Strictly speaking, the search to find the bargain buy of 2022/23 begins and ends at the size 13 feet of one man. Step forward the goal-scoring phenomenon that is Erling Haaland.
Bought for just £6m more than Manchester City received from Arsenal for their peripheral attacking talent Gabriel Jesus, and a whopping £34m less than Liverpool shelled out for Darwin Nunez, the formidable Norwegian has smashed records for fun this term, finding the net 42 times in 37 appearances to date.
In the Premier League he has already out-scored seven of the last 10 Golden Boot winners while his recent fifth strike against RB Leipzig in the Champions League means he has fired more goals in a single season than any other player throughout Manchester City’s long history.
Remarkably, the Blues have a maximum of 17 games still to play for Haaland to extend on his unprecedented output.
In an era when gold-standard superstars fetch well over £100m, his £51m represents a superb bit of business for the reigning league champions. It’s a snip at half the price for a forward who could very conceivably go down as one of the greatest ever to inhabit his position.
Indeed, so incredible has been Haaland’s impact – and so astronomical are his projected accomplishments - it is tempting at this juncture to announce, ‘case closed’ and move on to the infinitely more juicy ‘flop of the season’ but wait, because there is a notable hitch.
Can any player, no matter how sensational, ever be deemed a ‘bargain’ when his fee surpassed the entire summer spending of Brighton and Leicester combined? It feels incongruous. It feels wrong.
Some criteria therefore must be met and it’s a criteria that additionally rules out a pair of Manchester United signings, with Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro transforming the Reds but both for a pretty penny. Furthermore, while we’re explaining the rules here let’s point out that only players bought last summer count.
All of which takes us first to Craven Cottage and a signing last August that went under the radar a little, largely because it just made a whole lot of sense.
Bernd Leno
Having lost his number one spot at Arsenal, Bernd Leno was in desperate need of games and that looked especially unlikely at the Emirates when the Gunners swooped for Matt Turner as their preferred back-up.
Fulham, meanwhile, on gaining promotion to the top-flight were keen on upgrading their goalkeeping options, ideally bringing in someone with a wealth of experience at the highest level. After a prolonged bout of haggling an agreement was eventually struck.
At the time, before a ball had even been saved in anger, it was a deal that screamed value for money for the Cottagers, managing to secure the services of a German international for a paltry initial sum of £3m, that would rise to £8m should Fulham avoid relegation for two years running with Leno playing a pivotal role in that happening.
Now that we’re actually witnessing these events occur, his fee just looks distinctly silly.
For Leno has been fantastic for the London club this term, keeping seven clean sheets and putting in a clutch of game-changing performances. Furthermore, his presence and know-how have been key in Fulham routinely subverting the football betting and remaining in the upper half of the table.
Nick Pope
Leno therefore has to be a contender, while elsewhere another keeper should absolutely be in the running, the player in question being Newcastle’s cheapest purchase last summer yet undoubtedly to this point their most important post-takeover.
Providing a surety in between the sticks that they previously lacked, Nick Pope has kept 13 shut-outs so far, performing heroics behind a defence that boasts the best record in the top-flight, and then some.
No player has done more to ensure that the Magpies remain short-priced in the Premier League betting to grab a top four spot while his £10m fee is proof that even the exceedingly rich can spot a bargain just like the rest of us.
Tavernier, Lavia & Hickey
Going around the grounds we find further steals, with Marcus Tavernier a reliably high performer for Bournemouth and all for just £12.5m after signing from Middlesbrough.
A little further along the south coast, midfielder Romeo Lavia is proving on a weekly basis that he is destined to become a household name before his career is out. Southampton saw Manchester City coming when their bid of £15m was reluctantly accepted.
Lastly, Aaron Hickey’s switch to Brentford from Bologna warrants due acknowledgement, the left-back arriving in West London for just £18m. If the Scot isn’t sold on for an enormous profit in the near-future then something is very amiss.
All things being equal however, the award for the Bargain Signing of the Season for 2022/23 should be shared on this occasion with the consistency, importance and influence of Leno and Pope hard to ignore and impossible to separate.
It can be said for certain that the award will be in safe hands.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
