Pep Guardiola has already received the welcome news that Manchester City’s owners are ready to invest again: Sheik Mansour has so enjoyed his first ten years at the Etihad helm, he’s ready to make the next ten even better!
And that sends shock waves through the rest of the Premier League, which has watched the Sky Blues sweep all before them this season to amass a whopping 100 points. So it’s time to spend and to spend wisely.
Most of the transfer action may come after World Cup 2018. But the biggest clubs like to get their business done early, so we may see some progress over the next couple of weeks. The top betting tips for the EPL 2019 winners will take a close look at which teams recruit well, and which hold on to their prize assets. You need to do both.
If Manchester City want to keep a player they will, and so all eyes are on who Pep will bring in during the summer break. Last year, he spent over £200m and he’s been offered a similar budget this time around. He’s ready to start with a combined £120m swoop for Napoli midfielder Jorginho, who is set to hold talks with his club next week, and Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez.
Mahrez wanted to join Manchester City in the January transfer window, seriously falling out with the Foxes. But after Leicester had dug their heels in, the mercurial attacker eventually stopped sulking and put a shift in over the rest of the season. He desperately wants Champions league football, and this could be his time.
Over the road, Manchester United are making noises in the direction of Shakhtar where Brazilian striker Fred looks set to exit, and Jose Mourinho would like to move this on before the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Bayern hotshot Robert Lewandowski is looking forward to Russia World Cup 2018 where Poland has an excellent chance of advancing from Group H. But his agent has been touting the Bundesliga top scorer around Europe’s top clubs, including Real Madrid, PSG and Chelsea, and the Red Devils are reported to have an interest too.
Chelsea’s unsettled striker Alvaro Morata has been in Italy, having talks with Milan or even Juventus. If he is to go, then Lewandowski would be a superb replacement. Milan have also been showing an interest in Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini, but Jose will want to line up a replacement for his physical midfielder.
Former Old Trafford faithful Wayne Rooney may finally be making the move abroad and is having talks with DC United.
There’s plenty of interest in Liverpool for a challenge to Manchester City, and Jurgen Klopp knows he probably already has the best attacking team. So he’s looking to build from the back and could be set to land young Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Managerial Merry-Go-Round
It’s always better to change your manager at the end of the season rather than four games into the next one; but I guess, this time around, Crystal Palace won’t be sacking Roy Hodgson any time soon.
Arsene has left Arsenal, and David Moyes and Big Sam Allardyce have been thanked for steadying the ships at West Ham and Everton by being shown the door. Nice.
So in comes Unai Emery, Manuel Pellegrini and probably Marco Silva. The first two can start their dealing straight away while the Toffees land their man.
New Arsenal boss Emery has some buying to do but may lose Danny Welbeck if there’s any truth in a rumour he could be on his way to Besiktas. In the meantime, he has his sights set on Nice midfielder Jean Michel Seri. The French star has a £35m release clause. And he may go back to Paris to pick up Adrian Rabiot, while sounding out Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The two Davids, Gold and Sullivan, have promised new Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini a war chest of up to £75m, and he may be interested in Salomon Rondon if the Venezuelan striker activates his £16.5m release clause at relegated West Brom. But his first signing could be Chelsea keeper Willy Caballero.
Spending to Survive
Gone are the days when spending millions was the sole privilege of the very top teams or a club with a wealthy benefactor happy to spend his fortune to give his favourite team a sneaky edge. These days, the multi-billion pound global television rights give the smallest of clubs a chance if they can stay in the top flight for more than one season.
And you need to spend to survive, not a few million, but nearer to £50m to steer clear of the drop. That alone doesn’t guarantee success and survival, but doing it on a shoestring is the work of super-humans.
Newcastle United rallied brilliantly to pull away from trouble, and they will hope to progress with Rafa Benitez still at the club. They have targeted Espanyol defender David Lopez but could face stiff competition from Spurs.
Brighton, too, did well to survive a first season at the top, and Chris Hughton knows he needs to improve his squad. Deportivo La Coruna striker Florin Andone could be heading to Brighton in a £5m deal following Depor’s relegation and the imminent departure of Clarence Seedorf.
Keep watching. The wallets are about to open and the money starts flowing.
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