🔷 Predicted Finish: 1st 🤝 Transfers The reigning champions who finished a comfortable 12 points clear last season are the bookmaker’s favourites to retain the Premier League title this season. Despite winning the league once more the season ultimately felt a little underwhelming as they lost in the Champions League final to Chelsea back in May and that prize continues to elude the club. Both the club and Pep Guardiola seem determined to not let that happen again and will go all out to win all the trophies available to them. Jack Grealish has been signed for a British record transfer fee of £100m and further adds to what is an already outrageous City forward line. The fact that a £100m player won’t be an automatic starter for them this upcoming season is a testament to just how strong this City squad is. If reports are to be believed then City aren’t finished there and another testament signing should be expected prior to the window closing. Harry Kane has been strongly linked to replace Sergio Aguero and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the England captain come to the Etihad prior to deadline day. Kane finished last season as the Premier League's top scorer, with his xG also putting him among the league's best performers, but he also led the top-flight in assists with 14 - two more than City's assist leader Kevin De Bruyne. Just Grealish was added to the squad at the time of writing but the club's deep pockets mean that they can afford to bring in at least one more stellar signing. This summer is more about exits than entries for Pep Guardiola's men, with Sergio Agüero and Eric García both moving to Barcelona after the expiry of their contracts. Both Angelino and Jack Harrison have also made their loan moves to both RB Leipzig and Leeds United permanent with City receiving decent transfer fees for the pair. The other notable departure as such is striker Lukas Nmecha who moves to the Bundesliga to join Wolfsburg for a fee of around £7m. Numerous departures from the club mean there is plenty of room for Pep to add some more numbers to the squad and I expect him to do so prior to the window closing. 👉 Verdict You do feel that signing a ‘number nine’ is vital for City to ensure they can compete on all fronts. Although Aguero was injured for much of last season, his importance for City over the years can’t be underestimated and he must be replaced. While Pep has worked miracles with a 'false nine' last season, I don’t think the players can do that again mentally and make up for the deficits for another full 60/70 game campaign. I do expect Kane to get done, he isn’t happy at Spurs and I just can’t see how the North London club convince him to stay. Every player has their price and City have deep pockets and I expect them to match what Spurs are looking for. His addition would take them to another level and for me would make them untouchable. Even without Kane I would still fancy City to win the league but given how strong the top four looks this season I don’t expect it to be as comprehensive as it was last campaign.

🔵 Predicted Finish: 2nd 🤝 Transfers The transformation of this Chelsea team since Thomas Tuchel took over as manager back in January has been quite remarkable. The German led his side to the Champions League with a deserved win over Manchester City in the final as well as comfortably finishing in the top four and reaching the FA cup final. Tuchel, whose family moved to London this summer, feels settled after extending his contract until 2024. The 47-year-old wants to strengthen in a few areas, but he knows he already has a strong squad. No major business at all from the club with Fulham keeper Marcus Bettinelli the only arrival to date. You very much get the sense though that something is brewing behind closed doors and there will almost certainly be a major player coming into Stamford Bridge between now and the end of the transfer window. A centre forward is the obvious target with Chelsea lacking an obvious goal scorer last season. The topscorer at the club was Timo Werner with just 12 goals in all comps so in what is a very strong Chelsea squad that is a very obvious area of improvement. Tuchel, who is interested in Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku, despaired at his side’s lack of ruthlessness last season. Lukaku looks like the most likely to come in with the Belgian international reportedly close to returning to London at the time of writing. His game has come on leaps and bounds since leaving Manchester United two years ago and has really flourished in Italy under Antonio Conte. He showed exactly what he is all about at this summer’s European Championship and should Chelsea get their man then they will be extremely well set to put in a formidable title challenge this season. Plenty of departures from the Bridge with 10 leaving the club so far this summer. Chelsea have done well to recoup some decent fees with approximately £55m in player sales thus far which will certainly assist them in their quest to sign a world class striker. Fikayo Tomori made his loan move to AC Milan permanent as he was sold for a fee of £27m. Olivier Giroud also makes the move to the San Siro with the French striker deemed surplus to requirements and he moves for around £1m. Another young English centre back was sold for a sizable fee as Marc Guehi moved to South London to join up with Crystal Palace for a fee of approximately £21m. Guehi enjoyed a fantastic loan spell at Swansea City last season but still I feel Chelsea have done well to get such a hefty fee for a player who is so far untested in the Premier League. Other departures include Victor Moses, Marco Van Ginkel, Danilo Pantic, Willy Caballero, Jamal Blackman and Billy Gilmour (loan). 👉 Verdict Tuchel has transformed Chelsea into a side that is capable of competing on all fronts. Confidence is high within the camp and the squad is stacked with talent and it is widely thought this will be the year that Chelsea form a formidable title charge for the first time since winning the title back in 2017. No doubt in my mind that they will challenge but with Man City looking incredibly strong I think the Blues will fall just short.

🔴 Predicted Finish: 3rd 🤝 Transfers All in all a little bit of a disappointing campaign for Liverpool last season as they finished third and ended the season without a trophy. Much was expected from Jurgen Klopp and his men having strolled to the Premier League title the season before but injuries and a surprising loss of form saw them at times look as if they would drop out of the top four. However, an impressive end to the campaign saw them retain their Champions League status and meant they have now qualified for Europe’s premier continental competition in five consecutive seasons under Klopp. Only one move in the transfer market so far and it was a high-profile signing in the shape of RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate who joined for a fee of around £36m. Klopp was very keen to add another central defender following the mess they found themselves in with Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip missing much of last season through injury. Konate, while still young and a little raw, has exceptional ball-playing qualities which should see him fit in seamlessly at Liverpool once he settles at the club. Further purchases may be dependent on sales, as they often are at the club, but showing concrete interest in signing players can affect those sales. They are already at their foreign player limit and will be looking to sell further fringe players before bringing further additions to the squad. Solid sales from Liverpool as is so often the case as they recoup hefty fees for fringe players with the likes of Harry Wilson and Taiwo Awoniyi leaving for sizable fees. Marko Grujic, Liam Millar and Kamil Grabara have all left the club too which won’t faze Jurgen Klopp. One departure that will have hurt the club though is Georginio Wijnaldum who failed to agree a new deal at Anfield and left to join French giants PSG. His departure does leave Liverpool with a hole in midfield, especially as the Dutchman played close to 4,000 minutes for the Reds last season. Naby Keita will be hoping to step in and despite being clearly talented his injury problems since joining mean he can’t really be trusted. I would expect Klopp to look to bring in another central midfield player prior to the end of the window. 👉 Verdict A cruel season really for Liverpool last year who never really stood a chance of retaining the Premier League title when they lost both Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk to season-ending injuries fairly early in the campaign. The return from injury of a number of key players plus a summer off for the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané immediately makes Liverpool stronger going into the 2021/22 season. The addition of Konate means Liverpool’s centre back problems are a thing of the past and Klopp will be hoping for better luck on the injury front this campaign. Looking critically you could argue Liverpool are a little short in other areas, most notably central midfield following the departure of Wijnaldum and also in the fullback areas where strength in depth is looking a little light. All in all though I am expecting a strong season from Liverpool who are capable of challenging for the title.

👹 Predicted Finish: 4th 🤝 Transfers A 2nd placed finish for United last year but it never really felt like they were going to challenge City to the title and eventually finished 12 points behind their rivals. A penalty shootout defeat in the Europa League final to Villarreal meant that it was yet another season without a trophy for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who really needs to start delivering. He has been backed heavily by the board this summer who not only offered him a new contract but backed him in the transfer market with the club already having spent upwards of £120m this summer. The business looks very promising with Jadon Sancho finally signing for the club after nearly two years of chasing his signature. He is joined at Old Trafford by Raphael Varane who moves from Real Madrid which looks a truly exceptional capture for a very reasonable price. Sancho has shown he can create and score goals in the Bundesliga and United will be hoping he can replicate that in the Premier League. His numbers are pretty extraordinary for a player of his age having scored 50 goals and registered 64 assists in just 137 appearances during his time at Dortmund. I would be surprised to see the talented forward not prove to be a success at United. The capture of Varane was one I didn't see coming at the start of the window and should prove to be top business for United. Playing alongside Maguire and with Shaw and Wan-Bissaka either side, United arguably have the best back 4 in the Premier League and in all honesty the squad looks the best it has in many years. Solskjaer will be happy to have so far kept hold of all his key players from last season with the four departures from the club only bit-part players and youngsters leaving on loan. There are a lot of rumours surrounding the future of Paul Pogba with PSG heavily interested and the Frenchmen doing little to reassure the club that he wants to stay in Manchester. It would be a blow should he leave but as things stand it seems more likely that he will stay than go. Positive window for United and the playing squad looks strong going into the new season. 👉 Verdict A very strong playing squad means United look to be almost guaranteed a top four spot and potentially could even mount a title challenge should they hit the ground running. However, what separates United from the other big three is that they simply don’t have a world class manager. Compare Solskjaer to the likes of Pep, Klopp or Tuchel and he just isn’t in the same league, potentially he could be but at the moment it leaves United with a massive disadvantage. The goalkeeper situation isn’t ideal with De Gea and Henderson decent keepers but not in the same realm of the likes of Ederson or Alisson. Whether it was Edwin Van der Sar or Peter Schmeichel, United have always had a world class number one. De Gea has been world class in the past but certainly looks past his best and Henderson needs to eradicate basic errors from his game. All things considered I just think the other three are more capable of challenging for the title and while I think the top four will be tight, in my mind United are the most likely to finish in fourth as things stand.

🔫 Predicted Finish: 5th 🤝 Transfers Two eighth placed finishes in succession for Arsenal as their continued decline as a once giant of English football continues. Mikel Arteta has flattered to deceive really so far in his 18 months in charge and you would suspect if there isn’t a dramatic improvement in results this season then the young Spaniard could be out of a job before too long. Business has been reasonable so far but they need much, much more if they are to compete for a top four finish this season. Ben White is the major purchase so far at a hefty price of £50m which looks a little steep for a player who has yet to play for a top 10 Premier League club in his career to date. White though is clearly talented and fantastic technically with his passing ability in particular very impressive. Arteta has said that White is the sort of player he has been chasing since he took charge of the Gunners and sees him as a major signing. Alongside White, Arteta has also brought in Nuno Tavares from Benfica and Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht. Tavares is young and promising and will primarily act as a back-up to Kieran Tierney at left back this season. Lokonga, who has impressed massively in preseason is likely to be more readily involved and at £16m, early signs suggest he looks something of a coup. Strong links with James Maddison which would be an impressive capture and add another dimension to the Arsenal attack. Between now and the 31st  August though the Gunners need a lot more if they are to break into what looks like a very strong top four this season. No major outgoings so far at the Gunners with David Luiz probably the biggest departure after they decided not to offer the experienced Brazilian a new deal. Martin Odegaard returns to Real Madrid following his loan last season and must be replaced by Arsenal with them looking a little short in the number 10 position. Arsenal fans were disappointed to see William Saliba loaned out yet again with the French defender yet to make a competitive appearance for the first team despite signing two years ago now. Arsenal are keen to shift plenty of deadwood in the coming weeks with many bit-part players on high wages still weighing down the progress of the club. The likes of Willian, Sead Kolasinac, Mohamed Elneny are all unwanted but proving impossible to shift which is a real problem for the club. 👉 Verdict Hard to be positive about Arsenal’s season as things stand, more business needs to be done or for me they will face yet another season off the pace. No Europe could help them, allowing them to focus solely on the Premier League and an improvement on last season’s 8th place is feasible. Overall though I think top four is beyond them and the very best they can hope for this season is 5th in another strong-looking Premier League campaign.

🦊 Predicted Finish: 6th 🤝 Transfers A good season last year but one that could have been better had they finished in the top four which for much of the season looked a certainty. Brendan Rodgers’ side dropped out of the Champions League places by losing three of their last four league matches which will be disappointing for the Foxes. While they may have faded in the league, the performances they produced in the FA cup were something to behold as they deservedly beat Chelsea in the final to win the trophy for the first time in their history. Business looks good as it almost always does for Leicester who have been brilliant in the transfer markets for many years in succession. Patson Daka, the striker signed for £27m from Red Bull Salzburg, could prove to be a bargain with his speed, cleverness and finishing skills potentially making him an ideal partner – and ultimately replacement – for Jamie Vardy. Daka was prolific in his spell in Austria to say the least with 68 goals bagged in 125 apps for Salzburg. At the age of 22 he has plenty of time still to improve further and looks like an inspired bit of business. Boubakary Soumare is another arrival for a fee of £18m from French champions Lille, he is another purchase I am excited by and expect to be a success. Soumare is a midfield destroyer, a defensive midfielder who can disrupt and break up opposition play. However, there is more than this to his game. Soumare is a progressive dribbler, keeping the ball well as he charges through midfield to offload a pass to supporting attackers. I don’t like to draw comparison to already established world class players but Soumare is in a similar mould of Ngolo Kante and should he form a midfield partnership with both Ndidi and Tielemans then no doubt that Leicester have one of the most complete midfields in the division. Ryan Bertrand was the most recent addition as he joined on a free transfer from Southampton. He is a very capable and experienced left back who will provide stiff competition for talented youngster Luke Thomas to earn the spot in the starting 11. Four departures from the club so far this summer but none of which were regularly involved for the Foxes last season. Legendary defenders Christian Fuchs and Wes Morgan who were integral to the historic Premier League win back in 2016 have now left the club. Fuchs heads for America to join Charlotte Independence and Morgan has decided to hang up his boots at the age of 37. The only other permanent departure came in the shape of Matty James who joined Championship outfit Bristol City on a free transfer. A lot of talk over the future of number 10 James Maddison who it seems is flirting with Arsenal this window and has reportedly suggested to be keen on a move. Should he go, he would be a big loss for Leicester but he would leave for a very sizeable fee (around £60-70m) which I am sure would then be reinvested in the squad. 👉 Verdict The club is extremely well run and have been ever since the very likeable King Power group took over the club in 2010. Brendan Rodgers is an exceptional manager and has built a very impressive squad which has shown in recent years is very capable of challenging for a top four spot. He has improved Leicester significantly since joining two and half years ago and also benefited from the club’s solidity and shrewdness. A top six finish should be the target and is very achievable, I do think top four is beyond them however given how strong the ‘big four’ look this season in particular.

🟣 Predicted Finish: 7th 🤝 Transfers Overall I feel Villa had a decent campaign last year and at times looked like threatening for a top four position before tailing off badly after Christmas when talisman Jack Grealish picked up a lengthy injury. Eleventh place in the end but it is clear under the management of the talented Dean Smith that Villa are a club on the up. Business looks very impressive with four high profile signings brought in so far. Ashley Young returns to Villa Park after a 10-year absence and despite being 36 has shown he still has what it takes having won Serie A last season while at Inter Milan. Emi Buendia is a fantastic capture from Norwich and a player I have waxed lyrical about in years gone by. With the departure of Grealish it is likely that Buendia will be seen as the prime creator this season and I think he is more than capable of filling the void left by the captain. Their most recent signing was the highly thought of Jamaican international Leon Bailey from German outfit Bayer Leverkusen. Bailey scored 28 goals in 119 league apps during his time in Germany and is best known for his pace, flair and directness. The most recent purchase was Danny Ings from Southampton. He is a proven goalscorer at this level and will provide decent competition for the talented ollie Watkins in attack. £90 million spent so far and with £100m coming in for Grealish I wouldn’t be surprised to see some more business done by Villa between now and the end of the transfer window. Only one deal to talk about at Aston Villa in terms of departures as club captain Jack Grealish leaves the club in a British record transfer worth £100m. Obviously his departure will hurt the club with ‘super Jack’ not only a fantastic footballer but also something of a cult hero at the club. However, £100m is just too good to turn down and once the dust has settled and Villa reinvest the funds I think the club will be happy to fetch such an enormous sum of money. Alongside Grealish there have been five other departures from the club but none of that sort of profile. Neil Taylor and Ahmed Elmohamady have left on free transfers and Tom Heaton joins Manchester United on a free transfer. Tanzanian striker Mbwana Samatta has made his loan move to Fenerbahce permanent for a fee of around £5 million and defender Bjorn Engels has joined Belgian side Antwerp for an undisclosed fee. 👉 Verdict Villa won just two of the 12 league matches Grealish missed through injury last season and they must learn to cope without their captain as he departs for Premier League champions Manchester City. Business has been good and there is plenty of quality within the squad to compete for a top half finish. Eleventh last year and I feel they are better set this campaign than last to achieve their goals. European qualification will be the target for the season and in front of a sold out Villa Park every other game I fancy them to have a fine season. Top half will be the minimum expectation in my opinion and I expect them to achieve it.

⚪ Predicted Finish: 8th 🤝 Transfers Seems like a very important summer for the North London club with a new manager at the helm and plenty of transfer rumours circulating around the future of Harry Kane. We will talk some more on Kane later but for now let’s focus on those who are arriving at Spurs with three high-profile arrivals so far. Cristian Romero is the highest profile and highest costing addition as he joins for a fee of a reported £45m from Italian side Atalanta. The 23-year-old, who helped Argentina win the Copa América this summer, becomes the club’s second-most expensive player behind only French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. Although fairly new on the European scene, Romero arrives with a fairly big reputation having been crowned Serie A defender of the year last season. He also played three times for Argentina in the Copa America this summer including the final against Brazil which shows just how highly-rated he is. Alongside Romero comes the highly thought of Bryan Gil from Sevilla who joins for a fee of around £20m and Erik Lamela in a fee plus player deal. He is renowned for his exceptional dribbling skills and comparisons have been made with Messi due to being left footed and his slight frame not stopping him from being an exceptional footballer. The other arrival comes in the shape of goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini who like Romero also joins from Atalanta and is brought in to supply some much needed competition for Hugo Lloris. The French captain in my opinion has gone off the boil in recent seasons at club level and that may be due to lack of competition for his place. Gollini should hopefully provide that competition and as a consequence I expect a real battle for the number one jersey which can only be a good thing for Lloris. The future of Harry Kane has never looked so uncertain with the England captain reportedly turning up late for Spurs training. He has since quashed these rumours but it is pretty clear that the striker wants out and is keen for a new challenge. Pep Guardiola has spoken openly about his admiration for the striker and how he wants to bring him to Manchester City and it is pretty obvious that Kane also wants to make the move. One problem, Daniel Levy is notoriously difficult to deal with when it comes to transfer business and no doubt he will make it as hard as he can for City to get their man. It seems very much 50/50 at this stage and should Spurs lose Kane it will be an almighty blow to the football club. Elsewhere, Erik Lamela has moved to Sevilla as I mentioned earlier and Joe Hart has moved North to join Celtic for a fee of around £1m. Toby Alderweireld has left the club after six fine years at Spurs and will be sorely missed but at 32 it was pretty clear he was past his best. He moved to Qatar to join Al-Duhail for a fee of around £12m. Juan Foyth also makes his loan spell to Villarreal permanent this summer as he moves to Spain for a fee of around £14m. 👉 Verdict Quite a few question marks around Spurs and what they can produce this season and a lot of course hinges on the future of  Kane and where he ends up come the end of the transfer window. Son signing a new deal is big news for them but I wouldn’t say they have improved significantly from last season and still not completely sold on Nuno. The fact that he was Spurs fourth/fifth choice in the end says a lot and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the pressure of managing a club expecting to challenge at the top end of the table. Top four is way beyond them in my opinion and I for one am not entirely convinced by their project this season.

⚒️ Predicted Finish: 9th 🤝 Transfers Brilliant campaign from the Hammers last season as they exceeded all expectations to finish seventh, just two points off the top four. In reality, West Ham may be slightly disappointed to have not made the top four with their form falling off slightly in the final months of the season to allow Chelsea to beat them into fourth. David Moyes has done a terrific job and his reputation as a top manager has been revived after his disappointing spell at Manchester United. Surprised by the lack of business so far as it seems are West Ham fans with just a couple of arrivals so far this window. Craig Dawson makes his loan move from Watford permanent for a small fee of around £2m. Alphonse Areola also joins on loan from PSG to provide some top quality competition to Lukasz Fabianksi for the number one jersey. Areola showed his qualities when on loan with Fulham last season where he enjoyed a fantastic campaign and proved what a capable shotstopper he is. With Europa League football to contend with I do feel that the squad looks a little short in numbers and they are a few key injuries away from a bit of a disaster. They have a very settled side and all the players clearly understand the system under Moyes, team spirit also looks very healthy and the camp as a whole look pretty happy. As I said though I would expect more business and I feel that more business is imperative if they want to live up to their exceptional performances of last season. It isn’t just on the arrival front where things have been quiet with departures from the club also few and far between. Just a couple of leavers as Felipe Anderson leaves for Lazio on a permanent basis and Fabian Balbuena departs for Dynamo Moscow. The departure of Anderson I am sure will be met with disappointment by Irons fans with Brazilian winger never really settling in London since he joined in 2018. The £31m paid by West Ham now seems way over the odds and having recouped just £2.7m in return the deal will be viewed as a massive failure. 👉 Verdict West Ham are organised, well drilled and hard to beat, exactly what David Moyes would want them to be. They do however look an Antonio injury short of struggling in the goals department and this is something that needs to be addressed prior to the window shutting. I am surprised to see them not pursue a permanent move for Jesse Lingard who really galvanised their season when he joined on loan in January and brought and extra spark to their attacking play. The squad looks a little short, and with Europe to contend with too I worry how much injuries and fatigue will impact on their season in the long run. A top four charge seems highly unlikely this campaign and I think West Ham fans would be relatively happy if you offered them a top half finish this season.

⚪ Predicted Finish: 10th 🤝 Transfers Leeds were a complete breath of fresh air in the Premier League last season with their intense, energetic high-pressing style under Marcelo Bielsa thrilling to watch. Leeds ended last term strongly, concluding the club’s best top-tier campaign since David O’Leary led them to fifth in 2002 as they finished in 9th. Relatively quiet transfer window so far with around £27m spent to date and I would expect a little more business done between now and the end of the window as Leeds look to ensure their upward trajectory as a football club. They did invest heavily last summer however with a view of covering the first three seasons in the Premier League. Jack Harrison makes his loan move from Manchester City permanent for a fee of around £12m which will be seen as great business for Leeds with Harrison a very important member of their first team squad. Elsewhere Junior Firpo joins from Barcelona for a reported fee of £13.5m and looks a very decent bit of business and is sure to be first choice left back for this coming season with Leeds looking a little light down the left hand side. Firpo reportedly impressed on his debut for the club in a friendly against Blackburn recently where he shone in the 61 minutes he was on the pitch. The most recent signing was highly-rated Norwegian keeper Kristoffer Klaesson who joined from Eliteserien outfit Valerenga for a fee of £1.80m. He will provide competition for Ilhan Meslier with both keepers both very young and promising. Capturing U23 talents appears to be a focus of the club too with the signings Lewis Bate from Chelsea and Sean McGurk from Wigan Athletic. Some fan favourites have departed Elland Road this summer as both Ezgjan Alioski and Pablo Hernandez leave for pastures new following a combined eight and half years at the club. Alioski reportedly turned down the offer of a new deal at the club and, while still very capable, at 36 Hernandez was struggling with the physical demands of the Premier League. Other than that no real high-profile departures and Bielsa will be pleased to have kept his main men together with plenty of interest in the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Raphinha this summer. 👉 Verdict Having searched through endless fan forums the general consensus from the supporters this season is to try and mimic their achievements of last campaign. Midtable seems to be the target with anything above that seen as a bonus with the long-term plan of the club to be an established Premier league outfit for years to come. With Bielsa in charge I feel confident they are able to achieve this and a midtable finish should be feasible once more for the Whites.

🐺 Predicted Finish: 11th 🤝 Transfers After two fantastic seasons in succession following promotion it felt like Wolves were a little found out last year. Wolves finished down in 13th last season, with 45 points and a -16 goal difference and generally just didn’t look like the team that had registered 60+ points in the two seasons previous. The departure of Nuno as manager after four years in charge means everyone gets a fresh start and actually I feel that was what is needed. Nuno did a fine job but it all felt a bit stale last season and I think him moving to Spurs might not be the worst thing in the world. Bruno Lage takes the manager’s job to continue the Portuguese DNA which runs through the club but how he fares we will just have to wait and see. Five signings made so far with Rayan Ait Nouri the most costly as he re-joins the club on a permanent deal having spent last season on loan from French club Angers. Jose Sa should act as a solid replacement for Rui Patricio who departs for Roma and will come in to take the number one jersey. The most exciting capture though surely has to be Francisco Trincao who joins on a season-long loan from Barcelona. He shone at Braga as a youngster which earned him his big move to Barca for a hefty fee of nearly £30m last summer. It hasn’t quite worked out at the Camp Nou but he still went on to make 28 La Liga appearances last season which show he is highly rated in Spain. I expect him to shine at Molineux and with him, Neto, Jiminez and Traore as attacking options they still have pretty impressive offensive talent at the club. Former number one goalkeeper Rui Patricio is the only real notable and permanent transfer out of Molineux this summer as he moves to Roma for a fee of around £11m. He has been a brilliant keeper for Wolves but wanted a new challenge and at the age of 33 I feel Wolves have done well to get that sort of transfer fee. He was immediately replaced by Portuguese compatriot Jose Sa who is five years his junior and I don’t think too much of a downgrade having performed well at Olympiakos in recent years. No other departures of note to really mention with five players going on loan, all of which were youngsters/fringe players. Reasonable transfer business all in all from Wolves on the face of it. 👉 Verdict Hard not to blame the sickening skull injury suffered by striker Raúl Jiménez away at Arsenal in late November and his subsequent absence for Wolves’ attacking issues. He was certainly a talismanic reference point at the centre of their attack that various experimentations with formations and personnel, including underwhelming January loan arrival Willian José, failed to adequately replace. His return to fitness is enormous and supported by the likes of Neto, Podence, Trincao and Traore in attack will mean Wolves will be a real threat. A little bit of the unknown about them now Nuno has left and it will be interesting to see how much they change their approach tactically. Remains the case that they have a good squad and the return of Jiminez is so important, I think they will improve on their 13th placed finish from last season.

🍬 Predicted Finish: 12th 🤝 Transfers The start of last season felt very exciting at Everton. Carlo Ancelotti in charge and some star-studded signings brought in including James Rodriguez from Real Madrid and Allan from Napoli as the Italian manager brought in players he knew well from his list of extraordinary former clubs. They started the season on fire and looked like a challenge for the top four was likely before falling off badly and ending up in 10th. Ancelotti has now left to re-join Real Madrid and Farhad Moshiri made the controversial decision to appoint former Liverpool head coach Rafa Benitez as manager which hasn’t been particularly well received by the Everton faithful. Many fans simply cannot forgive or forget the “small club” jibe he made as Liverpool manager 14 years ago. Moshiri has certainly invested heavily in his five years as owner at the club with an approximate £500m being pumped in to player transfers and the returns for his investment quite simply haven’t been good enough. The investment this summer certainly hasn’t been so substantial with just £1.8m spent to date on the capture of Demarai Gray. Alongside Gray arrives Andros Townsend on a free from Crystal Palace and Asmir Begovic again on a free from Bournemouth. Hardly inspiring business so far and they will need to add plenty more in my opinion if they want to challenge for a European spot this season which is the ultimate goal for the club and their ambitious owner. Everton should be happy with their business in terms of departures with plenty of players on high wages finally departing Goodison Park. Yannick Bolasie, Bernard and Theo Walcott were all reportedly receiving wages of £60k+ a week despite delivering very little on the pitch. That should allow Benitez to reinvest in his squad and bring some of his own players in with the team at the moment still very much the one pulled together by Carlo Ancelotti in the last 18 months or so. 👉 Verdict From the outside looking in at least it doesn’t look a particularly happy camp at the moment. The departure of Ancelotti this summer was unplanned and largely unexpected. The appointment of Benitez hasn’t been met with much enthusiasm despite the Spaniard clearly being a high-quality manager. Transfer Business as things stands is underwhelming to say the least and currently I can’t see them improving on the 10th placed finish they achieved last season. There is still plenty of quality within the squad with the likes of Richarlison, DCL and Lucas Digne exceptional footballers but they will be in competition with the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester and Spurs for a European finish who have all invested heavily. Can’t see much more than a midtable finish for Everton this season.

🔵 Predicted Finish: 13th 🤝 Transfers The best bit of business done by Brighton this summer is keeping hold of Graham Potter as manager in my opinion. Potter is highly thought of and if rumours are to be believed he was heavily chased by Spurs this summer before the North London club eventually realised they didn’t want to pay the hefty compensation necessary to release him from his Brighton contract. He plays exceptional football and his Brighton side were desperately unlucky to finish as low as 16th last year. You all know I am a fan of expected goals (xG) and according to that metric Brighton deserved to comfortably finish in the top half last season. Business has been a little slow so far with just a couple of arrivals in the shape of Enock Mpewu from RB Salzburg and Kjell Scherpen from Ajax. Mpewu arrives for a hefty fee of around £20m and is highly-rated from his time in Austria. The Zambian international is primarily a box-to-box midfielder as versatile as he is rangy and who should form a formidable central partnership with Yves Bissouma. Nicknamed ‘The Computer’ because of the 23-year-old’s ability to read the game. Alongside Mpewu comes the Dutch giant of Kjell Scherpen who should offer some competition to current number one goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. I would hope there's plenty more business to be done before the window closes with replacing the now departed Ben White surely a major priority for Potter. White obviously the biggest departure from the club with the young England international moving to the capital to join Arsenal. His departure will undoubtedly hurt Brighton with White a major cog in the way the Seagulls like to play football but they did receive a more than reasonable £50m fee. Other notable departures include Mathew Ryan (Real Sociedad), Davy Pröpper (PSV Eindhoven) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who has joined Feyenoord for £3.9m, returning to the Eredivisie where he scored 21 goals for AZ in 2017-18. 👉 Verdict Surely Brighton can’t be as unlucky as they were last season and their impressive performances will be rewarded with better results this campaign. The departure of White will hurt them but that should be reinvested in the squad and Potter will surely look to bring a more clinical striker in to finish the countless chances they create. Rumours of a bid for Odsonne Édouard continue to grow, particularly now that Celtic are out of the Champions League. This would be a good start but they need more to establish themselves as a comfortable Premier League side. With Potter in charge though I have little doubt in their ability to stay up and I think they will finish somewhere around the lower midtable mark this season.

🦅 Predicted Finish: 14th 🤝 Transfers Summer of change at Selhurst Park as Roy Hodgson departs as manager to be replaced by former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. Vieira has been entrusted with transforming an ageing and pragmatic side used to comfortably avoiding relegation under his predecessor into a vibrant attacking force that provides young players with the platform to shine. Business from the outside looks exciting and thoughtful and I for one have been impressed by who Crystal Palace have brought in so far this summer. The purchases of Marc Guehi from Chelsea and Joachim Andersen from Lyon should provide a young, pacey and powerful centre back pairing. Andersen excelled at Fulham last season and has proven he can compete at this level. Guehi is a little bit more of an unknown but is extremely highly rated and was exceptional with Swansea last season as they reached the playoffs. Palace’s defence was surprisingly porous last season, conceding 66 goals and I am confident those two together should provide a stable partnership. In midfield, a couple more additions which will bring the average age down substantially as Conor Gallagher and Michael Olise join the club. Gallagher was very much a regular at West Brom last season and impressed with his all-action displays from midfield; he joined on a season-long loan from Chelsea. Olise is potentially the most exciting capture of the lot with the young midfielder brought in from Reading for a fee of around £9m. Olise was spectacular last season and will be expected to make an instant impact having been named last season’s Championship Young Player of the Year. Vieira's strategy is slightly risky after many years of pragmatism under Hodgson but credit to Steve Parish for backing the Frenchmen and I fancy them to do reasonably well this season. Very much a changing of the guard at Palace with plenty of experienced pros who have been at the club for many years being allowed to leave Selhurst Park. Patrick Van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho, Wayne Hennessey, Scott Dann and Andros Townsend are all 30+ and have all been at Palace for a substantial amount of time. Gary Cahill and James McCarthy were also shown the exit door as Vieira looks to drastically lower the average age of his playing squad. This is undoubtedly the biggest rebuild that has taken place at Palace since their promotion back in 2013 and it will be a big challenge for Vieira who is still relatively inexperienced as a manager. 👉 Verdict All change at Selhurst Park and a fair bit of mystery about how they fare this season under the management of relative novice Patrick Vieira. This will be a very different Crystal Palace to the one we have seen in the last 5/6 years in the Premier League with the style of football in particular likely to be completely different. Another task for Vieira will be to mould the arrivals and remaining squad members who have served Palace so well in recent seasons into a coherent outfit in a short space of time. Tough task no doubt but I have been impressed with the transfer business and I expect Palace to be decent this season and stay well clear of the danger zone.

🐝 Predicted Finish: 15th 🤝 Transfers Brentford are a club that continue to thrive with their unique analytical method and the Bees will taste the English top-flight for the first time in their history. Shrewd recruitment matched with major profit consistently made on transfers has propelled Brentford from a relatively small League One club into a Premier League side in the space of just 7-8 years. Three transfers thus far with Kristoffer Ajer the main outlay so far as he signs from Celtic for a fee of around £15m. Ajer was recommended to Brentford boss by Norway manager Stale Solbakken who gave glowing reviews about the defender and assured him he will fit in seamlessly into the Premier League. In midfield they have added Frank Onyeka, a Nigerian box-to-box player whose physical attributes made him an attractive acquisition from Midtjylland, for whom he played in the Champions League. The Danish outfit have become something of a feeder club for Brentford with Bees owner Matthew Benham also the majority shareholder at FCM. Their business so far is rounded up by the capture of Chelsea youngster Myles Peart-Harris who joins for a little over a million from the Chelsea U23 setup. He will likely start off with the Brentford ‘B’ team who are renowned for bringing quality players through to the first-team in regular intervals. Josh Dasilva, Marcus Forss and Mads Roerslev the most salient examples of players to make the transition. On the departure front, fair to say there have been no major losses with Henrik Dalsgaard and Emiliano Marcondes the only leavers of note. They plan to add at right-back after Dalsgaard’s departure but the urgency to recruit there may hinge on whether they persist with a three-man defence. Franks will be pleased to keep the group together with plenty of interest over his current crop -  Ivan Toney has been leading the way in that department this summer. 👉 Verdict As for any newly-promoted side, avoiding relegation has to be the primary target and that will be no different for Brentford this season. They are incredibly well run and with the ambitious Benham at the helm I think they will do all they can to maintain Premier League status this season. Still think more needs to be added to the squad as things stand but they certainly have potential to be one of the surprise outfits of the season. They will be inspired by the way Leeds thrived upon promotion and the manner in which Sheffield United excelled in their first season back in the top flight. It is a very strong looking Premier League this year and despite their obvious qualities the jump in standard from the Championship will be difficult to adjust to. They will be good enough to avoid the drop in my opinion and I actually fancy them to be the highest placed newly-promoted side.

🔴 Predicted Finish: 16th 🤝 Transfers A clear case of Southampton running out of steam for the second half of last season where poor form plunged them to the lower depths of the Premier League. A 15th placed finish in the end but could have been a lot worse had they not made such a strong start to the campaign. Ralph Hasenhuttl has a very distinct way of playing but he needs to be prepared to use a Plan B or C because the Saints were a little one-dimensional last season. His philosophy is very high energy, asking the full backs to get up and down the pitch and a few of the players struggled with that especially as the season went on. Business has been pretty slow with just three arrivals at St Mary's. The highly-rated Romain Perraud arrives for a fee of around £11m from French side Brest and looks an inspired signing. The left back was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season following a fantastic campaign and looks the perfect replacement for Ryan Bertrand. Theo Walcott makes his loan move from Everton permanent as he joins on a free transfer and should prove to be a decent bit of business. The final capture was that of Valentino Livramento who joined for a fee of around £5m having flourished with the Chelsea U23’s last season. Livramento finished last season on a highest of high notes, earning Academy Player of the Year honors at Chelsea. He is expected to go directly into the first-team, where he will compete with Yan Valery and Kyle Walker-Peters for minutes under the guidance of Ralph Hasenhüttl. The rather rapid departure of Danny Ings must have shocked a lot of Saints fans with his transfer to Aston Villa, a deal which happened behind closed doors. His goals will be very difficult to replace and I am sure Hasenhüttl will be looking to bring in a replacement between now and the end of the window. Che Adams is talented but just doesn’t have the goalscoring nous that Ings does and the guaranteed 15-20 goals he brings a season. He averaged one in two for Southampton in his time at St Mary's and is undoubtedly a top quality goalscorer. On a more positive note, the reported £30m that Southampton received is a very good sale. Ings had one year left on his deal, showed little sign of wanting to renew and at 29 isn’t getting any younger. He has also had his injury problems over his career and is probably one serious injury away from being past his peak so Saints will be pleased with the funds they received. Elsewhere, Lemina finally left the club after countless loans as he joins Nice for a fee of £5m. Angus Gunn leaves for Norwich for another £5m fee and Wesley Hoedt leaves for Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee. Ryan Bertrand is an important departure with the experienced left back very much a key player for Southampton over the past seven years or so. He joined Leicester on a free transfer but looks to have been adequately replaced by the signing of Perraud. 👉 Verdict I do worry a little for Southampton this year following a horrific second half of last campaign and a relatively poor transfer window thus far following the departure of Ings. They look weaker than they did last year and some of the players seem to have lost a little bit of faith in Hasenhüttl and his aggressive style of play. I still think they have enough quality to avoid the drop but in all honesty I am not expecting too much from them this season.

🏁 Predicted Finish: 17th 🤝 Transfers Steve Bruce has his critics but some credit has to go to him for once again turning things around and guiding Newcastle to a 12th place finish in the end, comfortably safe of danger. I understand that Newcastle fans want to play more attractive football and Bruce doesn’t seem capable of implementing that style but Mike Ashley seems happy with him and I can’t see Bruce leaving anytime soon. The ownership surrounding the club remains toxic and you fear that if they make a poor start to the season then things could go south very rapidly and the Magpies will be in the midst of another relegation battle this season. Despite being given the vote of confidence by Ashley, Bruce certainly hasn’t been backed in the transfer market this summer as of yet. There is still time for that to change of course but at the time of writing Newcastle have brought nobody into the club which must be a worry for Magpies fans. They are heavily linked with a £25m move for Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock who enjoyed a wonderful loan spell at St James' Park last season. He scored a very impressive eight goals in 14 appearances and is a real firm favourite with the Newcastle faithful. Another loan has been mooted, but Arsenal’s preference is a sale and it sounds like Newcastle will have to cough up the funds if they want to get their man. What is clear though is Newcastle can’t simply stroll into this campaign without doing any business and expect to get away with it. Ashley has to supply some funds or risk a very likely relegation scrap this season. Five departures from the club but nothing that will really worry Newcastle fans with all five individuals very much bit-part players in recent seasons. Both Yoshinori Muto and Florian Lejeune spent last season out on loan and have now left the club on a permanent basis. Christian Atsu has also left to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Raed and Henri Saivet brought his unsuccessful spell in the North-East to a close as he left on a free. Andy Carroll is the final and probably most notable departure with the striker leaving the club following the expiration of his contract. Carroll returned to Newcastle for a second stint in the summer of 2019 from West Ham but he struggled to make an impact in the first-team, scoring just once from 37 matches. 👉 Verdict The general feeling from Newcastle fans is that they simply hope there are three teams worse than them in the Premier League. Hardly a positive place to be going into a new season but that just seems to sum up the feeling around the club and how the fans feel towards both the owner and the manager. I do just about feel they have enough quality to stay up and I presume some business will be done before the window closes with Joe Willock the most likely arrival. As things stand though I feel they will be there or thereabouts for relegation and I have a similar feeling to the Newcastle fans in that I think 17th is the best they can hope for this season.

🟣 Predicted Finish: 18th 🤝 Transfers Sean Dyche continues to work miracles at Turf Moor and keep his Burnley side in the Premier League despite a very tight budget. Just three incomings and two of them were underwhelming free transfers in the shape of Wayne Hennessey and Jacob Bedeau. Nathan Collins has been brought in from Stoke City for a fee of around £13m which is the highest profile arrival to date but again not exactly inspiring. Collins, a 20-year-old, is certainly a step up from what was available to replace Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, whose absence was key to their wretched start to last season. However it isn’t the sort of purchase which will steer you clear of danger. While I appreciate the budget at Burnley is tight, I feel unless there is some more investment prior to the window closing then the Clarets could be in serious trouble this year. The squad is clearly lacking in depth and while the starting 11 when fit prove to be as hard to beat as ever, it is when injuries and absences occur that Burnley look a little out of their depth. Luckily for Burnley they haven’t really lost anyone of note as of yet. Ben Gibson moves to Norwich on a permanent basis having spent last season there on loan for a fee of around £9m. Robbie Brady leaves on a free transfer which is a little surprising as when fit he was heavily involved last season. The main issue for Burnley will be trying to keep hold of some of their prize assets with Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski in particular heavily sought after. Tarkowski has just 12 months left on his contract and has openly said on a number of occasions he is unwilling to renew. Burnley therefore either chooses to sell now or risk losing him for free next summer. Whichever way you look at it, it’s not a good situation and the Clarets look set to lose a key asset on the cheap in the near future. 👉 Verdict Six years now Burnley have been in the top flight but in recent years it feels like their upward trajectory has stalled somewhat and they are being dragged closer and closer to relegation. Sean Dyche, who let's be fair is the catalyst behind their success, like Tarkowski has just 12 months to run on his deal and as things stand doesn’t look like renewing either. The strategy this season will be to reach 40 points, previously top half finishes have been the goal but I just can’t see that this campaign. The squad hasn’t improved and with key assets having their contracts winding down I really fear for them. They will make a real fight of it as they always do but I finally feel this will be the season when Burnley face the drop.

🟡 Predicted Finish: 19th 🤝 Transfers Championship winners Norwich City are back after just one season in the second tier as they strolled to the title last season under the skilled stewardship of Daniel Farke. Norwich fans will be hoping they can perform better than they did in the 2019/2020 season where they looked wholly out of their depth, finishing bottom and accumulating just 21 points. Farke has been backed in the transfer market with around £35m spent so far and more incomings likely prior to the transfer window closing. Ben Gibson makes his loan move from Burnley permanent for a fee of around £9m which looks like good business with Gibson a very important player in their promotion campaign last season. Milot Rashica is probably the highest-profile capture to date as the Bosnian winger joins for a fee of around £10m from Werder Bremen. One of his biggest strengths is his ball-carrying and dribbling ability – Rashica is quite adept at running at pace with the ball at his feet, and he is also able to take defenders on and beat them in 1v1s. He comes with a fair bit of pressure on his shoulders as he will be seen as the replacement for Emi Buendia who has departed for Aston Villa. Dimitris Giannoulis is another player who makes his loan move from last season permanent as he joins for a fee of around £7m from Greek side PAOK. That looks like fantastic business with the Greek sensational last season and it will be interesting to see whether he can make the step up to the Premier League. Angus Gunn is brought in from Southampton to offer some stiff competition to Tim Krul for the number one jersey. A couple of central midfielders round up the business with Pierre Lees Melou and Billy Gilmour brought to the club. Gilmour in particular looks a fantastic capture as the highly-rated Scot joins on a season-long loan from Chelsea and I am confident will prove to be a hit. Fair argument to say that Norwich have lost two of their most influential players from last season in the shape of Oliver Skipp and Emi Buendia. Skipp returns to his parent club Spurs having spent the season on loan at Carrow Road and is irreplaceable in the holding midfield role. Don’t really need to touch on Buendia with it widely accepted that the Argentine was the best player in the Championship last season and will be hugely missed by the club. 👉 Verdict Norwich will hope that the players who were relegated a couple of years ago will have learned from that experience and be ready to give a better showing this time around. The squad of the 2019/2020 season was a squad with very little experience, they had a lot of injuries and Covid didn’t help matters as Norwich lost 10 straight games following the restart. I agree that the Canaries look better prepared to deal with the perils of the Premier League this season but the impact the departure of Buendia will have just can’t be underestimated. He was comfortably their best player and one of the few players in the squad who are easily Premier League quality. I feel they will give it a better fight than a couple of years ago but ultimately still don’t have quite enough to survive in the top flight and will face relegation once again.

🐝 Predicted Finish: 20th 🤝 Transfers A second placed finish in the Championship last season as like Norwich, Watford make an immediate return to the top-flight at the first time of asking. The appointment of Spaniard Xisco Munoz back in December last year proved to be a masterstroke with the 40-year-old working wonders at Vicarage Road since taking over at the club. He won 18 of 27 matches in charge to propel Watford into the automatic promotion places and take them back to the promised land.  In order to ensure Premier League safety the Hornets undoubtedly need to strengthen substantially and nine players have been brought to the club so far this summer. Imran Louza is the most expensive purchase to date as he joins from French side Nantes for a fee of £9m. The highly thought of Nigerian international Emmanuel Dennis also makes the move to Hertfordshire as he joins for a fee of around £4m from Belgian outfit Club Brugge. Other high-profile arrivals include former England international Danny Rose who joins on a free from Spurs and Josh King who joins on a free from Everton. Both players bring plenty of Premier League and international experience and I expect will go straight into the starting 11. There have been other bits of business done but nothing particularly notable and I still feel the hornets look a little short as things stand but still plenty of time to add further players to the squad. Eight departures so far this window but no real big losses for Xisco who has managed to keep hold of his key assets this summer. Craig Dawson makes his loan move to West Ham permanent for a fee of around £2m and young centre back Ben Wilmot moves on to Stoke City for £1.5m. Xisco will be thrilled to have kept hold of Ismaila Sarr with the winger highly thought of in England and many clubs interested in his signature. He has shown he has what it takes to cope in both the Championship and the Premier League now and I am expecting big things from the Senegalese international this season. 👉 Verdict Xisco is used to winning every week and in all honesty everything has gone swimmingly since he took over in December last year. The Spaniard will have to get used to that luxury changing fairly quickly and now cope with being the underdog on a regular basis rather than being the favourite. Xisco has never had to face a run of bad performances and has never needed to turn around the confidence within the squad which is something he will almost certainly have to deal with this season. I don’t think they will be cut adrift by any means as certain teams have in previous seasons. However, I don’t think they have the playing squad to compete at this level and unfortunately I feel Watford will face the drop this season.