Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week | OneFootball

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Lewis Ambrose·6 August 2018

Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

Article image:Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

Premier League clubs have agreed to shut the transfer window ahead of the new season and, with four days remaining, they may be regretting it.

The new campaign gets underway on Friday evening, meaning the summer window will shut on Thursday.


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Time’s running out. Which big stories are yet to be resolved and will something spark the much-talked about transfer merry-go-round?

Anthony Martial

Article image:Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

Martial no longer wants to be at Manchester United and José Mourinho no longer wants Martial to be at Manchester United. The problem is, his suitors seem to be United’s Premier League rivals.

Chelsea are reportedly interested in Martial and Spurs have been linked with him too. If United are going to cash in, they’ll probably need to bite the bullet and send the Frenchman off to London.

The Red Devils have made no effort to hide their interest in Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen or Chelsea winger Willian – is a swap deal on the cards?

Toby Alderweireld

Article image:Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

The Belgian defender has been refusing to sign a Tottenham contract for over a year and fell out of favour last season. Yet he still hasn’t been sold.

Manchester United have made him a priority this summer and reports over the weekend said they’d finally agreed to pay €68m to get the deal done.

If Tottenham don’t sell now, Alderweireld will either leave for free next summer or be available for under €3om thanks to a release clause if Tottenham decide to trigger a one-year extension in his contract. It’s time to get rid and reinvest.

Tottenham’s inactivity

Article image:Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

The sale of Vertonghen could spark Spurs into life. It’s obvious the building of a new stadium will bring financial difficulties but nobody quite expected Spurs to go the entire summer (up until 6th August) without selling or signing a single player.

Jack Grealish has been heavily linked, as were Wilmar Barrios and Wilfried Zaha at various stages of the window. Time is short now and Daniel Levy will have to work his negotiating magic.

Mousa Dembélé was expected to leave and the club were optimistic they could raise further funds with the sale of Danny Rose. A midfielder is needed – especially as Dembélé will now leave for free next summer – and the squad looks thin at centre-back if/when Alderweireld goes.

Time to strengthen is running out fast.

Courtois, Hazard, Willian

Article image:Nine big Premier League transfer stories to look out for this week

Real Madrid want Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid want Eden Hazard, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United want Willian. And Chelsea don’t want to sell any of them.

Courtois’ contract is up in a year but the Blues have struggled to find a replacement so no agreement with the Spanish giants has been reached. It’s clear the goalkeeper wants to leave but he may not get his wish this summer.

The west London club are in a stronger contractual position with Hazard and have reportedly put an enormous price on his head – don’t expect him to leave. Willian’s future also appears to be settled but a potential swap for Anthony Martial could tempt Chelsea to the table.

Aaron Ramsey

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Last year, Arsenal kept Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil after the deadline, risking losing both players for nothing. It worked out OK in the end, with Alexis being swapped for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January and Özil eventually signing a new contract to 2018.

Now the Gunners find themselves in the same position with Aaron Ramsey. The midfielder was in line to become the club’s new captain if he put pen to paper but he’s failed to do that and is now being linked with Chelsea and Liverpool.

There’s hardly any time to replace Ramsey if he does leave and selling him would strengthen a rival. Can Arsenal afford to do that? Or will they risk losing him for nothing?

Everton need a defender

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Marco Silva isn’t happy with his Everton squad, which looks very thin in defence. Following the loan departure of Ashley Williams, the Toffees’ only centre-halves are Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate.

The first is 35, the second was a huge disappointment last season and the third is just 21 and could also be needed to cover at right-back.

Richarlison and Lucas Digne are good signings but more work needs to be done at the back or Everton, who have conceded 10 goals in their last three pre-season games, will be in big trouble.

Burnley’s depth

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Ben Gibson became Burnley’s first signing of the summer on Sunday but the Clarets need to do more.

Should they win the remainder of their qualifying games they will be in the Europa League this season and picking up points while playing three times a week isn’t easy. Only 17 of their players started over 10 Premier League games last season and one of those (Scott Arfield) has left the club.

They have two injured goalkeepers – hence the links with Joe Hart – and five of the 20 senior outfield members of the squad are over 30, they can’t be expected to contribute every few days.

Newcastle’s owner issues

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Mike Ashley continues to restrict Rafa Benítez in frankly audacious fashion. If he continues to do so, he may have to look for a new manager before long.

The Magpies have sold Aleksandr Mitrović for €20m and Mikel Merino for €12m only to bring in Yoshinori Muto, Fabian Schär and Sung-yeung Ki for under €15m combined.

Where is the money? Why isn’t it being invested in the squad? And how is Benítez expected to succeed? There’s a week to turn it around but the best Newcastle fans can hope for is a loan move for Salomón Rondón. They’re being short changed.

Manchester City’s midfield

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Finally, Manchester City’s midfield. For months they were linked with Fred, he joined Manchester United. For weeks they negotiated with Napoli to sign Jorginho, he joined Chelsea.

And now Pep Guardiola says he’s happy with his options. Currently, those options at the base of the midfield are 33-year-old Fernandinho, injury-prone Ilkay Gündogan who naturally plays a more advanced role, and 20-year-old Douglas Luiz who is yet to receive a work permit to remain in England.

It’s hard to believe that’s enough to build on last season’s domination of the league and make a run deep into the Champions League. Surely City will be tempted to bolster the midfield in the final week?