Incognito Scout: 5 exciting early-window transfer deals

We're still two months away from deadline day, but many clubs across Europe have managed to get business done early.

A number of major deals have already gone through, with Erling Haaland joining Premier League champions Man City from Borussia Dortmund, Darwin Nu?ez swapping Benfica for Liverpool and Sadio Mané leaving Anfield to sign for German giants Bayern Munich.

However, there’s little for me to say on these three stars that hasn’t already been said.

Instead, I will take a look at five other exciting early-window deals involving players who were standout performers at their previous clubs.

Nico Schlotterbeck – SC Freiburg to Borussia Dortmund (reported ￡21.6m*)

This could well be the best business any club does this summer.

22-year-old Schlotterbeck wasn’t just the standout centre-back in the Bundesliga last season; he finished the 21/22 campaign with the highest Incognito Score? (92.5)** of any player in our database.

The four-cap Germany international earned the best Defence Quality (92.6) rating out of all Bundesliga CBs and the second-best Attack Quality rating (91.1).

He’s dominant in the air, brilliant on the ball and intelligent around both boxes, as his remarkable attribute scores show.

Dortmund have landed themselves a real gem and didn't have to break the bank to do it.

Aurélien Tchouaméni – AS Monaco to Real Madrid (reported ￡69m*)

Tchouaméni’s switch to the Bernabéu will be one of the most expensive deals of the summer and our numbers suggest that Los Blancos have added another quality midfielder to their squad.

His Incognito Score? of 77.0 was the highest earned by any CDM in Ligue 1 last season and he scores well in five of Incognito's eight defensive attributes.

The 22-year-old ranked fourth in the French top tier among all CMs and CDMs for Possession (82.3), sixth for Off Ball Intelligence (78.4), seventh for Aerial (79.3), eighth for On Ball Intelligence (77.7) and twelfth for Clearance (77.8).

Sven Botman - Lille to Newcastle United (reported ￡35m)

After lots of speculation about his future, Newcastle confirmed on Tuesday that a deal has been agreed in principle with Lille to sign Botman.

The 6ft 5" defender is yet to earn a senior Netherlands cap but he's represented the nation at every level since U15s and has the makings of a top player.

With an Incognito Score? of 78.5, he was the best CB under the age of 23 to play more than 15 Ligue 1 matches last season.

Aerial is his strongest attribute in both Defence (82.6) and Attack (81.6), but a strong Off Ball Intelligence score of 79.2 proves that he already has another important string to his defensive bow.

Brenden Aaronson – RB Salzburg to Leeds United (reported ￡24.7m)

USA international Aaronson is a versatile player, but was most often deployed as a CAM for RB Salzburg last season.

Aged 21, he’s not yet the finished article, but his 21/22 Incognito Score? of 70.5 was the third best out of 39 eligible attacking midfielders in the Austrian Bundesliga.

A position-leading Attacking Intelligence score of 77.3 confirms that Leeds have brought in a savvy operator, while Passing (70.4) is another of his strengths.

Encouragingly for the Elland Road faithful, Aaronson also places importance on the defensive side of his game; ranking in the top 10 among Austrian top flight attacking midfielders in five of our eight defensive attributes.

Fabio Vieira – FC Porto to Arsenal (￡30.2m*)

In the league alone last season, Arsenal's new acquisition Fabio Vieira played CAM, CF, CM, RM, CDM and LB for Porto.

However, he was most regularly used as a CAM and was most effective there, with his best performance - 84.6 - coming in a 3-0 home win over Santa Clara in April.

The 22-year-old’s Incognito Score? of 76.8 in the position was the fourth highest out of 81 eligible Primeira Liga attacking midfielders.

He’s still relatively inexperienced and it may take him time to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League, but his significantly above league average Passing and Shot scores – 86.1 and 77.3 respectively – should excite Gunners fans ahead of the 22/23 campaign.

*Reported transfer fee converted from Euros

**Incognito Scores? and attribute scores adjusted for quality of league, quality of opponent and quality of teammates

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