By analysing transfers made by Premier League clubs over the last four seasons, we have been able to come up with a measure of how good-value signings have been. This method was then used to see where the best-value players have been bought from.
This time we will be considering the past form of signings in order to measure how well they have adapted to the Premier League.
As before, we use all transfers made by Premier League clubs made between the 2013/14 and 2016/17 seasons, where the player has made at least ten appearances for his new club (explained here). As we are considering past performances as well, this time we will only consider players who played at least ten matches for their previous club before moving.
For each player, the average rating (according to WhoScored) from their last three seasons with their old club is compared to the average rating in their first three seasons with their new club. If a player was on loan just before moving, they are counted as moving from the loaned club, since that is where their ratings are for.
The leagues for which ratings are recorded, and therefore can be used, are:
- England's Premier League (153 transfers)
- England's Championship (36 transfers)
- France's Ligue 1 (36 transfers)
- Germany's Bundesliga (33 transfers)
- Italy's Serie A (31 transfers)
- Netherland's Eredivisie (13 transfers)
- Russia's Premier League (5 transfers)
- Spain's La Liga (43 transfers)
The results
For each league, the average difference in ratings is recorded. The results of which can be seen below:
As we would expect, the English Premier League has the smallest difference in performance levels. It is also reasonable to expect La Liga to follow; this is widely considered to be the highest-quality league in the world, and therefore players who play well in that should find that they are of sufficient quality to play in the Premier League.
It is interesting to see that players moving into the Premier League from the Championship play at closer to their previous level than those from Serie A and the Bundesliga, both highly-regarded leagues. In other words, a player playing at a high level in the Championship is more likely to keep up that form in the Premier League than someone from the top leagues in Italy and Germany. Particularly given the recent success of German sides, this is a surprising result.
Significantly behind the other leagues is the Eredivisie, where signings have performed significantly below their level in the Netherlands. This is partly driven by players who have particularly struggled in England since moving, such as Depay at Manchester United, Janssen at Tottenham Hotspur or Henriksen at Hull City. It is also driven by players who was performing at an extremely high level in the Netherlands, whose performances in England have been good, but less spectacular, such as Southampton's Pellé and Tadic or Newcastle United's Wijnaldum.
Who were the best and worst adapters?
We can also use this method to look at the transfers in our data set to find the best and worst players at adapting to the Premier League. Click the name of each division below to see the five best and worst adapters from each league. The Russian Premier League is left out, since there are only five transfers in total.
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Moses, V |
Liverpool |
Stoke City |
6.35 |
7.45 |
+1.10 |
Townsend, A |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Newcastle United |
6.76 |
7.35 |
+0.59 |
Sigurdsson, G |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Swansea City |
6.56 |
7.09 |
+0.53 |
Benteke, C |
Liverpool |
Crystal Palace |
6.83 |
7.35 |
0.52 |
Bertrand, R |
Aston Villa |
Southampton |
6.44 |
6.95 |
+0.51 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Moses, V |
Stoke City |
West Ham United |
7.45 |
6.52 |
-0.93 |
Ayew, A |
Swansea City |
West Ham United |
6.98 |
6.24 |
-0.74 |
Sidwell, S |
Fulham |
Stoke City |
7.04 |
6.30 |
-0.74 |
Lambert, R |
Southampton |
Liverpool |
7.03 |
6.33 |
-0.70 |
Rémy, L |
Newcastle United |
Chelsea |
7.15 |
6.45 |
-0.70 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Afobe, B |
Wolves |
Bournemouth |
6.42 |
7.10 |
+0.68 |
Grant, L |
Derby County |
Stoke City |
6.72 |
6.99 |
+0.27 |
Phillips, M |
QPR |
West Bromwich Albion |
6.99 |
7.13 |
+0.14 |
Boyd, G |
Hull City |
Burnley |
6.75 |
6.85 |
+0.10 |
Fábio |
Cardiff City |
Middlesbrough |
6.94 |
6.99 |
+0.05 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Sako, B |
Wolves |
Crystal Palace |
7.31 |
6.54 |
-0.77 |
Gestede, R |
Blackburn Rovers |
Aston Villa |
7.56 |
6.83 |
-0.73 |
Sandro |
QPR |
West Bromwich Albion |
6.99 |
6.39 |
-0.60 |
Murray, G |
Reading |
Bournemouth |
6.96 |
6.38 |
-0.58 |
Hennessey, W |
Wolves |
Crystal Palace |
7.01 |
6.48 |
-0.53 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Martial, A |
Monaco |
Manchester United |
6.70 |
7.11 |
+0.41 |
Payet, D |
Marseille |
West Ham United |
7.27 |
7.67 |
+0.40 |
Cabaye, Y |
PSG |
Crystal Palace |
6.68 |
7.05 |
+0.37 |
Lovren, D |
Lyon |
Southampton |
6.95 |
7.32 |
+0.37 |
Kanté, N |
Caen |
Leicester City |
7.36 |
7.61 |
+0.25 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Thauvin, F |
Marseille |
Newcastle United |
6.94 |
6.20 |
-0.74 |
Manquillo, J |
Marseille |
Sunderland |
7.06 |
6.41 |
-0.65 |
Batshuayi, M |
Marseille |
Chelsea |
6.74 |
6.16 |
-0.58 |
Stambouli, B |
Montpellier |
Tottenham Hotspur |
7.04 |
6.52 |
-0.52 |
Ibrahimovic, Z |
PSG |
Manchester United |
7.95 |
7.44 |
-0.51 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Pocognoli, S |
Hannover 96 |
West Bromwich Albion |
6.62 |
6.91 |
+0.29 |
Fuchs, C |
Schalke 04 |
Leicester City |
7.04 |
7.29 |
+0.25 |
Romeu, O |
VfB Stuttgart |
Southampton |
6.72 |
6.90 |
+0.18 |
Arnautovic, M |
Werder Bremen |
Stoke City |
6.80 |
6.95 |
+0.15 |
Kirchhoff, J |
Schalke 04 |
Sunderland |
6.78 |
6.88 |
+0.10 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Schürrle, A |
Bayer Leverkusen |
Chelsea |
7.53 |
6.79 |
-0.74 |
Mkhitaryan, H |
Borussia Dortmund |
Manchester United |
7.62 |
6.93 |
-0.69 |
Schweinsteiger, B |
Bayern Munich |
Manchester United |
7.47 |
6.78 |
-0.69 |
Joselu |
Hannover 96 |
Stoke City |
7.21 |
6.59 |
-0.62 |
Rahman, A |
FC Augsberg |
Chelsea |
7.37 |
6.75 |
-0.62 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Alonso, M |
Fiorentina |
Chelsea |
7.12 |
7.51 |
+0.39 |
Isla, M |
Juventus |
QPR |
6.67 |
6.98 |
+0.31 |
Kozák, L |
Lazio |
Aston Villa |
6.44 |
6.61 |
+0.17 |
Shaqiri, X |
Inter Milan |
Stoke City |
6.69 |
6.85 |
+0.16 |
Pogba, P |
Juventus |
Manchester United |
7.71 |
7.72 |
+0.01 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Cuadrado, J |
Fiorentina |
Chelsea |
7.61 |
6.37 |
-1.24 |
Balotelli, M |
AC Milan |
Liverpool |
7.59 |
6.54 |
-1.05 |
Álvarez, R |
Inter Milan |
Sunderland |
7.15 |
6.48 |
-0.67 |
Jovetic, S |
Fiorentina |
Manchester City |
7.37 |
6.82 |
-0.55 |
Suárez, M |
Fiorentina |
Watford |
6.91 |
6.38 |
-0.53 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Martina, C |
FC Twente |
Southampton |
6.75 |
6.72 |
-0.03 |
van Aanholt, P |
Vitesse |
Sunderland |
7.12 |
7.06 |
-0.06 |
Blind, D |
Ajax |
Manchester United |
7.33 |
7.19 |
-0.14 |
Janmaat, D |
Feyenoord |
Newcastle United |
7.22 |
6.88 |
-0.34 |
Wijnaldum, G |
PSV Eindhoven |
Newcastle United |
7.37 |
6.91 |
-0.46 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Depay, M |
PSV Eindhoven |
Manchester United |
7.83 |
6.33 |
-1.50 |
Janssen, V |
AZ Alkmaar |
Tottenham Hotspur |
7.52 |
6.23 |
-1.29 |
Pellé, G |
Feyenoord |
Southampton |
7.97 |
7.05 |
-0.92 |
Henriksen, M |
AZ Alkmaar |
Hull City |
7.14 |
6.22 |
-0.92 |
Tadic, D |
FC Twente |
Southampton |
7.80 |
6.95 |
-0.85 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Sánchez, A |
Barcelona |
Arsenal |
7.34 |
7.80 |
+0.46 |
Llorente, F |
Sevilla |
Swansea City |
6.59 |
6.92 |
+0.33 |
Alderweireld, T |
Atlético Madrid |
Southampton |
6.87 |
7.07 |
+0.20 |
Barragán, A |
Valencia |
Middlesbrough |
6.83 |
7.02 |
+0.19 |
Costa, D |
Atlético Madrid |
Chelsea |
7.20 |
7.37 |
+0.17 |
Player |
Previous club |
New club |
Old rating |
New rating |
Difference |
Aspas, I |
Celta Vigo |
Liverpool |
7.14 |
6.21 |
-0.93 |
Soldado, R |
Valencia |
Tottenham Hotspur |
7.10 |
6.39 |
-0.71 |
Bastón |
Eibar |
Swansea City |
6.78 |
6.11 |
-0.67 |
Nolito |
Celta Vigo |
Manchester City |
7.34 |
6.77 |
-0.57 |
Bravo, C |
Barcelona |
Manchester City |
6.87 |
6.35 |
-0.52 |
Summary
After studying the effects of the price tag on a player's performance, now we can consider his previous performance as well to identify which signings have performed above and below expectations. Next time we will be bringing this altogether in order to rate each club's recent transfer activity.