VAR, IFAB New Rules, New Signings And Other Things To Look Out For In The 2019/2020 Premier League Season

The wait is almost over as the Premier League is just a few days away from kick-off and clubs in the topflight are already solidifying their squad with the signing of different players around the globe.

No doubt. this season’s Premier League is expected to be dramatic, intriguing, emotional, explosive and full of goals as teams battle to improve from their last season’s performance while the promoted teams will be hoping to share from the bragging rights as well.

With reigning EPL champions, Manchester City, Champions League winner, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Europa League winner, Chelsea setting their sights on the title, it appears nothing but three points will be a bone of contention to survive or be relegated.

On paper, Manchester City are expected to win the title based on the fact that they have a manager in Pep Guardiola who has won leagues in all 11 seasons but two, as a manager, actually, 10 seasons as he was on a sabbatical for 2012–13 season. He is their star rather than a player on the team. The philosopher, perfectionist won’t take a no for an answer.

They have the best squad in the whole of Europe. Even their 2nd team might finish on top six. Just imagine Sane, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus in the bench, who have that quality?

Their World-class midfield: Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Phil Foden. Their nearest challenger will be Liverpool who themselves have an excellent defense and attack but they don’t boast a midfield like City. This city midfield has it all, passes, assist, organization, goals, naughty falls, you name it.

Liverpool will push them all the way again, but City are likely to triumph again. The Reds may have had a contrasting preseason having managed to win one match against Lyon, however, with the Jurgen Klopp still having the core part of the players, they are sure contenders for the title.

Also, Tottenham will give Liverpool and Manchester City a run for their money, most especially with the recruitment of Tanguy Ndombele from French league side Lyon- an indication of their determination to wrestle the league title from Man City.

Their win over Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to lift the Audi Cup was also a statement of intent of their readiness for the Premier League.

Meanwhile, teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are not expected to challenge for the title, but the battle for the top four between them will be interesting. Chelsea under a new manager shouldn’t expect much considering the fact that they have been banned from signing players. United are under rebuilding process while Arsenal, as usual, will enjoy possession with little or nothing to show for it.

Introduction of VAR

The 2019/2020 Premier League season will see the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR), following its success around the world.

VAR is already used in La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Primeira Liga and was used at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup which took place in France. According to the BBC, the Premier League has been carrying out trials, and clubs were given an update at a meeting on Thursday.

Despite the occasional controversy in the World Cup, it was generally perceived as a successful addition to the game.

In England, however, Premier League referees have been ordered to set a particularly “high bar” for deciding when they need to use the pitch-side review area.

Howard Webb, the 2010 World Cup final referee who oversaw the introduction of the system in Major League Soccer (MLS) and is now general manager of the Professional Referee Organisation (PRO), spoke about how the game has changed with the use of VAR and what we might expect to see happen in the Premier League from next season.

“The obvious change is we have had less important mistakes, which is what it is designed to do. The ethos is to benefit the game without interfering with how it is played. In MLS, we have seen almost 100 errors rectified by the use of video review and those are errors that will have been significant because they relate to direct red cards, goals and penalty kicks primarily.”

“They can officiate better because they don’t have that doubt in the back of their head that they have made an error. That plays on your mind for the rest of the match and if a decision affects the outcome of the game you don’t know until the end whether you have got it right or not. Now with VAR, within 10 to 15 seconds you get a colleague who has been able to check it and let you know if it was the right decision and then you can move on to the next one and not worry about the last one. That is a real benefit that people don’t realize – that officials will perform better because they have that safety net.”

IFAB New rules

New law changes revealed by IFAB over the weekend concentrate on five rules which could drastically affect key areas of the game.

Deliberate handball? Attackers in a wall for a free-kick? What are the new rules and how significant are they?

It’s not the first time that the rules of the beautiful game have been tweaked and it probably won’t be the last as administrators continue to figure out the best way forward in a world of changing technology.

Keep up to speed with all 20 clubs’ summer ins and outs, right here.

Arsenal
In

Nicolas Pepe (Lille) £72m

Gabriel Martinelli (Ituano) £6m

William Saliba (Saint-Etienne) £27m

Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid) Loan

Out

Aaron Ramsey (Juventus) Free

Petr Cech (Retired)

Danny Welbeck (Released)

Cohen Bramall (Released)

Charlie Gilmour (Released)

Stephan Lichtsteiner (Released)

Julio Pleguezuelo (Released)

Jordi Osei-Tutu (VfL Bochum) Loan

Daniel Ballard (Swindon Town) Loan

David Ospina (Napoli) £3.1m

Vontae Daley-Campbell (Leicester) Undisclosed

Ben Sheaf (Doncaster Rovers) Loan

William Saliba (Saint-Etienne) Loan

Xavier Amaechi (Hamburg) £2.25m

AFC Bournemouth
In

Arnaut Danjuma (Club Bruges) £13.7m‏

Lloyd Kelly (Bristol City) £13m

Jack Stacey (Luton Town) £4m

Philip Billing (Huddersfield) £15m

Out

Marc Pugh (QPR) Free

Mikael Ndjoli (Gillingham) Loan

Emerson Hyndman (Atlanta United) Loan

Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) £20m

Connor Mahoney (Millwall) £1m

Lys Mousset (Sheffield United) £10m

Aston Villa
In

Tom Heaton (Burnley) £8m

Marvelous Nakamba (Club Bruges) Undisclosed

Jota (Birmingham) £4m

Anwar El Ghazi (Lille) £8m

Wesley (Club Brugge) £22m

Kortney Hause (Wolves) £3m

Matt Targett (Southampton) £17m

Tyrone Mings (Bournemouth) £20m

Ezri Konsa (Brentford) £12m

Bjorn Engels (Reims) £7.2m

Trezeguet (Kasimpasa) £9m

Douglas Luiz (Manchester City) £16.8m

Out

Albert Adomah (Nottingham Forest) Free

Mark Bunn (Released)

Ritchie De Laet (Royal Antwerp) Free

Tommy Elphick (Huddersfield Town) Free

Alan Hutton (Released)

Mile Jedinak (Released)

Ross McCormack (Released)

Micah Richards (Retired)

Glenn Whelan (Released)

Gary Gardner (Birmingham) Undisclosed

Matija Sarkic (Livingston) Loan

Brighton & Hove Albion
In

Adam Webster (Bristol City) £20m

Matt Clarke (Portsmouth) Undisclosed

Leandro Trossard (Genk) £18m

Taylor Richards (Man City) £2.5m

Out

Bruno (Retired)

Will Collar (Hamilton Academical) Undisclosed

Alexis MacAllister (Boca Juniors) Loan

Ben White (Leeds United) Loan

Ales Mateju (Brescia Calcio) Undisclosed

Richie Towell (Salford City) Free

Billy Arce (Emelec) Loan

Anthony Knockaert (Fulham) Loan

Christian Walton (Blackburn Rovers) Loan

Bill Arce (Barcelona SC [Guayaquil]) Loan

Jan Mlakar (QPR) Loan

Viktor Gyokeres (St Pauli) Loan

Percy Tau (Club Brugge) Loan

Burnley
In

Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Leeds United) £2.5m

Erik Pieters (Stoke City) £1m

Joel Senior (Curzon Ashton) Undisclosed

Jay Rodriguez (West Bromwich Albion) £5m

Ryan Cooney (Bury) Undisclosed

Out

Jon Walters (Retired)

Stephen Ward (Stoke City) Free

Anders Lindegaard (Helsingborg) Free

Aiden O’Neill (Brisbane Roar) Free

Peter Crouch (Retired)

Mark Howarth (Released)

Chelsea
In

Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid) £40m

Out

Gary Cahill (Released)

Fankaty Dabo (Coventry City) Free

Rob Green (Retired)

Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) £88.5m

Todd Kane (Released)

Ola Aina (Torino) £8.7m

Nathan Baxter (Ross County) Loan

Richard Nartey (Burton Albion) Loan

Jay Dasilva (Bristol City) £2m

Eduardo (Released)

Kyle Scott (Released)

Tomas Kalas (Bristol City) £8m

Mario Pasalic (Atalanta) Loan

Charly Musonda (Vitesse Arnhem) Loan

Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid) £50m

Nathan (Atletico Mineiro) Loan

Lewis Baker (Fortuna Dusseldorf) Loan

Ethan Ampadu (RB Leipzig) Loan

Matt Miazga (Reading) Loan

Jake Clarke-Salter (Birmingham) Loan

Lewis Baker (Fortuna Dusseldorf) Loan

Crystal Palace
In

Stephen Henderson (Nottingham Forest) Free

Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) Undisclosed

Out

Jason Puncheon (Released)

Julian Speroni (Released)

Bakary Sako (Denizlispor) Free

Ollie O’Dwyer (Aldershot) Free

Joseph Hungbo (Released)

Tyler Brown (Released)

Levi Lumeka (Varzim)

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Man Utd) £50m

Everton
In

Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield Town) Free

Andre Gomes (Barcelona) £22m

Fabian Delph (Manchester City) £8.5m

Out

Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United) Free

Ashley Williams (Released)

Harry Charsley (Released)

Boris Mathis (Released)

Mateusz Hewelt (Miedz Legnica) Free

Shayne Lavery (Released)

Jack Kiersey (Released)

Danny Bramall (Released)

Joe Hilton (Released)

Chris Renshaw (Released)

Jonjoe Kenny (Schalke) Loan

Nikola Vlasic (CSKA Moscow) £14m

Sandro Ramirez (Real Valladolid) Loan

Brendan Galloway (Luton Town) Free

Korede Adedoyin (Hamilton Academical) Loan

Kieran Dowell (Derby) Loan

Joao Virginia (Reading) Loan

Luke Garbutt (Ipswich) Loan

Ademola Lookman (RB Leipzig) £18m

Idrissa Gueye (PSG) (£30m)

Leicester City
In

James Justin (Luton Town) £6m

Ayoze Perez (Newcastle United) £30m

Vontae Daley-Campbell (Arsenal) Undisclosed

George Hirst (OH Leuvens) Undisclosed

Ali Reghba (Bohemians) Undisclosed

Youri Tielemans (Monaco) £40m

Out

Harry Maguire (Man Utd) £80m

Shinji Okazaki (Released)

Danny Simpson (Released)

Davide Lorenzo (Released)

Daniel Iversen (Rotherham United) Loan

Liverpool
In

Sepp van den Berg (PEC Zwolle) Undisclosed

Harvey Elliott (Fulham) Undisclosed

Out

Alberto Moreno (Villarreal) Free

Daniel Sturridge (Released)

Connor Randall (Released)

Adam Bogdan (Released)

Sheyi Ojo (Rangers) Loan

Rafael Camacho (Sporting)

Marko Grujic (Hertha BSC) Loan

Danny Ings (Southampton) £20m

Allan Rodrigues de Souza (Fluminense) Loan

Kamil Grabara (Huddersfield Town) Loan

Manchester City
In

Angelino (PSV Eindhoven) £5.3m

Rodri (Atletico Madrid) £62.8m

Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew) £7m

Out

Vincent Kompany (Anderlecht) Free

Patrick Roberts (Norwich City) Loan

Pablo Mari (Flamengo) £1.5m

Tom Dele-Bashiru (Released)

Aaron Nemane (Released)

Matt Smith (QPR) Loan

Jack Harrison (Leeds United) Loan

Yangel Herrera (Granada) Loan

Aro Muric (Nottingham Forest) Loan

Zack Steffen (Fortuna Dusseldorf) Loan

Philippe Sandler (Anderlecht) Loan

Fabian Delph (Everton) £8.5m

Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) £16.8m

Yangel Herrera (Granada) Loan

Manchester United
In

Harry Maguire (Leicester) £80m

Daniel James (Swansea) £15m

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace) £50m

Out

Ander Herrera (PSG) Free

Antonio Valencia (LDU Quito) Free

Matthew Olosunde (Released)

James Wilson (Aberdeen) Free

Regan Poole (Released)

Kieran O’Hara (Burton Albion) Loan

Dean Henderson (Sheffield United) Loan

Newcastle United
In

Jetro Willems (Eintracht Frankfurt) Loan

Allan Saint-Maximin (Nice) Undisclosed

Joelinton (Hoffenheim) £40m

Out

Mohamed Diame (Al Ahli) Free

Joselu (Alaves) £2m

Cal Roberts (Released)

Josef Yarney (Released)

Tyrique Bartlett (Released)

Dan Barlaser (Rotherham United) Loan

Ayoze Perez (Leicester City) £30m

Joselu (Alaves) Undisclosed

Liam Gibson (Grimsby Town) Loan

Norwich City
In

Patrick Roberts (Man City) Loan

Josip Drmic (Borussia Monchengladbach) Free

Archie Mair (Aberdeen) Undisclosed

Rob Nizet (Anderlecht) Undisclosed

Rocky Bushiri (K.V. Oostende) Undisclosed

Aidan Fitzpatrick (Partick Thistle) Undisclosed

Ralf Fahrmann (Schalke) Undisclosed

Charlie Gilmour (Arsenal) Free

Sam Byram (West Ham United) £700,000

Daniel Adshead (Rochdale) £300,000

Reece McAlear (Motherwell) Undisclosed

Out

Carlton Morris (Rotherham United) Loan

Ivo Pinto (Dinamo Zagreb) Free

Mason Bloomfield (Crawley Town) Loan

Ciaren Jones (Eastbourne Borough) Loan

Josh Coley (Dunfermline Athletic) Loan

Marcel Franke (Hannover 96) £1.3m

Sean Raggett (Portsmouth) Loan

Yanic Wildschut (Maccabi Haifa) Free

Nelson Oliveira (AEK Athens) Undisclosed

Matt Jarvis (Released)

Steven Naismith (Released)

James Husband (Blackpool) Loan

Sheffield United
In

Oli McBurnie (Swansea) £17.5m

Luke Freeman (QPR) £5m

Phil Jagielka (Everton) Free

Callum Robinson (Preston) £7m

Ravel Morrison (Ostersund) Free

Lys Mousset (Bournemouth) £10m

Dean Henderson (Manchester United) Loan

Ben Osborn (Nottingham Forest) Undisclosed

Out

Paul Coutts (Fleetwood) Free

Martin Cranie (Luton) Free

Conor Washington (Hearts) Free

Daniel Lafferty (Released)

Caolan Lavery (Released)

Nathan Thomas (Gillingham) Loan

Rhys Norrington-Davies (Rochdale) Loan

Jake Eastwood (Scunthorpe) Loan

Oliver Greaves (Barrow AFC) Loan

Tyler Smith (Bristol Rovers) Loan

Nathan Thomas (Carlisle United) Loan

Southampton
In

Moussa Djenepo (Standard Liege) £14m

Che Adams (Birmingham City) £15m

Danny Ings (Liverpool) £20m

Out

Steven Davis (Rangers) Free

Matt Targett (Aston Villa) £17m

Alfie Jones (Gillingham) Loan

Jack Rose (Walsall) Loan

Kingsley Latham (Havant and Waterlooville) Loan

Alex Cull (Totton) Loan

Jordie Clasie (AZ Alkmaar) Loan

Tottenham Hotspur
In

Kion Etete (Notts County) Undisclosed

Jack Clarke (Leeds) £10m

Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon) £55m

Out

Michel Vorm (Released)

Dylan Duncan (Released)

Charlie Freeman (Released)

Tom Glover (Released)

Connor Ogilvie (Released)

Jamie Reynolds (Released)

Luke Amos (QPR) Loan

Jack Clarke (Leeds) Loan

Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid) £20m

Vincent Janssen (Monterrey) £5.6m

Watford
In

Bayli Spencer-Adams (Free)

Craig Dawson (West Brom) £5.5m

Joao Pedro (Fluminense) £2.25m

Sam Dalby (Leeds United) Free

Out

Obbi Oulare (Standard Liege) £2.7m

Miguel Britos (Released)

Tommie Hoban (Released)

Jerome Sinclair (Venlo) Loan

Michael Folivi (AFC Wimbledon) Loan

Ben Wilmot (Swansea) Loan

Marc Navarro (Leganes) Loan

Ben Wilmot (Swansea City) Loan

Alex Jakubiak (Gillingham) Loan

West Ham United
In

Roberto (Espanyol) Free

David Martin (Millwall) Free

Pablo Fornals (Villarreal) £25m

Sebastian Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt) £36m

Out

Adrian (Released)

Andy Carroll (Released)

Samir Nasri (Released)

Toni Martinez (Released)

Moses Makasi (Released)

Lucas Perez (Alaves) £2m

Noha Sylvestre (Neuchatal Xamax) Free

Vashon Neufville (Released)

Josh Pask (Coventry City) Free

Edimilson Fernandes (Mainz) £6.7m

Nathan Trott (AFC Wimbledon) Loan

Martin Samuelsen (FK Haugesund) Loan

Marko Arnautovic (Shanghai SIPG) £22m

Sam Byram (Norwich) £700,000

Pedro Obiang (Sassuolo) £8m

Marcus Browne (Middlesbrough) Undisclosed

Jordan Hugill (QPR) Loan

Wolverhampton Wanderers
In

Raul Jimenez (Benfica) £34m

Hong Wan (Yeovil Town) Undisclosed

Raphael Nya (PSG) Undisclosed

Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht) £12m

Tsun Dai (Oxford United) Undisclosed

Jesus Vallejo (Real Madrid) Loan

Out

Ethan Ebanks-Landell (Shrewsbury Town) Free

Michal Zyro (Released)

Carlos Heredia (Released)

Ben Goodliffe (Released)

Aaron Hayden (Released)

Diego Lattie (Released)

Enzo Sauvage (Released)

Christian Herc (Viktoria Plzen) Loan

Kortney Hause (Aston Villa) £3m

Ryan Giles (Shrewsbury Town) Loan

Pedro Goncalves (FC Famalicao) Undisclosed

Joao Dias (FC Famalicao) Undisclosed

Helder Costa (Leeds) Loan

Ivan Cavaleiro (Fulham) Loan

Ryan Leak (Burgos) Undisclosed

Rafa Mir (Nottm Forest) Loan