Five Premier League signings you might have missed that could prove significant

With the January transfer window now closed, Premier League clubs will have to make do with their current squads for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign.

Newcastle spent big, well sort of, and Aston Villa made some major statements whilst there were other clubs who had a quiet first month of 2022.

The likes of Philippe Coutinho, Bruno Guimarães, Dele Alli and Lucas Digne were all amongst the most reported transfers, but what business went under the radar and could prove a masterstroke for their new club?

Deniz Undav – Brighton & Hove Albion (£6 million)

Although they will not reap the rewards from his services until next season, Brighton could have a bargain in 25-year-old German striker Deniz Undav.

Having scored 18 goals alongside assisting a further 10 goals, Undav has had a stellar first half of the season with Belgian first-tier side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.

The Seagulls have allowed the Belgian outfit to keep hold of their star striker for the remainder of the campaign on loan before making the step up to the Premier League next season.

Countless arguments can be made about how significant a step up the English top-flight is from the Belgian, however, with the 25-year-old well on course to surpass 40-goal involvements by the end of the season, the South Coast club may have sealed a bargain.

Jean-Philippe Mateta – Crystal Palace (undisclosed)

Having joined Crystal Palace on an 18-month loan deal last January from Bundesliga outfit FC Mainz 05, Mateta has certainly endured a mixed first year at Selhurst Park.

The striker burst onto the scene by scoring his first goal for the Eagles away at their arch-rivals Brighton in just his third appearance for the South London club.

However, he failed to find the back of the net for the remainder of the campaign.

With Patrick Vieira replacing Roy Hodgson as manager last summer, it took the Frenchman until late December to get a run in the Palace side. In this last month, he has scored twice and could be a regular for the final months of the season.

Given his recent spell in the team, Palace opted to make the 24-year-old’s loan move permanent which could prove to be particularly shrewd.

Moreover, Vieira’s squad is not particularly packed with quality strikers.

Summer signing Odsonne Edouard has started life in England well since making the move down from Celtic, scoring six goals so far. Furthermore, Mateta, at just 24, gives the Eagles a long-term option that, most likely, will only improve.

On the other hand, Christian Benteke has netted four goals but is 31 and will surely start to struggle to keep up with the Premier League’s intensity whilst Jordan Ayew is a year younger than his Belgian teammate and has only netted once this term.

Nathan Patterson – Everton (£16 million)

Although £16 million for a 20-year-old right-back with 27 senior appearances for Rangers seems a steep fee, Everton could have a long-term servant that will more than justify the price tag over the coming years.

Seamus Coleman’s struggles, particularly this season, have been well documented and the addition of a new, much younger, right-back seems well overdue.

Now 33, the Irishman joined Everton 13 years ago and could well be in the final stages of his Goodison Park tenure.

Patterson, who has performed well for both Rangers and the senior Scotland national team over the past year, could well be the natural successor supporters from the blue side of Merseyside have been crying out for.

Samir – Watford (undisclosed)

Watford really are in trouble. It is January and they are already on their third manager of the season, somehow replacing Claudio Ranieri with someone who is older than the Italian in Roy Hodgson.

Furthermore, you would not put it past the Hornets’ hierarchy to part ways with the Englishman before the end of the campaign.

The Hertfordshire side are the Premier League’s joint-third worst defenders having conceded 40 goals already this campaign. However, a statistic like this highlighted the key area that needed to be improved during the transfer window.

In 27-year-old centre-back Samir, who signed from the club’s Italian partner Udinese, Watford have done exactly what they need as they have strengthened their defence.

By what degree will obviously take time to be found out, however, the Brazilian stands tall at a mighty six-foot-two and made just shy of 150 appearances for his former club.

Chiquinho – Wolverhampton Wanderers (£3 million)

Let us be honest, it would not be a transfer window without Wolves adding to their collection of Portuguese assets.

21-year-old winger Chiquinho is the latest of what is now an impressive array of Portuguese players who have made the move to the Black Country.

Having gone through the youth ranks at Sporting Lisbon, the 21-year-old joined Estoril in January 2020 and made 44 first-team appearances, scoring six goals and eight assists.

The youngster has already featured for Wolves’ under-23s and could prove to be a snip at just £3 million.

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