Most Premier League clubs have done the bulk of their transfer business already with the summer window set to close on Thursday, ensuring teams cannot buy or sell players again until January. However, many teams are still looking to put the finishing touches on their summer business.
Some teams more than others need to do much more than they have already done, be it to avoid relegation or solidify a title challenge. Here is a look at five Premier League teams that really need to make another move or two ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
5) Manchester City
Can it really be possible to need more reinforcements even after spending upwards of $250 million in transfer fees on new players? In the case of Manchester City, it can, with two rather significant positional holes yet to be filled despite the club’s best efforts.
City have spent lavishly on fullbacks during the window, but they have yet to add a new central defender, though not for lack of effort. Pursuits of players such as Virgin van Dijk and Leonardo Bonucci have fallen short, leaving a desperate City in search of a fourth center back in the final week of the window. They could get by with Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi, and John Stones if they had to, but Kompany’s lengthy injury history means this would be short-sighted. West Brom’s Jonny Evans appears to be the current target, and while the reported $38 million price tag would be excessive, City may have no other choice.
It’s also surprising that a team of this caliber would need another forward, but that appears to be the case. It’s fair to say that City’s title challenge was derailed last season due to an inability to finish clear-cut chances, and through three games this season, the same concerns are popping up. When Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus aren’t firing, City lack scoring punch from out wide, where Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling are both better known for their creative abilities, as are David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Alexis Sanchez would be perfect, but Arsenal will fight any sale. Though with the star forward down to the final year of his contract and Arsenal looking to be in dire straits, the Gunners may be left with no choice but to cash in.
4) Newcastle United
Newcastle are back up with essentially the same squad that got them promoted with relative ease last season. That’s all well and good until you remember that [i]that[/i] squad was the same one that was relegated in 2016. Newcastle need to add talent, there’s no doubt about that.
Manager Rafa Benitez knows it, too. Such is his frustration that he saw no problem with publicly calling out notoriously tight-fisted owner Mike Ashley about the lack of funds made available to him to sign new players. Newcastle have brought four in, including Jacob Murphy and Florian Lejeune, but neither is really an impact addition. It’s hard to see the Magpies bringing in the support they need this late in the window. It’s even harder to see Ashley loosening the purse strings. He may end up relegated again if he doesn’t start spending.
3) West Ham
There really is no excuse for what is happening to the Hammers. They find themselves at the bottom of the table after a 3-0 away drubbing to Newcastle, which really shouldn’t be happening. They have scored just twice in three matches while conceding 10 goals. This is a team that spent a pretty good about of money to bring in forward Marko Arnautovic and striker Javier Hernandez, plus England’s No. 1 goalkeeper Joe Hart arrived on loan. Ultimately, despite all this, they look even worse than they did last year, which was an underwhelming campaign in itself.
The result is that manager Slaven Bilic is already on the hot seat, and the malaise may not be fixable with just new additions. They need to try, though, particularly on the defensive side of things, where they’ve been the worst team in the league. A move for Portuguese defensive midfielder William Carvalho has been rumored, but does not look imminent. Frankly, West Ham are too good to be in a relegation battle. Bilic will take the fall if this continues, but the team needs a sturdier foundation to begin with.
2) Tottenham
A little over two weeks ago, Tottenham left back Danny Rose gave a rather remarkable set of quotes to British tabloid The Sun, chief among them that he is rather tired of the squad spending their money on “players you have to Google.” At the time, they were the only club in England’s top flight that had not signed any players all summer. They have since signed 21-year-old Colombian center back Davinson Sanchez, a player with lots of potential but unlikely to pass Rose’s Google test.
While it’s fair to say Rose chose to vent his frustrations in an unacceptable way, a lot of Spurs fans might have privately nodded their heads in agreement. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has a reputation for being on the miserly side, milking outgoing transfers for every penny before spending rather conservatively on incomings. That’s happening again this summer, with the club sanctioning the hefty sale of former first-choice right back Kyle Walker to Manchester City, buying Sanchez, and keeping the extra profit thus far.
Further worry arose when Spurs started the season with a loss and a draw at Wembley, with their temporary home still not agreeing with them. This is a team that has accumulated the most total points in the Premier League over the last two seasons, but they haven’t really done anything to strengthen this summer. Manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he expects at least three new signings, with French right back Serge Aurier rumored to be close and persistent links to Everton midfielder Ross Barkley still popping up. At least Spurs know they need reinforcements.
1) Arsenal
Oh dear. The Gunners are already in full-blown crisis mode after just one win in three games to open the new campaign. After a shaky performance in a comeback win at home against Leicester, they’ve lost at Stoke and were totally and completely eviscerated at Liverpool in a game that finished 4-0 but could have been even worse. Giving manager Arsene Wenger a new contract looks like an even worse decision now than it did when it happened.
French forward Andre Lacazette and Bosnian left back Sead Kolasinac have been Arsenal’s only two incomings, and it’s quite clearly not enough. Neither of them even started in the Liverpool mauling, which may well say more about Wenger’s team selection than their quality, but it’s still a damning indictment of something. Even worse is the fact that most of the rumors surrounding Arsenal’s transfer business as the window nears a close are about outgoings, not incomings. There is even a rumored Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City transfer still floating around the press to go along with reports that winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may be off to Chelsea. A lengthy summer pursuit of Monaco forward Thomas Lemar looks set to end in failure, and it’s not really clear where Arsenal go from here. A new manager and changes at the boardroom level are likely necessary, but neither is coming anytime soon.
Arsenal have to hold on to their best players and try to find a way to fill in the edges — a difficult task given both their start and the fact that they won’t be able to offer Champions League soccer for the first time in two decades.
