10 Key Players To Watch In The Premier League This Season

4. Siem De Jong

It seemed like a bold move when Alan Pardew essentially rejected the advances of Luuk de Jong, before cheekily asking for his brother€™s number, but the truth is that the younger brother of the duo floundered like a fish out of water during his ill-fated and short-lived spell on Tyneside during the latter stages of last season, registering a grand total of zero goals. Siem on the other hand, has been pursued by the club for a while, was the Ajax captain for two years, and possesses plenty of Champions League experience €“ including scoring a brace at the Etihad Stadium in 2012. The 25 year old number ten has been capped for the Dutch six times, scoring two goals in the process, and was widely considered one of the best players in the Eredivisie. Ajax have a track record for producing some humdingers in the past, almost acting as something of a feeder club for Premier League sides in recent times, with the likes of Vurnon Anita, Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and of course, Luis Suarez, all having strutted their stuff in Amsterdam. Pardew will be looking to fill the Cabaye-shaped void in the middle of the Newcastle midfield, as they desperately lacked creativity and spark towards the tail end of last season. Running out of steam, imagination and fluidity, de Jong will provide the antidote, as he is as classy on the ball as he is hard-working off it. We weren€™t privy to seeing Luuk de Jong€™s name appear on any Premier League score-sheets last season. That certainly won€™t be the same case for his brother.

''It€™s very important for us. After Yohan Cabaye left last year, we lacked some intelligence to our team in attacking areas. We are absolutely overjoyed to bring him to the club. He will give us some intelligence in that last third. He will create situations for us. It€™s something, towards the back end of last year, we struggled with. It€™s a big signing for us and he brings massive experience from Ajax.€™€™ €“ Alan Pardew, 2014.