With only a sparse amount of football to hold our interest this summer, transfer window fever has gripped SportsJOE and the only prescription is more speculation.
We are going to go through every Premier League team to see where they stand at the moment, what areas they need to strengthen and who they might add over the course of the summer.
The first batch of teams under review is Arsenal to Leicester City – what business will these clubs do in the coming months?
Arsenal
What they have
Last season was really the year of three for Arsenal. They finished third in the Premier League, scored the third most goals and conceded the third fewest. They have a glittering array of attacking talent with Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud forming one of the most potent attacks in Europe.
In defence, Laurent Koscielny has developed into one of the league’s most dependable centre backs while Jack Wilshere (when he isn’t being a LAD) and Mathieu Flamini give Wenger’s men some midfield steel.
What they need
If you dig below the surface though, their defensive stats aren’t as impressive as they look. In ten games against the league’s top six last year, they kept just two clean sheets (and one of those was in a late-season game with Chelsea where Jose Mourinho’s men were denied a few blatant penalties).
They were also cut open at will by Monaco in a disastrous Champions League last 16 tie at the Emirates that ultimately saw them exit the competition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4_lrMHzXio
The arrival of Petr Cech should help things, though he is not quite the same keeper he was five years ago, but in front of him Per Mertesacker the club’s vice-captain, oftentimes turns like an old steam ship.
Their midfield is one of the best around but former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has been critical of Olivier Giroud’s failure to reach the 20-goal mark in the league. Could Arsenal do with another striker?
What will they get?
After years of carefully managing their money, Arsenal unzipped their bum bag and made two big-money signings (Ozil and Sanchez) in the last two seasons. Will Arsene Wenger make another flashy purchase to address some of their defensive frailties?
Porto’s Jackson Martinez would have eased some of the pressure on Giroud, but has gone to Atletico Madrid. Barcelona’s Pedro is said to be a target for Wenger. The Spaniard would certainly be a stellar signing but there would also need to be some defensive help added for Arsenal to finally win another league title.
Aston Villa
What they have
In an interview with Alan Shearer on BBC before the FA Cup final, Tim Sherwood bemoaned the fact that in his two managerial jobs thus far, he has taken over someone else’s team halfway through the season.
This is Sherwood’s chance to put his own side together with the aim of improving his win ratio by another few percentage points.
Villa had the second worst attack in the league last season so Sherwood definitely needs to upgrade his offensive threat. That task will be even greater with the likely departures of Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke.
What they need
Another central defender to partner/potentially replace Ron Vlaar would be ideal but realistically, striker will be the big area Sherwood will want to improve. Benteke looks like moving on while Gabriel Agbonlahor is no longer able to lead the side. How they use the £32m they receive for Benteke will define their season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbzDc8eS1xw
The departure of Tom Cleverley is a loss for Villa – no, really – as the former league winner began to perform really well towards the end of the season.
What will they get?
If Villa do have to part with their big Belgian, then Charlie Austin would be a great replacement. Austin’s 18 goals last season represented more than 50% of Villa’s total output in the league and were Benteke to fetch the £32m fee being reported, they would likely have some money left over after buying the Englishman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxgXY1u-7-U
And would another QPR player, Leroy Fer, be a good fit to come in for the departed Cleverley? The Dutchman was one of the few bright spots in what was a sorry season for the London club.
Bournemouth
What they have
At Championship level, Bournemouth were like 1970 Brazil, scoring 98 goals in the league, an average of 2.13 per game.
Unfortunately, while they had the second meanest defence in the league, they still conceded 45 goals. Last year, the promoted teams had three of the worst five defences in the Premier League so Eddie Howe will want to bring in some rearguard reinforcements to ensure his side can hang around the top flight longer than one season. The highly rated Tyrone Mings has arrived from Ipswich already and he, like his new team-mates, will have to hit the ground running.
They do have experience between the posts though, in former Celtic and Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc, while Matt Ritchie and Harry Arter excelled in midfield. Up front, Callum Wilson will hope to bring most of his 20 Championship goals to the Premier League with him.
What they need
Someone to share the load with Wilson. Howe has already recruited players in that area, with Norwegian wing Joshua King joining on a free transfer from Blackburn and Christian Atsu coming in on loan from Chelsea. A more established forward would be ideal though, while we have already mentioned the need for Championship teams to strengthen their defence when making the leap to the Premier League.
What will they get?
They do NOT want to do a QPR and splurge on a number of mediocre journeymen just because they have played in the Premier League before. They have the lowest budget in the league so they will need to be smart about how they strengthen their team, i.e Eddie Howe needs to become BFFs with Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal and orchestrate a few handy loan deals.
If Manchester United bring in another defender, could they get Tyler Blackett or Paddy McNair for the season? A move like that could be win win for the player and the club.
Chelsea
What they have
Almost everything. Chelsea had the best defence in the league and scored the second most goals. Their two big purchases last year, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, were massive difference-makers and Jose Mourinho’s decision to go with Thibaut Courtois over Petr Cech was inspired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSfCdOXqRus
John Terry is playing as well as ever and Eden Hazard is one of the four or five best players in the world at the moment. Everything’s coming up Chelsea.
What they need
When Diego Costa got injured towards the season’s end, the Chelsea attack lacked options and it was left to Hazard to play the hero too often. Didier Drogba is gone and Loic Remy seems a little off the level required by the Premier League champions, is Radamel Falcao the solution? On last season’s evidence the answer is a resounding ‘no’.
What will they get?
It’s hard to see what areas Mourinho will strengthen, though he may look to ‘upgrade’ in one or two cases. Oscar is reportedly a target for Juventus with Chelsea interested in Arda Turdan from Atletico Madrid.
Crystal Palace
What they have
As much as football fans dislike Alan Pardew’s smug, preening fist-pumps, it is hard to argue that he didn’t do a great job with Crystal Palace last season. Their front three of Jason Puncheon, Dwight Gayle and Yannick Bolasie were a delight to watch last year while Mile Jedinak got through a great amount of work in midfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IorrpkxMHM
Scott Dann and Damian Delaney formed a decent centre back partnership last year too, although the defence did concede over 50 goals.
What they need
Palace’s midfield trio of Jedinak, Joe Ledley and Scott MacArthur are solid – but is there anyone there that opposition defences will really fear? And their top scorer was Gayle with just 10 league goals, a total that can definitely be improved upon.
What they’ll get
It might be an ambitious suggestion but what about Yohan Cabaye swapping Paris for Palace? He worked well with Pardew at Newcastle and the classy Frenchman has never developed into the Ligue 1 regular he may have hoped to be. His slick passing would be a welcome addition to the Palace midfield.
And if Chelsea bring in another striker, Loic Remy might be free to get a black cab across London. Pardew could probably persuade his two former disciples to worship at the Church of Alan once again.
Everton
What they have
After a strong first season under Roberto Martinez, Everton noticeably regressed last season. On paper, they have a quality team with great attackers all over the pitch from Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines in defence to Romelu Lukaku in attack. Gareth Barry’s role in the team is to sit in front of the back four and he is joined by Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas in midfield.
Not a bad group of players, is it?
What they need
But are they TOO attacking? Coleman and Baines love to bomb forward, which can leave the defence exposed while Lukaku’s poor return in front of goal (10 league goals) meant Everton’s attacking style didn’t reap the rewards needed to justify its existence.
Muhamed Besic was brought in as a defensive midfielder last summer, but Everton might need to shore up that position once again. They might also be better off moving Coleman or Baines into midfield and bringing a defence-first defender into the side.
What will they get?
At the moment the Toffees are being linked with Wolves striker Nouha Dicko, who might not be a bad option as he likely wouldn’t command a huge fee. Another name being talked about is Augsburg’s Estonian defender Ragnar Klavan, who has plays left-sided centre back and left back, so his addition could allow Baines more freedom to get forward.
Leicester City
What they have
At the moment, no manager, though they do have some quality in the side. Leonardo Ulloa bagged 11 goals while Jamie Vardy finished the season strongly. Esteban Cambiasso battled hard in midfield for the Foxes and although they had the fourth leakiest defence in the league, they actually scored as many goals as eight place Swansea.
What they need
They could do with another defender – 35-year-old Polish international Marcin Wasilewski played almost all their games from November on – and a creative midfielder would do wonders for Ulloa and Vardy’s goal tallies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SgkVuPhr-Q
What will they get?
Free agent winger Bakary Sako looks set to sign for Leicester after impressing for Wolves in the Championship and he would go some way to filling that void in attack. Hull defender Michael Dawson will likely want to return to the Premier League and would be a great addition to the Leicester defence.
Before Pearson’s departure they manager to bring Mainz’s Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki to the Walker’s Stadium. Okazaki scored 15 goals in the Bundesliga this season, and is Japan’s most prolific striker. Whether or not he fits the the new manager’s plans remains to be seen.
Who can you see arriving at these clubs over the summer? Tweet us @sportsjoedotie and let us know.
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