So far we’ve cast our eyes over the major transfer market activity of Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City, which has understandably attracted the lion’s share of the media’s attention. Still, significant moves are also being made elsewhere in the English Premier League which could have a major impact on how things shake out. Let’s take a look at a few of the signings which has caught your humble blogger’s eye thus far:  

Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan to Aston Villa, £9.5 million)

Stewart Downing was Villa’s best player last season, yet the Midlands club should be shedding no tears over his departure to Liverpool. Not only did they pocket around £20 million pounds, but they also signed a replacement who is two years younger and arguably the better player for less than half the price. Like Downing, N’Zogbia can play on either flank and boasts a left foot  which is equally dangerous from set-pieces and in open play, but the Frenchman also offers superior pace, dribbling ability, and creativity. If he can consistently reproduce his form for Wigan during the second half of last season, the Villans will have a real bargain on their hands.  

Roger Johnson (Birmingham to Wolves, £7 million)

Mick McCarthy’s side have been crying out for a commanding presence throughout their two seasons in the top flight, and in the 6-foot-3-inch Johnson they appear to have finally got their man. Brave, tenacious, strong both in the air and in the tackle, and a sound reader of the game, Johnson formed a partnership with Scott Dann which was the key to Birmingham’s surprisingly successful 2009/10 campaign. His natural leadership should help steady a Wolves back-line that boasted the league’s fourth-worst defensive record last season.  

Demba Ba (West Ham to Newcastle, free)

The Senegal striker was a big hit with the Hammers following a midseason move from German club Hoffenheim, racking up seven goals in 12 league appearances in the club’s ultimately futile bid for survival. Ba looks a natural fit for England’s top division – big, strong, physical, and an instinctive finisher with both foot and head – and should be a more than useful replacement for star striker Andy Carroll, sold to Liverpool during the January transfer window.  

Gervinho (Lille to Arsenal, £10.5 million)

The Ivory Coast international won’t solve Arsenal’s defensive problems, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be an asset in 2010/11, provided he can quickly adapt to the significant shift in pace and physicality that comes with a move from France to England. Quick, tricky, direct, and a prolific maker and taker of goals, Gervinho adds some much-needed natural width to a side that often relied on midfield playmakers like Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin, and Tomas Rosicky – as well as centre-forward Nicklas Bendtner on occasion – to take up wide attacking berths in Arsene Wenger’s preferred 4-3-3 formation.  

David Vaughan (Blackpool to Sunderland, free)

For all the plaudits that went to skipper Charlie Adam, it was Vaughan who took home the Players’ Player of the Year award for Blackpool in 2010/11. Intelligent, hard-working, and technically gifted with a cultured left foot, Vaughan turned down the offer of a new contract at Bloomfield Road for the chance to continue playing in the top flight. Sunderland’s crowded midfield means he’ll have his work cut out to repeat last season’s impact – especially in his preferred central role – but given his ability and the lack of a transfer fee he could turn out to be one of the season’s biggest bargains.  

Ben Foster (Birmingham to West Brom, loan)

If you believe in omens, the fact that Foster’s only two stints as an undisputed number one in the Premier League (Watford in 2006/07 and last season with Birmingham) ended in relegation won’t fill you with much optimism as a Baggies fan. Then again, Foster was voted both of those club’s Player of the Season, indicating that the real problem lay elsewhere. In any case, having comfortably escaped the drop with the decidedly mediocre Scott Carson between the posts, Roy Hodgson’s side have made a clear upgrade in Foster, whose razor-sharp reflexes and anticipation will surely be put to the test regularly by one of the division’s leakiest rearguards.