The bargain transfers, including star whose stats compete with Martin Odegaard and Bruno Fernandes

The transfer window has barely been opened a week and already deals are starting to move fast.

Leeds, Leicester and Southampton were all relegated from the Premier League, but a number of their players could be making a swift return to the top tier of English football, with club’s looking to buy purchase at a cut-price from the trio.

We have already seen Youri Tielemans, who was out of contract at Leicester this summer, agree to move to Aston Villa from the start of July, and the coming weeks may see many more players from the relegated clubs follow suit.

Here, WhoScored.com have taken a look at the six best rated players from Leeds, Leicester and Southampton in the Premier League last season to have registered 2000+ minutes of action.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 6.70

Starting the list is Leicester’s Dewsbury-Hall. The 24-year-old central midfielder who was on loan to Luton Town in the Championship during the 2020/21 season, made 31 appearances for the Foxes in the Premier League last season in which he scored two goals and registered a further two assists.

Dewsbury-Hall only signed a new contract last June after making his Premier League debut at the start of the 2021/22 season, yet he has looked an assured figure in the midfield.

The Englishman is very good with the ball at his feet and averaged 1.6 dribbles per 90 in the Premier League last season with his contribution in forward positions a key asset to his play, making 298 successful final third passes and averaging 1.5 key passes per 90.

Dewsbury-Hall’s contribution defensively is also an impressive feature of his play, accumulating a tackle success rate of 65.4 per cent last season and winning possession in the midfield third 82 times.

Timothy Castagne – 6.71

Castagne is reportedly already on the transfer targets list of a number of different clubs this summer, including Arsenal, and looks set to leave the King Power Stadium.

The defender was a prominent figure for Leicester last season and despite playing mainly at right-back, managed to score two and assist a further three in the Premier League.

But it is his defensive contribution which is his strong point, making 87 tackles, which only five players could better in the league last season, averaging 1.2 interceptions per game and winning possession 202 times, including 127 times in the defensive third. Only Dan Burn (17) blocked more crosses than the Belgian (16).

Castagne can play on either side of the defence, pushing into more of a wing-back if needs be, making him a strong candidate to either start or be a credible back-up option for most teams.

Jack Harrison – 6.72

At 26 years of age, Harrison has still got plenty to offer as a hard-working attacking player who can contribute to a variety of roles within an attack.

Last season he scored five goals and recorded seven assists as one of Leeds’ most consistent performers as a real all-rounder type of player.

In the attacking third only Martin Odegaard (49) and Bruno Fernandes (37) won possession more times than Harrison (36), while he also made 41 tackles and 22 interceptions, and also blocked 45 passes which only Mathias Jensen (49) and Joe Willock (46) could eclipse.

Only 18 players in the league last season could better his return of 48 successful dribbles and in terms of key passes, only 19 players provided more than his total of 55, underling just how effective he can be both on and off the ball, especially with Harrison’s ability to play in countless attacking positions.

Tyler Adams – 6.73

Adams may have suffered with injuries last season, missing Leeds’ last 12 Premier League matches, of which the Yorkshire based side could only win two without the 24-year-old, but he still proved in his 2157 minutes of league action just how good he is.

Adams is a versatile player who can play at right-back or on the right side of midfield, but where he played this season is probably his best position, in defensive midfield.

Despite making only 24 appearances, the USA international was still vitally important in his defensive contributions, making 89 tackles, which only three players in the league could better, while his overall tackle success rate was a very solid 75.4 per cent.

Overall, he won possession 199 times in the league, including 112 times in the midfield third, emphasising how hard Adams works off the ball, especially given the height of these figures for a player who wasn’t involved in 36.8 per cent of Leeds’ Premier League matches, while an average of 45.6 accurate passes per game goes to show how key he was to the Whites buildup play.

James Ward-Prowse – 6.96

Southampton’s captain James Ward-Prowse, who has been with the club since joining the academy in 2003, looks set to be moving on this summer and with a number of teams on the market for a new central midfielder, he could be one to watch in the coming months.

The 28-year-old has been Saints’ most important player for a number of years and with a WhoScored rating of 6.96 he was their highest rated player last season.
He scored nine goals and registered four assists, while creating the seventh most key passes (74) in the division and that was despite playing in a slightly deeper position in the midfield.

Taking set pieces is deemed as a very strong statistically calculated strength for Ward-Prowse on the WhoScored.com website and he proved that again last season in the Premier League, as only Kieran Trippier (70) created more goalscoring chances from set pieces than Ward-Prowse (40).

Playing in a slightly deeper role means he is also an asset defensively with only four players making more than his 55 interceptions last season in the division.

James Maddison – 7.24

The highest player on this list with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.24 is unsurprisingly Leicester’s James Maddison.

A host of top clubs have been after Maddison’s signature for years, but with the Foxes’ failure to survive it seems almost certain that he will move on from the King Power Stadium with Newcastle and Tottenham reportedly keen on signing him this summer.

Maddison scored ten goals and assisted a further nine last season, averaging out to a goal involvement every 130.8 minutes, while registering a total of 69 key passes a sum which only nine players could better in the Premier League last season.

Not to mention of course his ability to score from free-kicks, which he did so twice last season in the league.