared to provide an aggressive aerial threat, which will surely prove to be another weapon in Leicester’s arsenal.

The 28 year-old is undeniably one to keep an eye on this campaign.

Granit Xhaka

Photo: Mark Leech / Offside.

Granit Xhaka arrived at the Emirates over the summer and has already found his feet playing at the top level.

Upon signing for Arsenal, the midfielder was renowned for his passing, tackling and leadership abilities, but his talent to find the net from long-range has emerged as an added bonus for manager Arsene Wenger.

The Swiss international scored a 30-yard screamer against Premier League opposition Hull at the weekend, before following this up with an almost carbon copy in Arsenal’s thrashing of Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup.

The summer signing has featured in six of the Gunners’ matches so far and Wenger is already likening the defensive midfielder to club legend Emmanuel Petit.

Eric Bailly

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Eric Bailly has impressed massively since signing for Manchester United, and whilst some believed that his £32m price tag was far too much for the central defender, he has already started to demonstrate his worth.

The 22 year-old is the only player to play in every minute of every game for the Red Devils this season and he won United’s Player of the Month award for August.

The Ivorian was untested before Mourinho came calling, having made only 40 starts in La Liga for Villarreal and Espanyol, but he has made a great start to life in the Premier League so far and is definitely one to continue watching this season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Since signing on a free transfer for Manchester United over the summer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has proved to be quite the signing.

Although there were questions over how the Swedish superstar would perform, the 34 year-old has showed that he can still perform at the very highest level.

Ibrahimovic already has four goals in his first five Premier League games for Jose Mourinho’s United and he also scored the winner in this season’s FA Community Shield against Leicester.

Any early doubters certainly have been proved wrong and the striker definitely looks to have a promising campaign ahead of him.

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