Jores Okore
Aston Villa have recently acquired Jores Okore who has signed for a fee thought to be in the region of £4million (1). He has become FC Nordsjælland’s most expensive sale ever and allegedly turned down a move to Chelsea in order to sign for the Midlands club.
At 20 years-old the Danish international has a lot of developing to do but his form for his former club led him to becoming the vice-captain and attracted interest from all around the globe. Villa now have more competition for the centre-half position this season and this addition to their defence along with Antonio Luna at left-back has really strengthened the club’s main weakness.
Dejan Lovren
Southampton have managed to capture the 24-year-old Croatian centre-half Dejan Lovren from Olympique Lyonnais. Although only 24 the defender has bags of experience and has played many times in the Champions league against some of the Europe’s best strikers.
At the age of just 20 whilst still playing for Dynamo Zagreb he was exposed to both European competitions and will be confident he can step up to the standard of the Premier league immediately. The fee is believed to be estimated around £8.5m (2) but I think after a season or two showing his class in the Premier league I could see him moving to a bigger club and dictating a larger fee.
It shows you the power a foreign manager can have to capture a signing like this with Mauricio Pochettino in charge and with Di Canio recently acquiring Emanuele Giaccherini from Juventus.
Andre Schurrle
Andre Schurrle is a magnificent coup for Chelsea and will light up the Premier league this season. Similar to Lovren at just 22 he has experienced all levels of football including the Champions league and also featuring in a very talented German side in which he has already been capped 24 times.
The only concern for Chelsea fans is that Schurrle plays down the left hand side and sometimes as an inside forward. This suggests that maybe Mourinho has plans to offload Juan Mata who has been linked in an exchange deal to bring Wayne Rooney to Stamford Bridge.
Schurrle is a top-class finisher who managed 11 goals in 34 league games last season who also possesses excellent work-rate and pace. "Andre can become an absolute world-class player," Rudi Voller is sure that Schurrle will excel in the Premier league and continue to develop into a top class player.
Sources:
1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2340472/Aston-Villa-4m-bid-Jores-Okore-accepted-close-Nicklas-Helenius.html
2. http://www.football.co.uk/southampton/saints_sign_croatian_defender_lovren_rss4289639.shtml
Source: DSG
