Age:  29

Club: Bolton Wanderers (signed on a season-long loan from Nantes)

Upside: Experience, Character and Power. The German-born, Croatian international spent 7 seasons with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga notching 49 goals in150 appearances. A scorer and a supplier, the tall, strong Klasnic uses his muscular physique to hold off defenders and spread the play to the wingers. If he can survive the odd elbow to the face, Klasnic’s style could prove well suited to the Reebok Stadium.

Downside: Injuries. In early 2007, Klasnic suffered a kidney failure and spent 10 months out of the game. Upon his return to Bremen, he sued the club for neglecting to diagnose the ailment back in 2002. To make matters worse, controversy overshadowed England’s recent World Cup qualifier with Croatia amidst allegations that Klasnic spat on John Terry in retaliation for the England captain’s attempts to punch the Croatian in the kidneys.

Pedigree: A member of his country’s Euro 2004 and 2006 World Cup squads, Klasnic is best remembered for his brave performances during Euro 2008. Highlights include a game-winning goal against Poland in the group stage and his 119^th minute extra-time header against Turkey in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately Turkey’s Semih Senturk struck back with an even later equalizer, sending the game to penalties only for Klasnic and Croatia to crash out of the tournament.

International Career: Klasnic turned down the overtures of Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the birth places of his parents, preferring to play for his adopted country Croatia. 11 goals and 35 appearances later, Klasnic stands amongst the most respected and influential members of the team.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Key video counters:

3:10 – Crotia start attack.

3:21 – Klasnic goal (119^th minute.)

3:25 – “Croatia have won it.”

4:32 – Senturk goal.

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Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Graham Alexander

Gabriel Obertan

Christian Benitez

Alberto Alquilani

Fabian Delph

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

Alessandro Diamanti

Lorik Cana

Age: 26

Club:  Sunderland (by way of Marseille for a cool £5million)

Upside: Cana is big and strong and will boss play in the middle of the park.  Perhaps the best demonstration of his usefulness came during Albania’s recent World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, when he was assigned to neutralize Cristiano Ronaldo.  In both matches the wily Portuguese winger barely had an impact – even with Albania playing a man down for some 60 minutes of the first encounter.

Downside:  Cana’s aggressiveness and tough tackling can’t hide his suspect first touch and poor passing percentage.  And even though his disciplinary record has been excellent (he only had one red card in the previous five seasons), it remains to be seen how the Premiership’s referees will take to his uncompromising style of play.  In fact, he’s already picked up two yellow cards in his first four games.

Pedigree: Lorik’s father, Agim, was one of the most celebrated Yugoslav players during the 1980s.  To hone his son’s hardiness, Agim forced a young Lorik to play football on a field of broken glass with a bloody goat’s head wrapped in an undershirt. (Ok, maybe not.)

International Career:  Despite also being eligible to play for both Switzerland and France, Cana chose Albania and has never looked back.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Graham Alexander

Gabriel Obertan

Christian Benitez

Alberto Aquilani

Fabian Delph

Diniya Bilyaletdinov

Alessandro Diamanti

Club: West Ham United (Signed from Livorno for a £6 million fee.)

Age: 26.

Upside: Diamanti shot on to the scene in 2007 with Serie B side Livorno. During his first season in Tuscany, Diamanti bagged 18 goals in 37 appearances. The Italian striker is single handedly credited with dragging Livorno to Serie A promotion having scored 6 goals in an inspirational final 10 matches of last season.

Downside: Unproven. He’s only played one match at a level higher than Serie B – Livorno’s Serie A season opener against Cagliari, his last outing for the club before joining the Hammers.

Pedigree: Non-existent, although he was reportedly recommended to Gianfranco Zola by current England manager and Serie A master Fabio Capello.

International Career: Another unchecked box. A late bloomer, Diamanti didn’t hit the headlines until last season. With a self-professed “life changing” move to West Ham done and dusted, a strong showing in East London could seal a surprise inclusion in Marcello Lippi’s World Cup squad.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Graham Alexander

Christian Benitez

Alberto Alquilani

Fabian Delph

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

Club: Everton (Signed from Locomotiv Moscow for a fee of about £10 million.)

Age: 24.

Upside:  During his debut season in 2004, the attacking midfielder helped Lokomotiv win the Russian title, earning the league’s Young Player of the Year award in the process. He can score goals and pass the ball well, but his biggest strengths are his great pace, dribbling skills and confidence in taking on players, which will bring some much craved for creativity to the Everton side.

Downside: How the hell are the Toffees going to squeeze his surname on the back of his shirt?

Pedigree: His father, Rinat, also played football for Lokomotiv Moscow and is currently the club’s reserve team coach.

International Career: Bilyaletdinov has earned 28 caps for Russia since making his debut at the age of 20.  He played in every game during Russia’s run to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and also played in both of the tournament’s qualifying matches against England.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Bringing wing magic to Everton?

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Christian Benitez

.

Alberto Alquilani

.

Fabian Delph

.

Club: Aston Villa.  (Signed from Leeds in a deal worth an eventual £8 million.)

Age: 19

Upside:  As he rose through the ranks at Elland Road, Delph showed he has all the tools to become a first-class midfielder: speed, skill, and an eye for goal.  And those tools should only improve under the guidance of Villa manager Martin O’Neil, who has a reputation for bringing out the best in young English talent.

Downside:  The young Fabian played only 44 games for Leeds at League One level.  Now he finds himself in the thick of the Premier League.  Who knows how he’ll adapt to the brute strength and breakneck speed of one of the world’s top leagues?  Some are tipping Delph to immediately challenge for a place in the first team – and soon become Gareth Barry’s replacement – but we reckon he will more likely be a long-term project.

Pedigree:  Barely one season in League One and Delph scooped up most of the honors available – Young Player of the Season, Goal of the Season, Leeds Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Season, and a nomination for League One Player of the Year.  Not bad at all.

International Career: The midfielder made his England Under-21 debut last year against the Czech Republic.  If Sven Goran Eriksson was still in charge of the senior team, we wouldn’t be completely shocked if Delph soon earned a call-up – but surely Fabio Capello isn’t so impulsive.  Is he?

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Christian Benitez

.

Alberto Alquilani

.

Club: Liverpool. (Signed from Roma for a reported £20 million.)

Age: 25

Upside: A lot of potential.  At 25, Aquilani is only just entering his prime.  The attacking midfielder brings a lot of weapons to Anfield – with his ability to score from long range, carve dangerous runs in the box, and keep the play moving forward.  If Aquilani manages to deflect some of the opposing team’s focus away from Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres, then you could argue he’s an upgrade over Alonso.

Downside: A lot of potential.  Fans in Rome and Italy have been eagerly waiting for Aquilani’s breakout season, but he has yet to turn the occasional flashes of brilliance into sustained excellence.  The Anfield faithful might not be so patient.  Injury has cut into his playing time, but he still has managed to play in at least 20 games a year since 2004, only scoring at most six goals in one season.

Pedigree:  Young Alberto came through the youth ranks of Roma, preferring to stick with his home club even when teams like Arsenal and Chelsea made inquiries about the player.  It was a smart decision, as Aquilani was able to learn at the feet of Italian maestro Francesco Totti.  But not only has Aquilani played with the best, he’s also played against the best, as Roma have featured prominently in the Champions League over the past several seasons.

International Career: Aquilani boasts double-digit call-ups to the Azzurri, and is expected to feature significantly during their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Alberto Aquilani - To finally spread his wings at Anfield?

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Christian Benitez

.

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We at Footy Factor would like to thank Jerry Russo from NYC for submitting this article.

Club: Birmingham City, by way of Mexican League side Santos Laguna.  The Blues reportedly fought off interest from other European clubs to sign the highly-rated forward.  Although let’s be honest, how much interest could there have been if he eventually ended up at Birmingham.

Age: Just turned 23.

The Upside: Quick feet, great skill with the ball, creative, and an eye for goal. Benitez scored 31 goals in 58 games for Santos Laguna over the past two seasons, earning the Primera División’s player of the year award in 2008. He could be a major shot in the arm for Birmingham’s hopes of staying up this season, and will give fellow forwards Marcus Bent and Garry O’Connor a good run for their money.

The Downside: He’s starting off the new season in the physio room. Having had a shoulder operation in May, Benitez has not been able to commence full training.  (Although that didn’t stop him from playing in a charity match in Ecuador the other week. Tusk, tusk.)  There’s also that dodgy haircut of his.

Pedigree: Benítez is the son of one of Ecuador’s all-time top scorers, Ermen Benitez, who in 1986 became the first Ecuadorian to play in Europe with Spanish Second Division side Jerez de la Frontera.

International Career: The youngster has already represented his country 17 times, including a brief appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. And he’ll need to help Ecuador step up their campaign if they are going to get to South Africa.

Christian Benitez - Itching to get his Premiership career underway.

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Club: Manchester United. (Signed from Bordeaux for £3m in July, 2009.)

Age: 20

The Upside: Pace to burn. The tricky French attacker, hailed as the next Thierry Henry, can play as a lone striker but prefers to terrorize defenses up the wings impressing with his searing speed and vast array of skills.

The Downside: Lack of playing time. Over a three year period at Bordeaux, Obertan managed just 54 appearances with more than 75% of those coming from the subs bench. His return of 3 goals in that same period leaves the Frenchman facing a massive challenge to rid Old Trafford of Ronaldo’s memory.

Pedigree: A former student at the famed Clairefontaine academy, a set-up that’s produced the likes of William Gallas, Nicolas Anelka and Hatem Ben Arfa, Obertan turned professional with Bordeaux in 2006 and has previously been linked with moves to Inter, AC, Chelsea and Arsenal.

International Career: Although yet to make his senior national team debut, Obertan has turned out for France at U-16, U-17, U-18. U-19 and U-21 levels. While his expertly taken goal in an U-21 match against England in March caught the eye of United’s scouts, he’ll be hoping his move to Manchester will put him in contention for a spot in Raymond Domenech’s World Cup squad.

Gabriel Obertan: Too quick for his own good?

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Christian Benitez

.

Club: Burnley.  (Signed from Preston North End in 2007.)

Age: 37.  Perhaps no one is relishing next month’s season opener more than “Grezza”. After 18 years toiling in the lower leagues, Alexander finally gets his chance to play in the Premiership.  Not that he never came close before.  Before Burnley’s victory at Wembley in May, Alexander had previously lost three semi-finals and three finals in the Championship playoffs.

The Upside: Alexander’s great claim to fame is that he is one of the best penalty-takers in the history of the game, having never missed from the spot. That sort of accomplishment should make him a household name in Britain!  As it is, thiskind of composure is characteristic of his entire game, and he will add grit and steel to his team whether he plays in midfield or at the back.

The Downside: Err… he’s 37 years old.

Pedigree:  Let’s see… stints at Scunthorpe, Luton, and Preston mean that this is a man who has clearly graduated from the school of hard knocks.  That kind of scrappiness and tenacity is going to be extremely valuable on cold nights in December when teams like Arsenal visit Turf Moor gunning for a thrashing.

International Career: Alexander is the shining example of what makes a great Scottish international: he’s English. The Coventry-born lad qualified to play for Scotland through his Scottish father and made his international debut against Nigeria in 2002.

Graham Alexander: Old enough to be Ribery's father?!

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Christian Benitez

.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Club: Wolverhampton Wanderers. (Signed from Plymouth in a big money £1.5 million move in January 2008 – well… big money for the Championship at least.)

Age: 23

Honors: Ebanks-Blake won the golden boot in the Championship for the past two seasons, scoring 37 league goals in 61 appearances for Wolves, while leading them into the top flight.

Pedigree: Perhaps it’s no surprise that Sylvan is at the front of the pack since his father named him after a winning racehorse that he had backed close to the day his son was born.  Oh, and one more thing… Sylvan was a trainee at Manchester United, studying under the tutelage of strikers like Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Upside: Ebanks-Blake possesses an incredible burst of pace and strength. He has the knack of always being in the box and getting a shot away, even with his back to goal. With his great composure, he’s capable of scoring all types of goals.

The Downside: His physique barely toes the line between brawny and beefy – and that tends to show in his overall fitness.  He’s very much focused on being the goal scorer and does not get involved in build-up play.

International future: The Cambridge-born lad missed out on the recent Under-21 Championships because of an injury.  He’ll have to continue his prolific form if he’s to play himself into Fabio Capello’s squad – although for now, similarly-aged rivals Gabriel Agbonlahor and Theo Walcott probably have the advantage considering their experience in the Premier League.

Best goal:  The second of his two at Charlton Athletic in March of last year demonstrated the best of his talents.  Sit back and enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The other Premiership New Boys:

Graham Alexander.

Gabriel Obertan.

Christian Benitez.