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The Premier League season 2017/18 is finally over, and it has been a season of Pep's dominance, Salah's magic, and Arsene's retirement. In almost a month's time, all eyes will be on the World Cup, but before that, we have the FA Cup Final and the Champions League final.
We now have three confirmed teams that are going to be relegated to the Championship - Stoke City, Swansea City, and West Bromwich Albion. Teams that get relegated get around a £90 million balloon payment, and this is to ensure that they can make payments to their existing players and not have to go under administration.
A lot of players have contracts which specifically indicate reduced wages if the team gets relegated. Some of these players try and force a move to another Premier League club so as to not face a wage cut.
The pride of playing in the highest league in the country (and one of the most watched leagues in the world) along with financial incentives is enough for players to look for a move. This leaves the relegated teams in a poor bargaining position.
These players become targets for teams that are being promoted to the Premier League or teams that may finish in the bottom half of the Premier League.
We take a look at six such players who could be potential transfer targets.
Stoke City
Stoke have stayed in the Premier League for a decade. Under Tony Pulis, they were rock solid at the back. Mark Hughes brought some flair to their style of play. This season they looked like they neither had a robust defence nor flair.
Two players from Stoke who could be potential transfer targets:
Xherdan Shaqiri
Shaqiri can play anywhere in attacking midfield, a false 9 or as a winger. He can control the pace of the game and is also a dead ball specialist. His tally of eight goals and eight assists this season does not do justice to his impact on the side.
Stoke bought him for a club record fee of £12 million and might be able to easily get something around that number from quite a few Premier League teams.
Jack Butland
Butland might not have had a terrific season this time around, given that he kept only six clean sheets, but he was terrific in the 15/16 season when he had kept ten clean sheets in fewer games.
He made his national team debut for England a few years ago and is currently in contention for being England's goalkeeper for the World Cup. He is only 25 years old and has much to learn, but he would make a fantastic addition to a team which needs a good shot stopper.
Liverpool and Arsenal, two big clubs in search of a keeper, might be interested if Stoke show willingness to sell. He was bought for £3.5 million which Stoke can easily recover.
Honorable mentions: Moritz Bauer, Joe Allen, Ryan Shawcross, Choupo Moting.
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom had been playing in the Premier League for eight seasons including the recently concluded one. Their current caretaker manager, Darren Moore, became the first manager to win the manager of the month award and be relegated in the same month. He was able to bring back some life to the club but it was too little too late.
Two players from West Brom who would be potential transfer targets:
Ahmed Hegazi
Hegazi has been a standout performer for West Brom this season having played every single minute of every single game. He scored two goals and has been able to keep ten clean sheets.
The Egyptian has earned praise from the pundits for his composed, no-nonsense defending. West Brom initially signed him on loan but given his performances, they signed him on a permanent deal for £4.5 million. Hegazi could easily be a centre back for most midtable Premier League teams.
Jonny Evans
Former Manchester United player and current Captain of West Brom, Jonny Evans has been a transfer target for a lot of big teams in the last two transfer windows. There were rumors that City and Arsenal were interested in signing him in the winter transfer window. It was also reported that United might want to sign him back.
Evans has scored two and assisted two goals in the premier league this season. He has done well while partnering with Hegazi. He was bought for £6 million by West Brom and they could very easily get it all back and more if a top team comes to buy.
Honorary mentions: Jay Rodriguez, Chris Brunt, Chadli, Rondon
Swansea City
Swansea City finished eighth in 2014-15 which was their highest league finish ever. They managed to produce league doubles over Arsenal and Manchester United that season.
This season has been extremely forgettable for the Swans with constant change in managers and below-par performances from some of their star players.
Two players from Swansea who would be potential transfer targets:
Wilfried Bony
Bony scored 35 goals for Swansea in 70 games and had a huge role to play in their Premier League success before he was sold to Manchester City for £28 million.
Bony struggled with Manchester City and was subsequently bought back by Swansea. He hasn't done much this season but given his past record, he could be a good striker option for a team.
He is a fantastic header of the ball and has experience of playing as a lone striker. Some of the teams that he could potentially play for are West Ham, Burnley, Spurs, and Southampton.
Tom Carroll
There was a time when Tom Carroll was compared to Luka Modric - a deep-lying creative midfielder. He can create chances, control the game and make incisive passes from the midfield to the forwards. He hasn't scored a lot of goals this season but has provided four assists.
He spent his youth years with Tottenham and they might want to try and sign him back. He might be a great deputy for Eriksen.
Newly promoted teams might want to get him if they are looking for a midfield general. Swansea bought him £4.5 million and could easily make a profit on his sale.
Honorable mentions: Jordan Ayew, Alfie Mawson, Fabianski, Luciano Narsingh
