In a follow up to yesterday’s blog, where we covered players who joined, amongst others, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester City, we now look at the rest of the Premier League. What other players who joined a Premier League club (whether from home or abroad) could have done a job at ours?

Manchester United

Luke Shaw – Kieran Gibbs has problems. We discussed this yesterday. We need to begin looking at replacing him in the long term. Whilst Luke Shaw is expensive, he would have been a very long term signing, able to make the left back position his own over the next 10 years. Yes, he might be a little bit tubby at the moment, but I am sure this is just baby fat. The lad is class.

Angel di Maria – Bully’s star prise gamble. The speedboat. The caravan. Yes, at £60m he was expensive, but if the plan was to play Alexis Sanchez down the middle, surely a smart move would then be to have di Maria on the left? Imagine di Maria, Sanchez & Walcott bombing forward, with Mesut Ozil in behind them.

Radamel Falcao – Ok, he would have cost the club £100million, but he is a World Class striker.

Queens Park Rangers

Steven Caulker – We are short in defence. Caulker is a very good player, who could have fitted in nicely as our 3rd choice centre back. At just £8million, he is a steal. He is still only 22, so the former Tottenham trainee would have a long future at us, and has the potential to become a 1st team regular.

Southampton

Graziano Pellè – The injury to Olivier Giroud maybe came a little too late, but the big Italian was an option long before that. With us short up front before Giroud’s injury, he could have been a like for like back up. At 6 4 and £8million, he has scored 55 goals in his last 66 games. At 29, he might not be one for the future, but he is a proven goal scorer.

Toby Alderweireld – Upon selling Thomas Vermaelen, a centre back replacement was apparently high on our radar. How we then did not compete for a loan deal for Alderweireld is beyond me. He cover’s both centre back and right back (he is basically a right sided Vermaelen) and is a regular Belgium international. The only thought is maybe he wanted guaranteed first team football.

Sunderland

Jack Rodwell – He might have had a few injuries in the past, but reports are he has maintained his fitness at Manchester City in the last year. He seems to have been around forever, but is still just 23. Naturally a defensive midfielder, he has the passing technique to pay our high tempo game, and has also previously played centre back in his youth career. Signing for Sunderland for £10million, he could have solved a lot of problems at Arsenal for a long time.

Tottenham

Ben Davies – By now you are getting to understand that I do not see a long term future at Arsenal with Kieran Gibbs as 1st choice left back. Davies is yet another fullback who transferred this summer. He would have been a cheaper option than Luke Shaw, but has just as much potential. At 21, he has already made over 70 Premier League appearances.

Federico Fazio – I have rated this guy ever since I first bought him on Football Manager – although I have still never seen him play. We are short at centre back. He is 6 5 and, like Hangeland, could have been the perfect understudy for Mertesacker. And from what I remember, Football Manager used to list him as a centre back / defensive midfielder.

West Ham United

Cheikhou Kouyate – The New Patrick Vieira. Cost just £7million. He has impressed in his couple of performances so far for West Ham. 24 years old and 6 4, he would have added the power that we have missed since Patrick Vieira left.

Keenos

Follow @KeenosAFC