Fernandhino
While Manchester City’s lavish spending on players is nothing new, splashing a whopping £38million for the services of Fernandinho in the summer, certainly raised a few eyebrows.
It has to be said that the Brazilian star has more than justified his price tag with some brilliant performances in the heart of the City midfield this season. While the likes of Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko might get most of the plaudits for City’s title win, Fernandinho was integral to Manuel Pellegrini’s plans.
His energetic performances in midfield was crucial and one can also point out to the fact that his arrival also paved the way for Yaya Toure to play in a more advanced role, which brought out the best in the Ivorian international.
Jason Puncheon
Tony Pulis guiding Crystal Palace to a 11th placed finish this season has been nothing short of sensational. The Welshman brought defensive stability to a leaky Palace side and it was ultimately one of the main reasons for Palace’s remarkable survival.
However, no matter how strong a side is in defence, no team can win without scoring goals and Jason Puncheon was the man who delivered some wonderful strikes to ensure Palace’s survival.
Puncheon added that bit of flair to a solid Palace side under Pulis and his seven goals from midfield were absolutely crucial in winning vital points for the Eagles. Bought in for a meager £1.8 million, the former Southampton man was certainly one of the bargains of the season.
James McCarthy
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the emergence of Ross Barkley and rightly so. However, it has to be pointed out that Everton posses another fine young talent in the form of James McCarthy.
Although not quite the flashy player that Barkley is, McCarthy was crucial in Everton’s fine campaign this season.
Playing at the heart of the Everton midfield, the 23-year old was one of the key components in manager Roberto Martinez implementing a free flowing style of play at Goodison and along with Gareth Barry, McCarthy formed the nucleus of the team
Although his price tag of £13million looks a bit steep, the young man has been value for money and will surely be an asset for Everton in years to come.
Tom Huddlestone
Hull City have enjoyed the most successful campaign in the club’s history this season and arguably the most important player for the Tigers’ success has been Tom Huddlestone.
Games in the Premier League are mostly won and lost in the midfield area and promoted teams usually tend to get overrun at the middle of the park by their more illustrious counterparts.
Perhaps identifying this fact, Steve Bruce decided to splash the cash to bring in an established Premier League midfielder like Huddlestone and the former Spurs man has certainly been in vital in Hull’s fine campaign.
Huddlestone is a player who dictates the pace of the game and the partnership between him and Jake Livermore in midfield meant that teams were not able to dominate the Tigers.
Perhaps one aspect of Huddlestone’s game he needs to improve on his goalscoring as he possesses a sweet right foot but the 27-year old now can certainly help Hull City establish themselves as a Premier League side in the coming years.
Honorable Mentions: Willian, Jake Livermore ,Romelu Lukaku, Curtis Davies, Vito Mannone
