Pre Pre-Season Premier League Review:
Much has happened in the six or so weeks since the culmination of the Premier League season. The incomings and outgoing across and between the historic top six sides (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U, Man City & Tottenham) have made for interesting view, so let’s take a quick look at what’s happened thus far.
Starting with the busiest of them all, Chelsea have been hugely proficient at shedding the excess numbers in their squad, with the departures of Kante, Koulibaly, Kovacic, Mendy, Havertz, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, and Azpilicueta abruptly addressing this issue, albeit at the expense of losing arguably some of their best players to rivals. Nkunku and Jackson’s arrivals provide further ammunition upfront to offset this and we can anticipate more activity from the Blues, especially in midfield where Caicedo has been touted as a replacement for Kante. My only critique would be their nonchalance/apathy in selling to United, City and Arsenal respectively. It could be due to a number of reasons: few other options available to sell these players to, a general belief that their replacements would be better, or desperation to balance the books, but as we nearly saw with Arsenal’s purchase of Zinchenko and Jesus, hospitality towards rivals can come at the cost of silverware. It is never the wisest decision to strengthen your enemy, however maybe they have learnt a thing or two from ‘The Art of War’ where it says “appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” As a United fan I am envious of the ease at which they have generated funds from these sales, something United have not done well in close to a decade. This in-and-out approach is a large reason why I see Pochettino having early success with this team, as he will be able to buy who he wants and get rid of those surplus to requirements. United, do better.
Speaking of the Red Devils, things have been much quieter activity-wise on our side, with our board world class in generating rumors and average at getting players in or out the door. But hope is not lost as we have reached a conclusion with David De Gea to part ways. Taking emotion and recency bias out of the equation, he is a club legend and deserves tremendous respect from the fans. For years he kept the team afloat when all hell was breaking loose, so respect is the least he deserves. Ultimately he could no longer positive contribute to our future in an affordable way. Whilst the talk of the reneged contract negotiations was not the most professional of business we have conducted, this was another step in the right direction for Ten Hag as he continues to curate his team. With Onana also close to signing that should solve our goalkeeping conundrum. Mount’s arrival will improve the team as he is expected to inherit Eriksen’s position in the team. Whilst I have not been his biggest fan when he was previously used as a number 10 or winger, I certainly believe he will be a very useful midfield accompaniment to Casemiro and Fernandes. Expectations are crucial to defining what success looks like, so in my eyes he will provide more than enough value for money even if this does not correlate in his goals tally. Elsewhere across the team there’s been ongoing talks for Hojlund (who was not an immediate target that came to mind) as our striker addition, however he seems more of a prospect for the future as opposed to a hit-the-ground-running player. The Financial Fairplay implications limit our expenditure, so we need to get better at attracting interest for players we may not see full value in. That comes when we better utilise our full squad, but as history proved last year the gap between the starters and bench players was worryingly large.
The top two sides last year, Man City and Arsenal, have had varying transfer windows thus far. Intuitively, the champions have been less active in the market, replacing club captain Gundogan with Kovacic in a like-for-like transfer. With quality depth across the pitch, the only areas where further activity may occur is in the full back positions but this may be an endeavor for next year. Arsenal on the other hand given their qualification for UCL this season have been much more aggressive in their recruitment as they have acquired Havertz and are on the verge of finalising Rice and Timber. The latter duo should slot seamlessly into their starting lineup whilst it is less clear where Havertz will fit in (suggestions are he would form part of the midfield three as a replacement for Xhaka). The preference is always for business to be done early so that newcomers can acclimate themselves to the team during pre-season. Aside from the steep price it took to secure Rice (British tax is real), there can be few complaints from the Gunners: they have addressed their squad depth issues in defence, strengthened the midfield with a long term option, and increased their versatility across the forward line. As annoying as it may be to admit, these are very good signings and indeed the sort of business a serious club undertakes.
Liverpool and Tottenham are in similar phases of development where they are going through a rebuild, although Liverpool are much further along in the process. The writing was on the wall for the Reds with their need for l midfielders and they have speedily addressed this with the signings of MacAllister and Szoboszlai. There does not seem like much else will happen outside of these transfers given the recruitment in previous windows, so Klopp hopes that with these acquisitions alongside fewer injuries they can return to challenging for the title. If they sign a bonafide full back (e.g. Dumfries) and move TAA full time as a CDM I think they will be right up there amongst the best. Opposition should be scared of them, lest we forget who they once were. Expect them to also be in the market for a centre half in a season or two, particularly if Van Djik continues his subtle decline.
Tottenham are a less exciting team to follow, with Kulusevski’s permanent signing and Maddison’s arrival offset by Winks going the other way. This will be a tough season for them- one with few expectations and much upside if they can somehow continue to imprison Kane. It seems as though Bayern may pry him away as it would be criminal for Spurs to let him leave for free next summer. Given that context I think Bayern’s current offer for him is far too generous. I would play it in a similar way Real Madrid are doing so with Mbappe (although hopefully much less messily).
Elsewhere, Brighton have conducted some tidy business with Dahoud, Joao Pedro, and Milner coming in to further strengthen their squad. I’m very excited to see Dahoud in this team- I think he’s a great player and will fit into their system effortlessly. I don’t think they will feel the effect of losing MacAllister at all given his arrival. Everton’s inactivity is worrying as I think they’re very much in danger. As currently constructed I think they will be in a very similar position next year I.e. fighting to stay afloat in the league.
Across the pond, PSG vs Mbappe circus continues as the situation worsens day by day, Bellingham has found his new home in the Bernabeu, Messi will ply his trade in the MLS, and the Saudi league now becoming more competitive than Ligue 1. As you can see it’s been a pretty sedate transfer window thus far……
Stay tuned as in the next few weeks I’ll be finalizing my pre-season picks for the year.
To a simpler life;