Christian Benteke
Not much was known about the big Belgian when he joined Aston Villa from Genk. Bought for a sum of 7 million pounds, he ended as the top scorer for Aston Villa, saving them from relegation. He scored a total of 23 goals from 39 games (Cup and league). The highlight of the season has to be his hat trick against Sunderland. His tally of 23 goals made him the first player to score that many goals for Villa since the 2002-2003 season.
Kevin Mirallas
Another member of a massively talented and young Belgian team, Mirallas joined Everton from Olympiakos for a fee of 6 million pounds. He was known for his pace and wing play, and had a great start to his career while he was at the french club Lille, but all his talent seemed to have gotten wasted when he shuffled from France to Greece. Now in the blue of Everton, it seems David Moyes does have an eye for the bargain buys as Mirallas has got back to his best scoring 9 goals in his first season in England.
Dimitar Berbatov
After four trophy-filled seasons with Manchester United, the brilliant Bulgarian moved to London to play for the White of Fulham. His touch and flair was a treat for the Fulham fans, and while most would have thought that he was past his best , he was ultimately one of the few bright sparks from a mediocre season for Fulham. He scored 15 goals in his debut season for Fulham and the price tag was rumored to be around 5-7 million pounds, not a bad deal from Fulham’s point of view.
Michu
Miguel Pérez Cuesta or better known as Michu has to be the bargain of the season. Michu was bought by Swansea manager Laudrup for a fee of just 2 million pounds. The spanish attacking midfielder/striker took the Premier League by storm and ended the season with 22 goals in total. He signed a 4 year deal to stay with Swansea or, at least, increase his sell on price for another club. His goals culminated in Swansea winning the League cup for the first time ever.
Romelu Lukaku
Though, technically he was not a “buy” for the Baggies, another Big Belgian striker, Lukaku, was sent on loan from Chelsea to West Bromwich Albion. The 20 year old powerhouse might not have got time to play at Stamford Bridge but his exploits at the Hawthorns would prove that he certainly has a future at Chelsea if not another top team. He scored 17 goals and provided 8 assists in the season with a season ending hat trick against Manchester United in Sir Alex’s last game. Fun fact : Lukaku actually outscored his Chelsea team mates in the Premier League this season, enough for Steve Clark to try and keep him for another season.
So there you have it, the top 5 bargain buys for the 2012-2013 BPL season, don’t be surprised to see some of these players take a step up and move to bigger clubs or sunnier shores away from England, especially the Belgium Boys.
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