Premier League transfers rumours

Summer transfer window will officially open on July 1st, but Premier League teams have already done some interesting moves. As always, all eyes are on big clubs which will definitely make big money buys and media right from the end of last season are full of transfer speculations. Fans all over the world set their sights on August 13th, when the new season will start and everyone is asking one question – who will be the next Premier League winner. Whilst nobody can be sure of that answer, it is still worth going through the big teams.

Chelsea

Reigning champions without a doubt are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, favourite of coming season. Managed by Italian Antonio Conte, London team will try to defend champions title won last season. There are rumours that club owner Roman Abramowich will back manager with 250 million pounds transfer budget. With possible sale of Diego Costa, Chelsea will be looking for decent forward – with media reporting their interest in Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Either of them would be one of the biggest transfers in world football. Title defending will be difficult, with four or five other teams eager to win it and Champions League also to play, but surely fans shouldn’t expect Chelsea to repeat Leicester performance from last season. Londoners should easily finish in top three.

Tottenham

Good work of Maurizio Pochettino as a Tottenham stats manager took Spurs to runner-up place last season. This time they will try to climb one place higher and win first league title since 1961. There were some rumours that Pochettino might leave Spurs, but as for now it looks like he will stay and lead his team in Premier League and Champions League. With Harry Kane on form they will undoubtedly be favourites to finish in top three, and who knows, maybe they surprise everyone and beat other title contenders.

Manchester City

After rather disappointing season, this time there will be pressure to fight for the title. City already released few players and made two big signings: 22 years old Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva (up to 60 million pounds from Monaco) and 23 years old Portuguese goalkeeper Ederson (35 million pounds from Benfica). The Citizens, owned by Sheikh Mansour, will spend big this summer, with media rumours linking City with Aubameyang, Dani Alves, Virgil van Dijk and even Alexis Sanchez.

Liverpool

Finishing fourth last season The Reds eventually gained place in Champions League qualification. They don’t want to miss this chance and are already very active on transfer market. After clumsy effort to buy Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, which ended with official apologies issued on club’s website, The Reds have bought Mohamed Salah, 25 year old Egyptian winger from AS Roma (rumoured 35 million pounds). Jurgen Klopp is still looking for left back, central midfielder and probably striker. With money they can possibly earn in Champions League, club’s board will eagerly spend big in order to strengthen the squad and guarantee a place in CL group phase.

Manchester United

Fifth English team in Champions League, thanks to winning Europa League last season, but fifth place in Premier League has not met the expectations. After such a season it’s sure that Jose Mourinho will spend big money on transfers. Red Devils already secured Victor Lindelof, 23 year old Swedish centre back, who they have bought from Benfica for over 30 million pounds. With possible departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho will look for a forward, with Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid rumoured to be one of the targets. Another top player linked with United is Marquinhos, Brazilian defender currently playing in PSG.

Arsenal

The biggest question after last season was weather Arsene Wenger will leave Arsenal. Lot of fans wanted him to go, but board and manager decided to sign 2-year contract. Having missed Champions League spot first time since 1997, there will be quite a big pressure on Wenger to regain top four for Arsenal. His biggest task before season starts can be stopping players like Alexis Sanchez from leaving the Gunners and wanting to play in CL. Transfer activity can be limited in Arsenal, due to lack of Champions League football. There are rumours about ongoing talks with Alexandre Lacazette from Olympique Lyon, but the only transfer made so far is Saed Kolasinac, Bosnian left back, who has come for free, after his contract with German Schalke 04 expired.

Everton

Certainly is not among favourites to win the League, not even top four, but they have already made two big transfers: Jordan Pickford – young goalkeeper from Sunderland, who came for 25 million pounds, and Davy Klaassen, 24 year old attacking midfielder from Ajax Amsterdam (also about 25 million pounds). This will rather not be enough to reach top six in England, but they can do quite well in Europa League.

New teams in Premier League this season are Newcastle United, Brighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield. Newcastle managed by Rafa Benitez are back in Premier League after just one season. The Magpies have won Championship and now will be hoping for a strong run in Premier League. A lot will depend on their unpredictable owner Mike Ashley and his will to spend some money on new players.

The biggest ambition of two other newcomers will be retaining Premier League status. Brighton managed by Chris Hughton has already bought three players: Pascal Gross from Ingolstadt, Josh Kerr from Celtic Glasgow and Mathew Ryan from Valencia. Chris Hughton has some Premier League experience, and Brighton supporters will hope, that this will be enough to avoid relegation.

Huddersfield promotion to top tier of English football was quite a big surprise, as their budget was one of the smallest in Championship. Avoiding relegation will be their biggest dream, that’s for sure. They are back in Premier League after 45 years and every match will be a big occasion for players and for their fans.

All teams will start their season preparations at the beginning of July. After few days of trainings most of them will go on tour to Asia or United States. Transfer market activity will rise and all Premier League fans will have even more matters to discuss.