4 of the best Premier League winter signings this decade

It’s not long now until the Premier League clubs will have the opportunity to strengthen their squads by entering the winter transfer window, with some clubs needing reinforcements more than others. Ahead of the opening of the winter window, we’ve had a look at 5 of the best signings that Premier League clubs have made this decade.

First, we’ve got Luis Suarez when he signed for Liverpool from Ajax during 2011. Despite costing less than Andy Carroll who arrived during the same window, it was Suarez who turned out to be the better purchase by Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool. Suarez’s 82 goals in 133 games for Liverpool established him as one of the deadliest strikers in Europe and was pivotal in Liverpool’s title challenge during the 13/14 season. Suarez’s form attracted interest from Barcelona who signed the Uruguayan for around £65m in July of 2014.

Sticking with Liverpool, we’ve got Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk. Prior to van Dijk’s arrival at Anfield, Liverpool looked poor in defense and were lacking leadership, so the signing of van Dijk from Southampton for around £75m during the 2018 January transfer window was exactly what Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp needed. Van Dijk got off to the perfect start at Liverpool by scoring the winning goal in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup and played a vital role in Liverpool’s European campaign which saw them reach the Champions League final. Despite suffering defeat in the final to Real Madrid, Liverpool redeemed themselves by winning the 2019 Champions League final by beating Tottenham, and it looks like both van Dijk and Liverpool could be on their way to their first Premier League title this season.

Next, we’ve got Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who signed for Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund during the 2018 Winter window. Aubameyang has hit the ground running since joining the Gunners, scoring 53 goals in 83 games and despite Arsenal’s poor start to the season, it would have been a lot worse without Aubameyang, as he has scored 10 of Arsenal’s 21 Premier League goals this season. It has been recently reported that Aubameyang has no intention of staying at Arsenal and will be looking to leave the club in the summer, if that's the case it will be a huge miss for Arsenal.

The second defender on this list is Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte who joined city from Athletic Bilbao during January of 2018. Since arriving in Manchester, Laporte has established himself as Manchester City’s best defender and a fantastic replacement for Vincent Kompany who left City at the end of the 18/19 season. Laporte perfectly fits Pep Guardiola’s style of play at Manchester City as his confidence and composure on the ball allows him to bring the ball out from the defense, with his physicality and strong aerial presence also being useful for City at the back and being key in City’s fantastic form over the past couple of seasons.