Some summer transfers are already proving to be absolute game-changers. Think Gabriel Jesus at Arsenal, or Casemiro at Manchester United. Others are already threatening to become a bit of a disaster; Goncalo Guedes at Wolves, for instance.
A select few, however, you’d be forgiven for forgetting about completely. Such as the 29-year-old South Korean contracted to Nottingham Forest. Or the former Serie A stalwart now stuck on the bench at Brentford.
Here are six Premier League signings that totally slipped your mind.
Hwang Ui-Jo – Nottingham Forest, £4 million
According to reports coming out of Greece, former Bordeaux talisman Hwang could see his loan spell at Olympiakos cut short as early as January. The late-blooming centre-forward, scorer of 23 goals during his final two seasons in France, has made next-to-no impact after joining one of Evangelos Marinakis’ clubs from another during the final week of the window.
What comes next, only time will tell. Will Forest look to loan him out again in January? Or will Steve Cooper opt to make better use of a striker who’s nose for goal and razor-sharp movement could come in very handy in the midst of a brutal relegation battle.
Thomas Strakosha – Brentford, free transfer
The Greek-born Albania international agreed a four-year deal with Marco Silva’s Fulham five months ago (Gianluca di Marzio). But, after talks with the Craven Cottage outfit collapsed, Strakosha ended up a couple of miles down the road at Brentford.
The 27-year-old had made no secret of his desire to play Premier League football but, as the former Lazio number one is discovering, the grass is not always at it’s greenest on British soil. Strakosha played 31 games for one of Serie A’s biggest clubs in 2021/22. So far, however, his only action in Brentford colours has come against fourth-tier Colchester United in the EFL Cup.
Billy Gilmour – Brighton and Hove Albion, £9 million
On paper, Gilmour and Brighton felt like a match made in footballing heaven. A tenacious, technically-gifted footballer joining a club renowned for their free-flowing, possession-based style. The problem is, however, the former Chelsea wonderkid has two of the division’s most effective central midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order; the underrated Alexis MacAllister and the rambunctious Moises Caicedo.
“I really like Billy Gilmour,” head coach Roberto De Zerbi points out. “But Caicedo and MacAllister are two big players for us. He has to find the space to play and I have to give him more space but it is difficult.”
Denis Zakaria – Chelsea, on loan from Juventus
Another, like Hwang Ui-Jo, who appears to be counting down the days until January arrives. The Juventus loanee has not played a single minute for Chelsea thus far. And, while Graham Potter has indicated that a chance could come around ‘soon’, it would be a surprise if the powerhouse Switzerland international is still at Stamford Bridge in four months’ time.
Layvin Kurzawa – Fulham, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain
Kurzawa’s CV makes for rather glorious reading. 20 trophies, four Ligue 1 titles, and 13 caps for the French national team. A half-time hooking in October’s 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle United, however, was hardly the start the 30-year-old left-back would have been hoping for at Fulham.
Kurzawa has not been seen since. And, with Antonee Robinson going from strength-to-strength in West London, it remains to be seen when or if Kurzawa will be given a chance to prove that first impressions can be misleading.
Loic Bade – Nottingham Forest, on loan from Rennes
According to French publication Foot Sur7, Nottingham Forest’s Ligue 1 loanee is already growing frustrated with life at the City Ground. And who can blame him, really? The Rennes-owned £17 million centre-half has not even made his debut this side of the Channel, and that is despite the fact that no team in the division has conceded more goals than Forest’s 28.
Bade currently finds himself behind Scott McKenna, Joe Worrall, Steve Cook, Willy Boly and co in Cooper’s pecking order.
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