English Premier League used to be seen as the third best leagues in the world, after the Italian Serie A and Spanish Prima Liga. But after recent success of English clubs in European cups and the upgrade of mediocre clubs inside the countries, it had overcomed all the disadvanges to become the most exciting football league in the world.

However, weak sides of the Premier League had always been the reputation of its players and European success of the past. Other than Liverpool, no other clubs in England had won more than o­ne Champion League medal until Manchester Unitedfinally got the 2nd o­ne in 1998-1999. And after that year, the best two of Premiership (Arsenal and Manchester United) constantly put up great performance in the European battles to bring English reputation up to its' rivals standard. As for the other weakness, the emergence of Chelsea with it billionare boss from Russia, Manchester and Arsenal getting more and more money from their success and due to the rise in reputation of Premier League, many super stars from around the world had come to England (especially this year).

The start of this season could be considered a new era of English Premier League. With all the big names coming to UK, and mediocre teams upgrading their line up with no-needed players from top tiers teams, Premiership is finally fixing its last weakness. Some of the exchange that have the most impacts are:

Manchester United (Park Ji Sun, Van Der Sar) :The first Chinese player to come to Premiership, but Park Ji Sun's transfer is not just a merchandize move. He had played solid in the midfield of MU in place of the injured Roy Keane. And Van Der Sar provided the safe and secure feeling MU defenders and fans needed after years of rotating goalkeepers.

Arsenal (Helb) : The o­nly major transfer by Arsenal this season, Helb come in with ton of pressure o­n him to replace the vintage Viera, an icon of Arsenal playing style. So far, his skills and working ethic had proved another wise move by Arsene Wenger but he still need a year or two to figure a way to cover the whole midfield by himself the way Viera had done.

Liverpool (Crouch, Reina): Of this 2 signing, Reina has proved to be the more significant as the no. 1 goalie, Dudek went down. Reina is the main reason why Liverpool hadn't lost more than 2 games. While being touted as the starter next to Rooney in England national team, Crouch still hadn't scored a goal and proved his worth. The tall youngster will need to show his worth before his place is taken by Cisse and Morientes, the two well-proven veterans.

Chelsea (Del Horno, Essien) : Both defensive players who can go up and help out o­n the attack, Del Horno and Essien had proved what quality they possess from their debuts. After going 8 game straight without getting a goal in, Chelsea proved to be unbeatable, and it is thanks to this 2 newcomers that they had achieved the feat.

Newcastle (Owen, Emre, Scott Parker): The team are loaded with talent in the midfield and ex-captain Shearer up front but Owen proved to be the missing piece. Right after Owen came, all the newcomers showed their true ability. Scott Parker looked solid in the midfield, Emre showed his unique vision and talents (an assist and 2 goals in the last 3 weeks), and Owen proved to be the o­nly suitable mates with Shearer up front as the two combined for 8 goals in the 4 games he had played (Owen scored 5).

Blackburn (C. Bellamy, Kuqi) : o­ne wicked fast and small, the others big and powerfull, both strikers fit in well with the system and had been o­n target so far for Blackburn, account for about half the the teams total goals. They will be the main reason for Blackburn success or failure this season.

Bolton (Nakata, Diouf): With new signing Nakata and Diouf, Bolton now have 3 former winner of the "The best players of the continent" (Nakata-Asia 2001,2002, Diouf and Okocha-Africa in 2002 and 1998). Both players as well as captain Okocha are either attacking midfielder or forward so it will be fun to see how all 3 fits into the system and play well with each other. But as long as each play up to their standard, a finish in the top 7 won't be out of reach.

Tottenham (Edgar Davids) : The o­nly addition for the Spurs are Edgar Davids, the hard working Dutch midfielder from Juventus. After years of international and European experiences, Davids finally came to Premiership where his style of playing fit best.

Portsmouth (L. Robert) : Already scored goals and providing assists in his first 8 games, if Portsmouth is to stay up in Premiership, it will be because of Laurent Robert. The Frenchman will be delighted to proved Newcastle wrong as they released him after he created more than half of their goals in the past 2 years. The o­nly problem right now is that he had to get along with the coach.

Charlton (D. Murphy, D. Bent): Two of many signing that Charlton had this summer and also the two most important. Murphy had 4 goals and 6 assists while Bent had netted 7 goals, o­n his way to return to the national team. Chartlon was surprisingly at 2nd place after the first 7th week and with way this two newcomers are playing, we can understand why.

Everton (Cahill, Van deR Meyde, Beatie) : All young proven stars, this triplet will be a crucial part of Everton this season. Unlucky for the Blues, the later 2 were injured in the beginning of the season and o­nly Cahill wasn't enough to keep them going to the next round of Champion League or Eufa Cup. But now with all 3 healthy and playing at their top level (Cahill has been magnificent since the beginning of the season, Van Der Meyde had an assist in his first game back in week 13, and Beattie just scored his second goal in week 14). Let's hope Everton can repeat what they achieved last year.

This of course is o­nly some of players exchange session in 2005. To find more please go to : http://www.goal.com/DWH_transferZone.aspx?idTorneo=39

Reported by Nguyen Hoai Anh - A2 01 04
Editted by Dang Van Ha - A3 99-03
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