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The Premier league is slated to start on August 10th with Manchester United taking on Leicester City in the first match of the season. However, it is the transfer window, which for the first time would end before the league season starts, that is grabbing all the headlines.
Each of the top six Premier League clubs have enjoyed different summers in this transfer season. Chelsea has a new manager under Maurizio Sarri and despite having being linked with numerous players, have only made one major signing in midfielder Jorginho with the other one being a third choice goalkeeper in Rob Green.
Arsenal has been comparatively busy in the transfer market having signed players including the likes of goalkeeper Bernd Leno, midfielder Torreira, young Guendouzi, defender Papastathopoulos and the experienced right-back Lichtsteiner.
Manchester United may have signed three players with the marquee signing of Fred being one among them with full back Dalot and back up goalkeeper Hugh Grant being the other ones. However, United manager Mourinho has been vocal about the lack of transfer activity with the Portuguese coach expecting at least 1 more signing before the end of the transfer window.
Liverpool has been considered as having the best transfer window this summer with the club managing to strengthen their first 11 with significant additions. The arrival of Keita and Fabinho in midfield would certainly provide Klopp with the kind of dynamism he needs in midfield. Shaqiri provides that all-important squad depth in the attacking department. However, the club would be most satisfied with the arrival of Allison Becker who will certainly resolve their biggest issue, the goalkeeping department.
Manchester City, as expected, have been relatively quiet this summer compared to the last transfer window with Guardiola insisting that he would only look for special players if they become available. The arrival of Mahrez may have gone unnoticed but it is certainly an important signing nonetheless.
Tottenham have only the signing of new contracts by their key players to show for in this transfer window much to the frustration of their manager Pochettino.
With the transfer window just a few days away from closing, let us now look at 1 player from each of these clubs that badly needs a move.
Manchester City- Eliaquim Mangala
Joe Hart would have been the obvious choice before his move to Burnley came about. Mangala would certainly be the next choice with the French defender never quite establishing himself in Manchester.
Mangala was brought to the club with much fan fare in 2014 with the then Porto centre back costing the club an enormous transfer fee of £32 million. Although the defender initially impressed, he never quite settled in this City side.
The French defender is certainly not a part of Guardiola's plans with Laporte, Otamendi, Stones and talisman Kompany way ahead of him in the pecking order.
His loan move to Everton last season was also not an inspiring one with his injury mid season curtailing the length of his loan spell. Wolves seem to be the only interested club in Mangala and it seems the newly promoted club would provide an ideal opportunity for the centre back to reestablish himself in the Premier League club.
Manchester United- Anthony Martial
If there is one player who has infuriated Jose Mourinho in the recent past, it certainly has to be Anthony Martial. Luke Shaw will certainly thank the French winger for that.
After an impressive first season with the club,Martial has been a bit part player under Jose Mourinho. The French International would certainly argue that he did not get a fair chance under the Portuguese manager. Perhaps the writing on the wall was when the club chose to sign Alexis Sanchez in the January Transfer window last season.
Sanchez may have come for a bargain amount but it was certainly at the wrong time for Martial. It was around that time that the former Monaco forward was getting into his stride and perhaps playing his best under Mourinho. However, with the arrival of Sanchez, who also likes to play from the left wing, Martial had to adjust with the manager playing him at times from the right.
Martial has reportedly been upset with this and according to reports, wants to leave the club.The fact that he had to attend to the birth of his child during the US tour and did not come back in time according to his manager has added more smoke to the already raging fire. Martial, in fact, fought back stating that his family was more important when asked about the issue with the club fining him in the process.
The availability of Martial has certainly alerted other top clubs but his extremely high valuation in this already inflated market may prove a deterrent. However, it does not seem that there could be any reconciliation between the manager and the player and a move may suit both parties.
Tottenham- Danny Rose
A year ago, Danny Rose's stock was quite high. The club had finished second to the then Premier league champions Chelsea and although Rose suffered an injury midway through the season, he did play an important part in that run up to that point.
The important fact was that up until that point, Rose was Spurs' and England's first-choice left-back. He was also included in the PFA Premier league team of the season for 2016-17. However, post that injury which took him close to 9 months to recover, Rose could not retain that claim again.
One of the reasons for the same was what happened last summer during the transfer window. During an interview with the Sun, Rose claimed that Tottenham players deserve more in terms of the wages that they receive.
The England International had seen his fellow compatriot and colleague Kyle Walker just move to Manchester City which certainly saw his wages increased and Rose himself was being linked in a big money move with the other side of Manchester.
However, the move did not materialize and the fact that he was still recovering an injury did not help matters. The club and Pochettino as expected was not happy with one of their senior players making such statements.
Although it was later reported that Pochettino and Rose had cleared the issue, it clearly did not feel that all was well between the two. Rose was eclipsed by Ben Davies as first-choice left-back for Spurs and in the England set up, Ashley Young was favored by Southgate in the World Cup in his position.
Injury along with the importance for a club like Tottenham ,who certainly are not in the same league like Chelsea, City and United in terms of their financial dealings, to put a precedent may have played a role in Rose's situation.
In fact, Rose even stated that he might be the luckiest of the 23 man England squad to have got a chance to participate in the World Cup.Hence, with Davies ahead of him in the queue at North London and amidst reports that Spurs are willing to hear offers for him , Rose may need a move to reestablish himself again in the Premier league.
Liverpool- Loris Karius
The career of Loris Karius at Liverpool has been a strange one. Bought from Mainz for a modest fee of £4.7 million in the summer of 2016, Karius was termed as an upgrade on Mignolet in the goalkeeping section.
However, it certainly did not turn that way initially. After several changes between both, Mignolet reestablished himself as the first choice goalkeeper in that season. However, in the 2017-18 season, after several unconvincing performances from the Belgian, Karius was picked as first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season.
To be fair to the German, he did put in some impressive performances during the last campaign up until the Champions League final. Liverpool were always derided for the fact that they did not possess a world class goalkeeper among their ranks.
However, Karius' displays over the course of the season helped change that view to some extent. However, the German did not help his case whatsoever in the Champions League final after being directly responsible for 2 of Real Madrid's goals that evening.
Karius was heartbroken and his tears after the end of the game suggested that he knew he was directly responsible for their defeat that evening. It has all gone downhill from there for the German with the final nail in the coffin being the arrival of Allison Becker.
With little chance for redemption, it may be best for Karius to look somewhere else to start afresh away from the Liverpool chaos.
Chelsea- Danny Drinkwater
When Chelsea signed Drinkwater last summer for a mammoth £35 million deal, many felt Leicester had got the better end of the deal this time unlike the one they suffered the season before when they sold Kante for £3 million less.
To say the least, it has panned exactly as expected. Drinkwater was uninspiring last season and could not rediscover the magic with Kante as Chelsea had hoped.
With the arrival of Jorginho, the return of Loftus-Cheek from his loan spell and the vast array of midfielders that Sarri possesses at Chelsea, it would be difficult for Drinkwater to get some game time this season. The Europa league may prove to be a savior for Drinkwater in that regard but the fact that Chelsea are quite keen to listen to offers for the former Leicester midfielder states that his future may be up in West London.
A move, even if it is a loan, would provide Drinkwater with the chance to prove that he can still be a handful for at least the mid table Premier league clubs.
Arsenal- David Ospina
The arrival of Bernd Leno this summer has certainly put pressure on Petr Cech who was Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper for the last 3 years. The former Chelsea goalkeeper, however, has certainly tried to prove his case to his new manager Unai Emery with his performances in preseason, especially the one against Chelsea.
However, that leaves David Ospina's future in North London at a precarious stage. The Colombian International was always preferred for cup games ahead of Petr Cech but has always been considered as second choice for the Gunners.
The arrival of Leno would certainly push Ospina further down the queue. Arsenal has also been welcoming any offers for Ospina with only his wage demands becoming a deterrent for the interested clubs.
The latest among them has been Besiktas, who are rumored to have lost interest in Ospina due to the former Nice goalkeeper's wage demands. However, it seems a matter of time before Ospina finally leaves the club he joined in 2014, with his playing time looking increasingly slim than ever before.
