Last season Manchester City ran away with the Premier League, breaking records as they did so. It was clear from early on that United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal would be playing for the 2nd – 6th spots at best. City has strengthened their team already with the acquisition of Riyad Mahrez but their rivals have been bolstering their own squads too, in hope that they can compete with Manchester City this season. Here is what they have done so far:
Manchester United
United have brought Brazilian, Fred to the club for around €59 million and have also invested in a new right-back in Diogo Dalot. They are expected to bid for Willian and have secured the services of Fellaini again, who has had a good World Cup with Belgium. Keeping hold of David De Gea will be another strong statement for them and with Courtois expected to move to Real Madrid, it would look like De Gea will be staying with United for the foreseeable future. Gareth Bale would be a real marquee signing but he could stay in Madrid to see how things pan out under the new manager.
Tottenham
Spurs have been slow to make a move in the transfer market, with no signings made yet. They could have been waiting for the end of the World Cup to start negotiations over players or maybe they are not going to bring many players in before the transfer window closes. They have been linked with a move for Aston Villa youngster Jack Grealish and Croatia’s Ante Rebic. We can expect to see some action from them in the next few weeks to try and improve their existing squad.
Liverpool
Liverpool has moved quickly in this transfer window, securing the services of Fabinho early on, then completing the deal for Naby Keita – which had been agreed a year earlier. They also snapped up Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri, taking advantage of a release clause in his contract. Now Sky in Italy is claiming that they have made a bid for Brazil goalkeeper Alisson, which would improve their main weak spot in the team after two Karius mistakes gifted the Champions League trophy to Real Madrid. They are looking very strong but without a decent goalkeeper to start the season with, they will probably struggle to compete with City.
Chelsea
There is a lot of change happening at Chelsea with a new manager coming in and the possibility of losing Hazard, Courtois and Willian. They have signed Jorginho and now that the new manager is in place, there will be more comings and goings over the next few weeks. The problem for Chelsea will be attracting the big players without being able to offer Champions League football.
