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
