The Perfect Transfer Window for the Premier League

International football is over, pre-season friendlies are starting and clubs are making transfers at a faster rate. Who should Premier League Clubs sign? Keep reading to find out.

With international football now over, pre-season friendlies are starting up, and clubs are making transfers at a quicker pace. As teams gear up for the new season, it’s time to consider which players certain Premier League clubs should target to improve their squads. Welcome back to Football Latest, and today, we’ll discuss who some Premier League sides need to sign to bolster their ranks for the upcoming season.

Arsenal

We start today with a side who have finished second for both of the last two seasons in the Premier League, taking the title race right down to the final day with Manchester City last season. They need statement signings that tell Manchester City that they are ready to go again, and this time, win the title. This year, they need to strengthen in 2 key areas in my opinion to be a team that will give Man City another massive test. The first one of those areas is a Defensive Midfielder to partner Declan Rice, and my first though when thinking of this player was Amadou Onana, but it seems that Aston Villa are on the verge of completing his signing, and by the time that this newsletter is released, he will probably be an Aston Villa player. Instead, I think that they should look abroad at Joshua Kimmich. Although he has been heavily linked to Man City, hijacking a transfer of their biggest Premier League competition would be a huge statement, and I would argue that he is exactly what Arsenal need. As a defensive midfielder, Kimmich is strong in breaking up opposition attacks. He’s adept at intercepting passes, making crucial tackles, and positioning himself well to shield the defense. His defensive work rate is high, and he’s known for his ability to read the game and anticipate opponents' movements. Additionally, Arsenal notoriously have never won the Champion’s League, and bringing in a player who has won it could be invaluable in changing the Arsenal atmosphere about the Champion’s League. Another area that Arsenal could certainly strengthen in is at the striker position. Kai Havertz has not had a terrible season for Arsenal, and some would argue that he should be given at least one more year to show his ability before moving him on, but when there is such an incredible player on the market, Arsenal should make a move quickly. This player is Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyökeres, who has a whopping 44 goals and 14 assists this season, after winning his team the Portuguese League with games to spare. He is a perfect Arsenal striker: mobile, clinical and able to drop deep and provide assists. These two signings would massively bolster Arsenal’s squad, and could take them beyond Manchester City if they do not improve to a similar extent.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa have just sold their star midfielder Douglas Luiz to Juventus, and I was about to write about signing a replacement, but before starting, I realised that Aston Villa had completed the signing of Amadou Onana, who will certainly be a superstar replacement for them, and arguably is better than Douglas Luiz as a defensive midfielder. Instead, they will need to replace a player who seems set to make a move to Saudi Arabia this summer, Mousa Diaby. Villa only signed Diaby last summer and he became their most expensive ever signing. If it is true that he will be moving to Saudi Arabia this summer, the replacement should be a similar profile of player to make for less adaptation. They need a pacey dribbler who provides a team with width and strength cutting inside, and a Premier League proven example of this style of player is Wolves’ Pedro Neto. He amassed an impressive 9 assists for Wolves last season, despite only playing 20 games due to injury setbacks. Those injury setbacks need to be taken into account, but with Villa’s new Champion’s League money, they will almost definitely be able to invest in their medical department to make sure that Neto and other players stay fit for next season. In Neto’s best form, he could be a prized asset to any team.

Bournemouth

Bournemouth managed to massively overachieve this season, finishing 12th place in the league with development of so many players, including their striker Dominic Solanke and left-back Kerkez. Every team with ambitions like Bournemouth needs to have a great defensive record, and that starts with the goalkeeper. Bournemouth’s current goalkeeper Neto is by no means a poor quality shot-stopper, but at 35 years of age, Bournemouth need to look for a younger replacement in the long-term. I can see one option that could make a lot of sense. While 1 year ago this player had finished a remarkable shot-stopping season, the 2023/24 season after that was a massive decline in his performance. His team had signed a new goalkeeper and in his few appearances, he had made multiple errors leading to goals. The player I am talking about is Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale, and since these slip-ups, very few clubs have registered any interest in him. A step down won’t be what he wants in his career, but it may be his only option if he wants to regain his form. For Bournemouth, signing a player who will most likely continue to receive England call-ups will be a statement signing, and a step down could be a way to get some of the pressure off Ramsdale’s back and hopefully regain his form.

Brighton

Brighton are a team with a clear transfer plan and business model as a club. Spend massively in scouting to find and buy young talents, develop them with great youth coaching, and sell them to bigger clubs for massive profit. It has worked for them massively recently, selling Caicedo to Chelsea for £116 million, Mac Allister to Liverpool for £42 million, Cucurella to Chelsea for £65 million and Ben White to Arsenal for £58 million, all in the last few years. This season, I think that they should bring in a young, Spanish talent whose name has not made it to the mainstream yet, but surely will soon, and it is former Barcelona and current Betis winger Abdessamad Ezzalzouli. He has some of the best dribbling and take-on numbers in LaLiga, but is barely mentioned compared to players like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. He isn’t at the quality of those two players yet, but Brighton’s entire structure revolves around developing talent, not buying proven players, and that is why I think Ezzalzouli would be a perfect fit for their team and business model.

Chelsea

This could be quite a surprising suggestion, but since Chelsea are a very young, inexperienced squad who have just lost veteran Thiago Silva, they could use some valuable leadership in their team. Again, because of Silva’s departure, they could also use a new centre-back, and 30 year old Aymeric Laporte could be a great candidate. He left Manchester City 1 year ago after a massive dip in form leading to him falling out of favour in the squad and being sold to Saudi Arabia, but he was chosen to start at centre-back for Spain at the Euros, and his solid defending for the entire tournament led Spain to lifting the trophy. This drastic resurgence in form has led to interest from many European clubs, and this transfer could be a really good bit of business for Chelsea if they are able to get him for a reasonable price. Not only for his ability, but for his leadership from the back that Chelsea have lacked massively.

Crystal Palace

It is clear where Palace need to target in this transfer window, and that is a replacement for Michael Olise. He has left for Bayern Munich and was a key figure in Palace’s resurgence late last season. An ideal replacement in my opinion would be Sporting Lisbon winger Marcus Edwards. Edwards possesses exceptional dribbling skills, with his close ball control, quick changes of direction, and ability to beat defenders making him a threat in one-on-one situations. His style has drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi himself, earning him the nickname “Spurs’ mini-Messi” during his time at Tottenham. While this is of course an exaggerated comparison, praise this high surely makes him a worthy replacement for Olise after excelling in Portugal for 2 years.

Everton

We all know what Everton need and have needed for years. They need a clinical goalscorer. Last season, the only team in the Premier League with a worse goalscoring record was Sheffield United, who finished bottom of the table, so this season, I think that they should sign a purely clinical striker. For me, this should be Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, who may be seen as surplus to requirements for Brighton at striker. Joao Pedro is thriving for the Seagulls as a striker and will want to start nearly every game for them when he is on form, but Ferguson is too big a talent to just sit on the bench. It was at the start of last season that he scored an incredible first half hattrick against Newcastle, including two incredible goals from outside the box, but since then, he has not been given huge amounts of game time. He definitely could use a fresh start at Everton where, surely, he can find his form again.

Liverpool

Liverpool have appointed new manager Arne Slot to replace Jurgen Klopp, and he is quite a different manager tactically. While Klopp commonly used a 4-3-3 formation, Arne Slot has been seen using a 4-2-3-1 formation recently in his managerial career and this is likely how he will set up with Liverpool. This system would mean that Liverpool would need another defense midfielder, who would probably partner Wataru Endo. I think that Youssouf Fofana, the Defensive Midfielder of Monaco would be a brilliant fit for Liverpool, and probably a player who would give Liverpool the control that Arne Slot wants. He was brilliant last season for Monaco, even to the extent that he was called up to the French squad for the Euros, and there are not many better options currently at his price tag.

Manchester City

Arsenal are likely to spend big this summer to fight again for the title, and they are better than ever in their chances of doing so next season. Liverpool too are probably going to spend big to create a team that fits new manager Arne Slot’s playing style. Teams like Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa are all likely going to improve for next season and all challenge the champions. It is clear that Manchester City need to evolve and improve to stay Premier League champions, and most likely need to spend big to stand a chance against Real Madrid’s incredible side in the Champions League. I think that they first need to invest in a proper Gundogan replacement, because they suffered massively last season having not signed a player who is confident anywhere in the midfield like Gundogan was for them for years. The closest player that City will find to Gundogan is most likely Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães, who City have been linked to more than any other player this transfer window. Guimarães offers a brilliant long ball threat as well as midfield versatility for City, as well as fast runs into the box, just like Gundogan was so excellent at for 7 years at Manchester City. As Kevin De Bruyne gets older at City, they need to start looking for someone to cover for him as he starts to pick up more knocks and maybe even longer term injuries. After already signing creative winger Savinho, they don't necessarily need a creative force like De Bruyne in the midfield; they could look for a different profile of player, and I think that they should snap up Benfica prodigy Joao Neves. He is a completely unique player with a complete midfield skill-set; he is an adept ball progresser, dribbler, defender and even poses a threat in front of goal. This is a player who, under the coaching of someone like Pep Guardiola, could become one of the best midfielders in the world.

Manchester United

As usual, Manchester United have been linked with every talent in the world this summer, but one of the main players that they have been linked to is Everton starboy Jarred Branthwate. Although he is an absolute future star and performed better than most other centre backs at similar Premier League clubs to him last season, Everton want a massive fee for the Englishman. If they want to save money, they should consider looking abroad to Antonio Silva, an incredible Benfica centre back who, like Joao Neves, has shone for them this season. He could really strengthen an injury-ravaged defence that troubled United last season with his calm, composed style on and off the ball, and crunching tackles when needed. Him and new signing Leny Yoro would both contribute massively to making this United side much more settled for the upcoming season.

Nottingham Forest

Forest are a team that could probably use a good transfer bargain this summer to bolster their squad ready for the fierce competition that they will face soon. This will come from teams like Leicester coming up from the championship who want to stay up this season, and teams like Everton who could drop down in the table if they sell key players like Branthwaite. An excellent bargain signing that they could invest in is Chelsea's Romeo Lavia. He arrived at the blues last summer from Southampton for massive money, but was unavailable for most of last season due to injury. He is back to full fitness now and in a pre-season friendly showcased his true abilities for pressing, ball-carrying and defense work. If Forest are willing to take a risk on Lavia now that he will probably be available on the transfer market for a fraction of his price last summer, then they could find themselves with an exceptional Defense midfielder with the ability secure their Premier League survival and even help to push them up the table.

Tottenham

The last club on this list for today have a remarkably simple decision to make this summer; they need to sign a Harry Kane replacement. The closest that they can likely find to a replacement for Kane is probably Ivan Toney, the Brentford man who scored a brilliant no-look penalty for England at the Euros. As impressive as that was, his clinical goal scoring abilities should be why he should be signed, as he has impressed massively in the 2022-23 season before spending most of the next season suspended for gambling. If he can stay out of the bookies, he should be fine.

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