The transfer window is shortly coming to a close for Premier League clubs and it was certainly a memorable one with many new Premier League players to look for. We saw big names like Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibali and Erling Haaland make stunning moves and we also saw Manchester United’s epic chase of Frankie de Jong. Often it isn’t the biggest transfer of the window that makes the biggest impact, but some of the more interesting ones. Here are three new Premier League players to watch out for in the 2022-2023 season.
Gianluca Scamacca
Probably the new Premier League player on this list with the most fanfare Gianluca Scamacca is a is Italian international striker that has signed for West Ham from Sassuolo for a reported fee of £30.5 million with add-ons. The 23-year-old attacker has had a reputation as a great future prospect since 2014 when he made his debut for the Italian u17 side at just 15 years old. Scamacca stood at this level despite the age difference, this was in large part due to his excellent physical attributes. Standing 6 foot 5 inches tall Scamacca is a physical specimen and he will look to use these attributes to dominate Premier League defenders in the air. Unlike most strikers with his physical profile, Scamacca is mobile and has the type of movement that you expect from a striker in the modern game.
It took time for Scamacca to show his undeniable talent at the senior level with the player spending the last few years moving between clubs and struggling to find consistent form. It was last season though that Scamacca truly broke through and began looking like the player he was expected to develop into. Last season the player netted 16 times in 36 Serie-A appearances and also had no real injury worries for the entire season. He was a handful for the opposition in almost every game he played and it was this that likely alerted English clubs to his ability. With West Ham manager David Moyes favouring attackers that excel in the physical side of the game Gianluca Scamacca will get opportunities to show what he can do this season.
Amadou Onana
The youngest new Premier League player on this list Belgium U21 International Amadou Onana has recently signed for Everton from the French side Lille for a reported fee of around £32 million. Onana is a powerful well-rounded midfielder that has bags of potential. Standing at a tower 6 foot 5 inches tall Onana is unsurprisingly usually deployed as a defensive midfield player as this is where he can use his physical attributes to his advantage. Despite his physical qualities, Onana is more than just a midfield enforcer that covers the back line. Onana is also a player that gets around the pitch well and is confident with the ball at his feet.
A player with which Onana shares a similar statistical profile is Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay. Both are tall central midfield players that can be relied on to fill in roles in the middle of the park despite mostly playing in the defensive role. Both are excellent in the air and Onana especially tends to charge forward and make lots of interceptions. This was evident in his stats last season where Onana had 3.52 tackles and 2.14 interceptions per 90 minutes played, making him one of the top 5% in Europe at completing these actions. Also, like McTominay, Onana is not a progressive passer of the ball and has more success driving forward with the ball at his feet than trying to pick out passes through the midfield area. With Everton having such a hard time defensively over the last 18 months Onana should be able to provide a lot of protection for that back line and will likely stand out in doing so.
Mikkel Damsgaard
The most exciting new Premier League player on this list is the new Brentford Acquisition the Danish International Mikkel Damsgaard. The 22-year-old attacker has joined the club from the Italian side Sampdoria for a reported fee of around £13.5 million. Damsgaard is an extremely versatile attacking player that can play anywhere across the front line and is comfortable in attacking midfield roles. Once considered a potential “wunderkind” Damsgaard struggled to make an impact on the score sheet during his time in Serie A and only netted twice in 49 games for the club. This would be alarming for the player as he was used to having a far bigger impact on his side. While at Nordsjaelland Damsgaard contributed 34 goal contributions in 93 appearances for the Danish side.
While it might be easy to look at Damsgaard’s drop-in form at Sampdoria and overlook the signing, doing so would see you miss out on where Damsgaard truly shines. That is his ability to defend from the front and cause all sorts of issues for any side that is trying to play out from the back. On average Damsgaard pressures the opposition 26.78 times, successfully tackles 3.34 times and blocks 2.02 times per 90 minutes played. These are astounding numbers for an attacking player. Individually for all three of these stats, Damsgaard is in the top 1-2% in European football and combined he is second to absolutely nobody as a defensive forward. With so many teams nowadays attempting to play out from the back Damsgaard may well thrive as a new Premier League player, especially at a team like Brentford that already enjoy playing against sides that struggle against a press.
Who do you think will stand out in the Premier League next? And who could be the best new Premier League Player to watch? Let us know what you think! If you enjoyed this content then follow me on Twitter @AzLynchy and also make sure to follow @FootballOTH for more football content!
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