What might the Premier League top eight not fix that they should have done in the summer transfer window? We’ve taken educated guesses as to their acts of negligence in what remains of it.
Manchester City not granting Rodri his rest
The Spaniard surprised us all by admitting he was human at the end of last season. “I need a rest,” he said. Kalvin Phillips couldn’t grant him that break as he was enduring a laughably poor loan spell at West Ham and will surely leave this summer if City can find a buyer.
Mateo Kovacic played the role instead but it really doesn’t suit him and – excellent footballer though he is – he had no chance of emulating the best in the world in that position. It’s pretty clear after Euro 2024 who should be back-up Rodri and if anyone’s going to persuade Martin Zubimendi to spend his career on the bench at Manchester City it’s Pep Guardiola.
But Guardiola has suggested he will do nothing this summer. It could be a mistake.
Arsenal not signing a Bukayo Saka back-up
He’s played a silly amount of football and that’s not going to change for Arsenal or England, but it might be wise to give Mikel Arteta a decent option besides to avoid a repeat of the end of last season when Saka came back too early from a knock and suffered a setback. Breaking him would be a disaster.
The obvious difficulty is finding a worthy replacement who’s willing to join despite clearly knowing they’re not going to be playing all that often with Starboy sure to play the vast majority of games and certainly all the big ones if fit.
Liverpool not signing a centre-back
The fans would take them signing anyone at this point and rumours of interest in a former Denmark Under-21 international to plug a hole that doesn’t exist is unlikely to sufficiently sate their hunger for transfers.
There’s less of a need for additions than at most Premier League clubs given a largely successful midfield rebuild last season, but having assumed Arne Slot would want to put a stamp on the squad in his first transfer window at the helm, the Dutch boss is yet to muster a tweak. The situation doesn’t say much for the return of recruitment king Michael Edwards either, nor newly appointed sporting director Richard Hughes.
But Liverpool did tend to do their business on the sly under Edwards last time and the fans will be hoping they’re keeping negotiations for a new centre-back under wraps. The concern will be they’ll try to muddle through with Virgil van Dijk, who didn’t inspire confidence at Euro 2024, Ibrahima Konate, who’s never entirely convinced, Jarell Quansah, who may or may not be The Next Van Dijk, and Joe Gomez, who’s a better full-back than centre-back.
They’re setting themselves up for a summer of signing centre-backs in 2025, as they did with midfielders a year ago. Might be better to sign at least one now, lads.
Aston Villa putting it all on Ollie Watkins
There’s no reason to suggest Watkins won’t once again contribute to a ludicrous number of goals, but now that Moussa Diaby’s gone and Jhon Duran looks likely to follow we would suggest signing another source of goals and/or assists. We’re not convinced the return of Cameron Archer will be enough for a side now playing Champions League football.
Tottenham not replacing Harry Kane
They scored more Premier League goals last season without him than they did with him in the previous five, but we would counter that by asking how many more they would have managed with a genuine goalscorer leading the line again. Son Heung-min top-scored with 17 after Kane got 24+ in the previous nine campaigns, breaching the 30 mark on five occasions. Also, at 32 and with his contract expiring next summer, how much longer can they count on Son? Trusting Richarlison or Timo Werner to share the burden wouldn’t be wise.
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Chelsea not signing a striker
We love Nicolas Jackson because how can you not? But we don’t love him for the confidence he inspires in front of goal. The opposite, if anything. And while we would take great delight in him doing lots of things brilliantly save for the most crucial part of being a striker, we can’t help but feel Chelsea have been before, at the start of every season since Diego Costa was bullying defenders for sport fully eight years ago.
We get that there’s hope Christopher Nkunku will remain injury free and bang a few in, while Cole Palmer will presumably continue on his merry way, but we fully expect Enzo Maresca to be giving the ‘not finishing chances’ excuses come October, which has been the party line at Stamford Bridge for the best part of a decade.
Newcastle spending £20m on a back-up goalkeeper
We don’t blame the Premier League for investigating whether Odysseas Vlachodimos was signed for fair market value, because if not there are grounds for insanity. £20m for a 30-year-old who was kept out of the Nottingham Forest team by Matt Turner is quite simply too much money. He’s valued by Transfermarkt at £5m, roughly the fee he moved to Forest from Benfica for last summer. And given it all came about around the same time as Elliot Anderson’s move the other way, hours before the June 30 accounting deadline, makes it more than a tad fishy.
Anyway, assuming it was all above board, Newcastle spending that much on someone who’s not going to play when they desperately need a new right winger is astonishing.
Manchester United not signing a partner for Kobbie Mainoo
They’re very keen on Manuel Ugarte and supposedly have other irons in the fire, but a report claiming Casemiro is increasingly likely to be starting on the opening day against Fulham is a huge concern. Many Manchester United fans will have considered sourcing a suitable partner for Mainoo an absolute priority; at least surely above buying a back-up striker. Not having the funds for Ugarte is not really a valid excuse when you’ve paid £34m for Joshua Zirkzee.