Win the window, buy the title

 

Can the next English Premier League title be won before the season starts?

With well north of £1 billion likely to be spent in the summer transfer window that opens today, a couple of key signings could be decisive.

A solitary point separated last season’s champions Manchester City from Liverpool – for the second time in four years.

And City have already jumped the starting gun by landing Erling Haaland.

Is that a tacit admission they think they could have won the Champions League had they bought Harry Kane?

This is what makes the window a must-watch for fans.

Gossip columns will be pored over and rumour mills will run wild. Much of it is rubbish, but it’s still compulsive reading for the committed.

Of course, the big boys will dominate the high end of the market, but every year there are as many Luis Diazes as there are Romelu Lukakus.

The recruitment battle between City and Liverpool promises to be just as keenly fought as their title race.

Spurs have already made a statement signing Ivan Perisic and Antonio Conte has a reported £150m to spend.

Then there’s Chelsea without the Abramovich billions. And where do Manchester United even start?

Able to blast all out of the water are Newcastle with their Saudi billions burning a hole in Eddie Howe’s pocket.

City also have plenty of cash and haven’t finished spending yet.

If they’ve had a weakness, it’s been at left-back where Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been filling in since Benjamin Mendy turned out to be such a disaster.

But with Spanish attacking wing-back Marc Cucurella likely to sign for £35m from Brighton, they could have found an exciting solution.

And even if Haaland does ‘a Jack Grealish’ and needs time to blend in, City may have an alternative.

The £14.4m January arrival of Julian Alvarez from River Plate looks a steal as the Argentine press have already billed him as the new Aguero.

Ominously for the rest, Grealish is now showing signs of clicking, so City could be even better next season.

Which means that Liverpool, who have generally spent more wisely in recent years, will have to do so again.

But the shock news that Sadio Mane wants a new challenge has put a spanner in the works.

Liverpool didn’t see it coming, the fuss over Mo Salah’s contract providing a convenient smokescreen for the Senegalese.

And the Reds will have no grounds for stopping him as long as they get what they think he’s worth.

The Reds have told Bayern to up their offer again as they’ll need the fee to help fund a replacement.

Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez is the hot choice but Benfica are demanding €100m (£85m).

It’s double what Liverpool are asking for Mane – which would mean breaking the club’s transfer record.

But Nunez is eight years younger and with 34 goals in 41 games this season – including two against the Reds – looks a bit special.

Jurgen Klopp raved about him and he has strength in the air – something Liverpool have lacked of late – so may make better use of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s crosses.

Salah also might be reinvigorated with a different type of strike partner.

If Liverpool want to compete at the very top, occasionally they have to bite the bullet. After all, it worked with Virgil van Dijk, didn’t it?

Midfield is another area Klopp will be looking at.

Even with the real Thiago Alcantara emerging this season, the Reds have still found it difficult to break down a low block.

A left-field choice might be Ousmane Dembele, the man who bankrupted Barcelona.

Signed five years ago for an astonishing £136m, injuries and the weight of the fee dogged him until Xavi arrived as coach late last year.

Since then, he’s shown a few reasons why Barca bought him with 13 assists in 21 appearances under the new boss.

He may not be the next big thing, but he would bring something different to the table.

He might be worth a punt if Barca agree to a sensible price.

Liverpool also have Fabio Carvalho coming from Fulham but he may have to compete with another ex-Cottager, Harvey Elliott, among the midfield fringe players.

With five substitutes allowed next season, the benchwarmers are likely to see more action all over the Premier League.

The rule will favour the bigger clubs, but will also give more youngsters a chance to shine.

Whether it will persuade Conte to play any is another matter, but with money to spend we can expect some exciting arrivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With Kane staying and Son Heung-Min still flying, expect another serious challenge this season.

It will be interesting to see what happens at Chelsea now that they’ve swapped Russian money for American.

After their season was hurt by the collapse of the ‘Roman empire’, the Blues need to rebuild their defence and will find the departed Antonio Rudiger especially difficult to replace.

Manager Thomas Tuchel faces a busy summer with Lukaku also on his agenda. A return to Inter Milan looks likely but who replaces him?

It’s hard to know what to make of Arsenal.

They rallied impressively after a dire start only to fade when a top four place was theirs for the taking.

Having put their faith in youth, it’s hard to see them spending big now.

But the pressure will be on Mikel Arteta to clinch a Champions League place this season.

Despite their new-found riches, Newcastle have not spent crazy money but will look to build on a respectable 11th place finish last season.

All in all, with the extra workload of the World Cup for top players, clubs will want to stock their squads as well as they can.

Alex Ferguson said you can’t win the title in January, but in the wealthier world of 2022, what happens in June and July could have a major impact. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.