The Debate: Who will be the Premier League signing of the season?

With a new Premier League season comes a raft of new exciting summer signings eager to set the division alight.

The 2024/25 campaign will be no different, with teams up and down the top flight having bolstered their squads in the off-season.

Last season saw Cole Palmer dazzle in a slightly darker shade of blue after swapping Manchester City for Chelsea, with Arsenal's Declan Rice and Tottenham's Micky van de Ven also catching the eye.

Which new signing will make the biggest impact in the 2024/25 Premier League season?

The bet365 News team have their say.

Savio - Manchester City

Liam Williams

It’s virtually impossible to know what XI Pep Guardiola will name on any given Saturday afternoon, and with that in mind, we don’t know exactly how much Savio will play this season.

If he does play a significant role, however, it will likely to be to Erling Haaland’s benefit. The winger is so direct with the ball at his feet that he can make the route-one Jeremy Doku look ponderous.

Manchester City have such a variety in personnel throughout the pitch that they can cause problems for every type of opposition. If anybody dares to grant them space out wide, the likes of Doku and Savio can put them to the sword. If a team decides to sit deep, the more intricate Phil Foden and Jack Grealish can carve them open.

City have a multi-dimensional attack, and the controversial signing of Savio could be what holds off Arsenal and sees them land a historic fifth straight title.

Of course, the reason for the controversy around Savio’s move to Manchester City is because he was deemed to be bought by the club at a price a long way below his market value from a fellow City Football Group club, and when you consider that the Brazilian was still signed for a not-insignificant £30m, it gives you an idea of Savio’s potential.

Although he only came off the bench in the Community Shield against Manchester United, we saw a glimpse into what the Brazilian will offer Guardiola – and Haaland.

Savio was one of the stars of surprise package Girona’s season last term, and was named in the La Liga Team of the Season (albeit amongst 14 other players and four other forwards). Savio chipped in with nine goals and 10 assists in Spain last year, and if given an opportunity to shine by Guardiola, he could well light up the Premier League too.

Dominic Solanke - Tottenham

Jaquob Crooke

Buying a decent striker is an increasingly tough gig, which is why this deal is an absolute cracker.

Tottenham spending big bucks for a striker who enjoyed his best Premier League campaign to date so he can thrive at the forefront of Ange Postecoglou’s manic attacking tactics.

It could quite easily end calamitously, but it has all the ingredients to deliver a mammoth wave of goals.

If the recipe can be followed correctly, Dominic Solanke’s acquisition should work out splendidly for a side that performed relatively well at papering over the void of Harry Kane’s departure last summer.

A big, bulky number nine offers Spurs a different dimension and helps to bring Son-Heung min, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson into play.

Solanke still has a lot of doubters. The Premier League is accustomed to a one-season wonder.

Except Solanke’s rise to prominence was set in motion by his 2022/23 campaign. He may have only returned six goals and seven assists but he was heavily influential in a Bournemouth side that surprised everyone and avoided relegation.

His development continued under Andoni Iraola and the Basque tactician unearthed the clinical touch to his game that was previously lacking.

Solanke’s work off the ball will endear him to Postecoglou and help Spurs to function. With the raft of creative talent working around him, he will be sure to get the service.

Tottenham promise to be another exciting watch and Solanke is the man who can help them to achieve a Champions League return.

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Riccardo Calafiori - Arsenal

James Wilson

Trailing champions Manchester City by just two points last season, Arsenal are now searching for the final percentage factors to finally get over the line.

It’s now universally accepted that in order to topple this juggernaut of a Manchester City side you have to be nigh on faultless.

Arsenal need to seek perfection, and if there was any identifiable weakness in their ranks last season it would be down their left flank.

The Gunners used a range of options at left-back over the course of last term, with Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko and Pole Jakub Kiwior the two most frequent starters in this role.

Zinchenko is a tremendously technically gifted footballer, but he is the not the most accomplished defender one-v-one, whilst as a more natural centre-back Kiwior has his limitations going forward.

In 22-year-old Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal have acquired a defender who can do it all.

Coming through the youth ranks at Roma as a left-back, the 6ft 2ins Calafiori has since began to play more regularly as a centre-back at both Basel and Bologna.

Taking his game to a new level under the guidance of new Juventus manager Thiago Motta at Bologna last season, Calafiori’s performances were rewarded with a call-up to Italy’s Euros squad.

Calafiori’s all-round skillset is highlighted by the fact he was in the top 3% for key passes per 90 (0.65) amongst defenders in Europe’s top five leagues last season as well as in the top 5% for percentage of aerial duels won per 90 (71.4).

Equally skilful on the ball as he is robust defensively, Calafiori’s attributes make him a perfect fit to replicate what Ben White offers Arsenal at right-back on the left side.

Should the Italian prove the final piece in the jigsaw to land Arsenal their first league title in two decades, he would surely go down as the signing of the season.

Niclas Füllkrug - West Ham

Mark Mothershaw

I know there may be a little scepticism amongst West Ham United supporters following the arrival of German powerhouse Niclas Fullkrug, but trust me, they needn’t worry.

The Hammers have finally found the perfect solution to their ongoing issues at the top end of the pitch with the capture of one of the most potent strikers in European football.

Yes, we’ve seen West Ham forwards turn up in their droves over the past decade or so, and many, if not all, have significantly underperformed.

The likes of Sebastien Haller, Gianluca Scamacca and Emmanuel Emenike failed to produce the goods in East London despite their hefty price tags, but this time, the outcome promises to be far different.

On paper, Fullkrug is the perfect fit for both this current West Ham side and the Premier League as a whole.

The burly frontman boasts all the necessary attributes to complement the Hammers plethora of attacking options perfectly.

With Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and fellow summer acquisition Crycensio Summerville all providing the ammunition, it’s almost impossible to imagine Fullkrug not being afforded ample opportunities to add to his ever-growing goal tally.

Despite being 31, and undoubtedly approaching the tail-end of his career, the German international is only now really starting to blossom into the elite-level player that he always threatened to become.

He arrives at the London Stadium on the back of netting 22 times across all competitions throughout the 2023/24 campaign, including three in Borussia Dortmund’s run to the UEFA Champions League final and a couple more at this summer’s European Championships.

Physically, he is a throwback to a previous generation of frontline strikers, but don’t let that mask his technical qualities.

He is a player who relishes the big stage too, having scored 13 times for his native Germany in just 21 appearances; at a rate of a goal every 63 minutes on the international stage.

No player in German history to have earned five or more caps can better that record.

Look, at 31, West Ham know there will be no financial return on a player who will be 35 by the time his four-year contract runs dry, but that doesn’t matter.

The near £30m fee paid to Borussia Dortmund has been forked out for the here and now, and I, like Lopetegui, am backing him to deliver the goods in a big way down in the Big Smoke. 

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