Vinay Patel
The Premier League returns once more this weekend after yet another summer of bustling transfer activity. Hundreds of millions of pounds have parted ways with some of the sport’s richest clubs, and even more huge footballing names have arrived on British shores. Vinay Patel rounds up the action from last season’s top half teams in the first of this two-part series.
Manchester City
The champions are no strangers to spending money and have once more reached into their seemingly endless pockets. Guardiola’s side triggered Erling Haaland’s £51m release clause and negotiated a £45m fee with Leeds for England international Kalvin Phillips. City fans will also get their first sight of Julian Alvarez, who they signed and loaned back to River Plate in January.
These signings were important to replace some significant outgoings. Stalwart Fernandinho departed at the expiration of his contract, and the Etihad side have also lost three players to top six rivals. Gabriel Jesus’ and Oleksandr Zinchenko’s departures to Arsenal banked them £77m, and City nearly recouped the initial £49m fee they paid for Raheem Sterling when he moved to Chelsea. Guardiola has also admitted that he is uncertain of Bernardo Silva’s future.
Liverpool
The departure of Sadio Mane […] weakened their strikeforce for the first time in six years
The Reds missed out on the title by a single point last season, and this summer is crucial to them building on an epic, though heart-breaking, previous campaign. The departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich weakened their strikeforce for the first time in six years. Liverpool moved swiftly to plug that hole by acquiring Darwin Nunez from Benfica, in a deal that could reach a club-record fee of £85m. Additionally, Calvin Ramsay arrives from Aberdeen to provide cover at right back.
Liverpool also let go of Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino from their front line to AC Milan and Monaco respectively, Neco Williams left for Premier League newcomers Forest.
Chelsea
Chelsea have had a rollercoaster summer under new ownership. After losing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, the Blues brought in highly rated centre back Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli.
Sterling’s arrival will bolster a front line which promises much but has not hit its stride
Tuchel also sanctioned loaning Romelu Lukaku back to Inter Milan. Sterling’s arrival will bolster a front line which promises much but has not hit its stride thus far. Armando Broja’s loan spell at Southampton was successful and it has just been confirmed that he will appear in a Chelsea shirt this season amid interest from other Premier League clubs.
Spurs
Conte’s first summer window has been a productive one, with Tottenham making five significant additions to their squad without any major sale. Ivan Perisic reunites with the Italian manager on a free transfer. The north London side evidently have money to spend with their £60m purchase of Richarlison from Everton, as well as Yves Bissouma for at least £25m from Brighton and Djed Spence from Middlesborough. Clément Lenglet also arrives on loan from Barcelona.
Arsenal
The Gunners are looking to break into the top four for the first time since 2016. New signing Jesus has hit the ground running in pre-season, and the Gunners will be hoping his £45m fee will propel them into the Champions League. Fabio Vieira arrives for £35m from Porto to further improve the squad, as will the acquisition of Zinchenko. Arteta also appears interested in Leicester’s Youri Tielemans – that could be a vital signing if the move materialises.
Alexandre Lacazette’s underwhelming spell at the Emirates came to an end as he returned to Lyon, and Matteo Guendouzi also left for Olympique Marseille.
Manchester United
Christian Eriksen’s incredible comeback story continues as he joins the Red Devils
The biggest arrival at Old Trafford this summer is surely new manager Erik ten Hag. He moved quickly to purchase central defender Lisandro Martinez from Ajax for a fee that could rise to £57m. Christian Eriksen’s incredible comeback story continues as he joins the Red Devils, and Tyrell Malacia arrives for £14.7m from Feyenoord.
The De Jong saga will likely continue into the season, as will the curious case of Ronaldo, who seems desperate to leave, though no club actually wants him it seems. Andreas Pereira has headed to Fulham, and United released a quintet of previously influential players in Cavani, Pogba, Matic, Mata, and Lingard.
West Ham
The Hammers had excellent form for most of the last campaign, and Moyes will look to continue their run of strong league finishes. They have signed Nayef Aguerd for £30m from Rennes, though an ankle injury will restrict his initial impact. Alphonse Areola, fresh from his Paris Saint-Germain departure, will contest the goalkeeper spot. Two more significant signings are Gianluca Scamacca for over £35m from Sassuolo and Flynn Downes from Swansea.
The London side are also interested in Bundesliga ace Filip Kostic, though have cooled interest on Broja from Chelsea.
Leicester City
The Foxes have had a frankly terrible window
In a summer where they surely need to strengthen to maintain their top-half status and continue to fight for European places, The Foxes have had a frankly terrible window. With no incomings as of yet, Leicester fans will be fearful of the season ahead.
They have lost a crucial keeper in Kasper Schmeichel to Nice, and other than that there is not anything else to report from the Kingpower!
Brighton
Unfortunately for Seagulls fans the outgoings have been more significant than incomings on the South coast. Graham Potter has lost midfield maestro Bissouma to Spurs, and Cucurella has recently completed a move to Chelsea which will see Brighton receive a record fee that could rise to £60m.
A trio of signings in Julio Enciso from Libertad Asuncion for £9.5m, Simon Adingra from Nordsjaelland, and Benicio Baker-Boaitey from Porto will have a lot of work to do to fill such gaps.
CLUB STATEMENT: MARC CUCURELLA.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 5, 2022
Following reports from numerous media outlets this week, we can confirm an agreement has been reached with Brighton and Hove Albion for the signing of Marc Cucurella.
Wolves
Another midtable side lacking activity in the market has been Wolves. Their only significant addition to date has been centre half Nathan Collins from relegated Burnley (as well as activating the clause to buy loanee Hwang Hee-chan from Leipzig).
First team departures see Ruben Vinagre go to Sporting, Fabio Silva loaned to Anderlecht, and Romain Saiss head to Besiktas for free.
With over a billion pounds spent so far, there is surely still more to come. Stay tuned for the second part of this mini-series and any further transfer news!
Vinay Patel
Featured image used courtesy of Nathan Rogers via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @arsenal via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @chelseafc via Twitter. No changes were made to this image.
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