What top Premier League clubs still need
Credit to Author: Mark Ogden| Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:05:53 EST
Janusz Michallik reacts to Manchester City’s comfortable start to their Premier League title defence with a 2-0 win at Chelsea. (1:10)
The 2024-25 Premier League is underway. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool underlined their status as favourites to challenge for the title with opening weekend wins. Manchester United made a winning start after last season’s eighth-place finish, but Chelsea already have a loss in their column after losing their first game under new coach Enzo Maresca.
But although the season is up and running, all of the top teams still have work to do in the transfer market before the summer window deadline on Aug 30.
Some teams have more to do than others, but with less than two week to go before the window closes, what are the top priorities before the biggest clubs in the days ahead?
You only need to look at the City substitutes’ bench during the 2-0 opening weekend win at Chelsea to know that there is little wrong with Pep Guardiola’s squad. Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Nathan Aké were all left out of the starting lineup, while Guardiola didn’t even select Rodri for the trip due to the Spain midfielder being given extra time to recover from his exertions at Euro 2024.
On the pitch, summer signing Savinho enjoyed an impressive debut on the right flank of the forward line, while Mateo Kovacic was outstanding in the role usually occupied by Rodri. But while all looks great for Guardiola and City, the one area of concern in the squad is up front.
The £82 million exit of Julián Álvarez to Atletico Madrid, as well as the £20m departure of young forward Liam Delap to Ipswich, has left City short of cover in the attack. If Erling Haaland stays fit between now and mid-July, when City could be playing in the FIFA Club World Cup final, Guardiola will have nothing to worry about. But Haaland is not going to play every game over the next 11 months, meaning City will need to sign a new forward.
Brentford‘s Ivan Toney is an obvious domestic target, and a fee in the region of £50m will be no problem for City, but signing a top striker to act as cover for Haaland won’t be easy.
It has been a relatively quiet summer at the Emirates, as the big leap forward to build a squad capable of finally ending a 21-year wait for the title hasn’t happened. Riccardo Calafiori, the £42m Bologna defender, has been the only significant addition to Mikel Arteta’s squad, while Emile Smith Rowe‘s £34m move to Fulham has been the only big departure.
Throughout last season, the big question about Arsenal was whether they had the firepower upfront to win the title, but despite the lack of a true centre-forward, they still scored 91 goals — second only to City — in 38 league games. Kai Havertz continues to score big goals for the Gunners, though Arteta’s team would still become so much more dangerous if they could add a genuine striker.
Interest in Brentford and England forward Toney hasn’t materialised and Arsenal look set to go with the squad they already have. But if Arteta wants to make his team even stronger, he should push the owners hard to deliver a centre-forward before the deadline.
Much of the noise surrounding Liverpool this summer has been about the lack of signings following the appointment of Arne Slot as head coach to follow on from Jurgen Klopp. Slot has said that he is unfazed by the club’s failure to add to the squad, adding that the unsuccessful move for Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi will not prompt him to look at a Plan B. Slot wanted Zubimendi and nobody else for the No. 6 role, so Liverpool are not actively pursuing another midfielder at this stage.
Saturday’s win at Ipswich highlighted the strength and depth of the Liverpool squad, so there is no real urgency to bring in new players. The real issue that Liverpool must address is the contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could all leave as free agents next summer if they don’t sign new deals.
Janusz Michallik reacts to Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Ipswich in Arne Slot’s first Premier League game.
Van Dijk and Salah, 33 and 32, respectively, are likely to have their futures addressed in the second half of the season due to their age and respective salaries, but Liverpool can’t afford to allow Alexander-Arnold’s contract to run down much further. With long-term interest from Real Madrid in the right-back, the 25-year-old could open talks with a non-English club in January over a summer free transfer if he is not secured to a new Anfield contract.
Losing a home-grown player approaching his prime years for nothing is the worst-case scenario for Liverpool, and resolving Alexander-Arnold’s future should be the priority right now.
As they prepare for a season involving Champions League football for the first time in over 40 years, Villa have been busy in the transfer market. Unai Emery’s squad has been bolstered by the arrivals of Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana, who has replaced Juventus-bound Douglas Luiz, and they’ve also held onto star forward Ollie Watkins. However, Villa’s unsuccessful attempts to strike a deal with Atletico Madrid for João Félix highlight Emery’s determination to add top-level quality and experience to his attacking options, however.
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SUNDAY, AUG. 18 (all times ET)
• Heracles vs. PSV Eindhoven (6:10 a.m.)
• Sociedad vs. Vallecano (12:50 p.m.)
• Mallorca vs. Real Madrid (3 p.m.)
MONDAY, AUG. 19 (all times ET)
• Villarreal vs. Atletico Madrid (3:20 p.m.)
With Chelsea now in the race to sign Felix — the Portugal forward had a six-month loan spell at Stamford Bridge in 2023 — Villa may have to turn their attentions elsewhere to find a forward with Champions League experience. That said, their ability to offer Champions League football puts them in a strong position to make an eye-catching signing before the deadline.
As Newcastle discovered last season, the demands of juggling Premier League and Champions League commitments can be tough on an inexperienced squad. Emery’s side needs to heed the lessons of Eddie Howe’s team and with a forward high on the priority list, expect Villa to sign at least one before Aug. 30.
Spurs have focused heavily on attacking reinforcements this summer, with Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odobert added to Ange Postecoglou’s squad.
Thanks to Timo Werner extending his loan from RB Leipzig and Richarlison rejecting a lucrative offer to move to Saudi Arabia, there is no shortage of attacking quality in the squad, although Richarlison could yet move out before the deadline if Spurs get the opportunity to balance the books following Solanke’s £65 million arrival from Bournemouth.
If Spurs are able to further add to their squad in the days ahead, it is defenders that they should focus on. Postecoglou isn’t short of numbers at the back, but there is a question mark over the strength of his options beyond his first-choice unit.
If injuries strike, it’s debatable as to whether Djed Spence or Sergio Reguilón are good enough to deputise for any length of time, while youngster Ashley Phillips is still untested at the top level at centre-half. The priority for Spurs over the next 10 days should be on adding greater depth to their defensive options.
Janusz Michallik explains why he feels for Enzo Maresca, who faces the daunting task of managing Chelsea’s huge squad.
Where do you start? At the time of writing, new coach Enzo Maresca has 41 first-team players in his squad — a totally unsustainable number — and the club has since forced the likes of Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah to train separately from the first-team in an effort to accelerate moves away from Stamford Bridge. The top priority for Chelsea in the coming days has to be a focus on drastically reducing the size of the squad and moving several players out.
Gallagher is likely to seal a move to Atletico Madrid and Romelu Lukaku (remember him?) is expected to sign for Napoli, but the futures of Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are also uncertain and Chelsea would need to find clubs prepared to sign players who, between them, earn close to £500,000-a-week.
The Blues are in a catch-22 largely of their own making. With such a bloated squad, Maresca will have to manage too many issues of players demanding to know why they aren’t involved, but if they are to reduce the squad size, the club’s owners will have to make some difficult financial decisions simply to move players out.
It will cost Chelsea millions to do the right thing from a football perspective by reducing the squad to manageable levels, but if they don’t, it will only make a tough job for Maresca so much more difficult.
Newcastle’s lengthy pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi has underlined manager Eddie Howe’s determination to bolster his defensive options at St James’ Park.
Palace have now rejected four offers for Guehi, who was a stand-out performer for England at Euro 2024, with Newcastle’s most recent bid of £65 million falling short of Palace’s £70 million valuation of the 24-year-old. The Magpies had been keen to sign Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah earlier this summer, with former Everton winger Anthony Gordon offered to Liverpool as part of any deal, but Liverpool rejected the proposal.
The big dilemma for Newcastle now is whether to make a further bid for Guehi or shift their focus to alternative targets due to the time limitations posed by the window closing in under a fortnight. After addressing Profit and Sustainability (PSR) concerns by offloading Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh earlier in the window, Newcastle are now able to focus on incomings and the signing of a new defender is the priority.
Julien Laurens discusses Joshua Zirkee’s impact for Manchester United after his debut goal.
Manchester United have made four major signings so far this summer — forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, defenders Leny Yoro from Lille, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich — but manager Erik ten Hag still wants to add a defensive midfielder to his squad. Paris Saint-Germain‘s Manuel Ugarte is United’s long-term target, but it will take the departure of Scott McTominay, who is attracting interest from Fulham and Napoli, to raise funds for a move for Ugarte or alternative midfield target.
While United clearly need a more youthful and mobile option alongside Kobbie Mainoo than Casemiro, the most obvious area in need of strengthening at Old Trafford is centre-forward.
United’s lack of a proven goal scorer was evident during both the Community Shield game against Manchester City and the opening game win against Fulham, despite Zirkzee scoring a late winner after coming off the substitutes’ bench. Even when fit, the currently injured Rasmus Hojlund still looks well short of being a 20-goal a season striker, while Marcus Rashford continues to miss more chances than he takes. A proven goalscorer would transform United and have the ability to rescue seemingly lost causes: an option they don’t have.
A new defensive midfielder would make a difference and make United more durable, but only a goal scorer can turn defeats into draws and draws into defeats. So with less than two weeks to go in this transfer window, United need to find one.