The 22/23 Premier League campaign has ended and as has been the case in the previous couple of years, Pep Guardiola’s team have been the dominant force in England. City have not only won the domestic title but they have ended the season with an English elusive treble. While the top position has remained unchanged, a lot has happened below them so we decided to take a look at how these big boys are restructuring themselves during the summer as they prepare for the 2023/24 EPL campaign.
The new league schedule is already out and like always there are several ways to keep oneself updated on the Premier League live scores but these days most fans like to keep themselves updated on the pre-season camps and the various transfer businesses as well. Even half a decade ago, transfer news was pretty straight forward but now fans like to keep themselves updated with every more that their favourite team/player is making in these few months.
Transfer business, nowadays, is as bit exciting as the EPL matches and most of the credit for this should go to top transfer experts like Romano, Ornstein and Ben Jacobs.
Arsenal and Manchester United have returned to the Champions League and even Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United have broken the big-six dominance to secure a top-four finish on the EPL table. This very clearly means that these three sides will be amongst the major spenders in the summer transfer market just so that they can properly reinforce their squads.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs have all missed out on top-tier European football but that does not mean they are sitting timidly.
How will Liverpool, Tottenham & Chelsea fair during the summer?
Liverpool have been smart spenders under Jurgen Klopp and despite finishing fifth on the league table, they are not going to buy players blindly this summer. They have brought Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton which is a wonderful bit of business but they still need a hell lot more talent if they wish to challenge for the top four next season.
Tottenham’s Daniel Levy has been heavily criticized for not spending enough money and we feel this strategy is not going to change much.
As far as Chelsea are concerned, they spent wildly back in January so for the next couple of months they will mostly sell off players to balance their books. They have sold Koulibaly and Mateo Kovacic while Kante has left on a free transfer and still others could leave before the 23/24 EPL season kicks off.
Liverpool and Chelsea have money in their pockets so if a good player becomes available, these two won’t shy away from getting into a bidding war but the Spurs fans will be really concerned with their team’s spending power this time around as well. Tottenham won’t be able to attract the big players any more plus they are at risk of losing Harry Kane so Levy and the new manager will have to be really smart in making new signings.
Will the top four EPL teams make the most of this transfer window?
Manchester City are at a stage where they can sign whichever player they want because not many players in Europe will be able to resist the temptation of playing for the European champions that too under the guidance of Pep Guardiola. A few tweaks here and there should do it for City so we don’t expect them to spend too much money this summer.
Everyone thought Newcastle United will go crazy in the transfer market after getting new owners but Eddie Howe and his think tank have been really smart in bringing in new players. Howe will definitely get a bigger transfer kitty now that he has guided the team into Europe but we doubt if the manager will make the same mistakes that Man City made 10-12 years ago.
Arsenal and Manchester United will probably be under the most pressure because they have to sign several new players in order to reinforce their squads. These two teams have massive fan bases who are expecting a lot from them so they cannot afford to get complacent. Liverpool and Chelsea will enter rebuilding phases which means even if they miss out on Champions League football for one more season it will not be the end of the world for them but Man United and Arsenal surely cannot afford such a setback.
There’s something called the ‘Man United tax’ where teams inflate their asking prices when United come calling which means the Red Devils will inevitably end up spending more than their initial budget. They are already getting irritated with the Mason Mount deal and we have a feeling this is going to be the case with each player they are interested in bringing on board before the 23/24 EPL campaign.
Arsenal, on the other hand, were very lucky with their signings last summer because almost all of them came good but Mikel Arteta cannot rely on a similar miracle once again. Arteta will once again have to get things right in the next few months because a lack of squad depth was one of the major reasons why Man City overtook them in the EPL title race but a similar mistake won’t be forgiven this time around. Because no one knew what Arteta’s blueprint was so it was acceptable for him to sign only a handful of players last year but the fans will definitely not let it go this time around.
Which teams could finish in the top four next season?
It’s needless to say that Manchester City will be one of the teams to finish in the top four next campaign but the other three positions will be very much up for grabs. City are leaps and bounds ahead of the other big Premier League teams right now and it won’t be a surprise if Pep and his boys end up dominating the domestic scene for two or three more seasons.
As things stand, Chelsea and Spurs are the two sides who will have to try the hardest to get back to the top but Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester United are all going to be neck to neck in terms of a top-four finish.
