SPORT
- Arsenal
Ins: Petr Cech (Chelsea) £10m
Outs: Ryo Miyaichi (St Pauli)
Undisclosed, Semi Ajayi (Cardiff City) Undisclosed, Abou Diaby
(Marseille) Free, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Ipswich Town) Loan, Lukas
Podolski (Galatasaray) Undisclosed, Carl Jenkinson (West Ham United)
Loan, Wojciech Szczesny (AS Roma) Loan, George Dobson (Arsenal)
Undisclosed
Verdict: The Gunners have made just
one signing this season but I think it's a terrific one, Petr Cech.
He's still a top-five keeper in the world and that's something Arsenal
havn't had for some time now. Cech's presence will make the defence far
stingier and with the likes of Sanchez, Ramsey and Ozil up front I think
Arsenal will have one of their strongest seasons to date.
Last season: 3rd Prediction: 2nd
- Aston Villa
Ins: Scott Sinclair (Manchester
City) £2.5m, Micah Richards (Manchester City) Free, Mark Bunn (Norwich
City) Free, Idrissa Gueye (Lille) £9m, Jordan Amavi (Nice) Undisclosed,
Jordan Ayew (Lorient) Undisclosed, Jose Angel Crespo (Cordoba) £500k,
Rudy Gestede (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed, Jordan Veretout (Nantes)
Undisclosed
Outs: Darren Bent (Derby County)
Free, Enda Stevens (Portsmouth) Free, Andreas Weimann (Derby County)
Undisclosed, Matt Lowton (Burnley) Undisclosed, Yacouba Sylla (Rennes)
Undisclosed, Antonio Luna (SD Eibar) Undisclosed, Shay Given (Stoke
City) Free, Fabian Delph (Manchester City) £8m, Christian Benteke
(Liverpool) £32.5m
Verdict: They've picked up a lot of
cast-offs that could prove to be quite valuable for a small club like
Villa. Scott Sinclair was terrific for Swansea but no one knows how he
played for the Manchester City reserves. I'd expect him and another
former City player – Micah Richards – to have strong seasons and Villa
to have another solid middle of the table season.
Last season: 17th Prediction: 13th
- Bournemouth
Ins: Artur Boruc (Southampton)
Free, Adam Federici (Reading) Free, Joshua King (Blackburn Rovers)
Tribunal, Christian Atsu (Chelsea) Loan, Tyrone Mings (Ipswich Town)
£8m, Sylvain Distin (Everton) Free
Outs: Ian Harte Released, Josh
McQuoid Released, Darryl Flavahan Released, Mohamed Coulibaly Released,
Joe Partington Released, Miles Addison Released, Ryan Fraser (Ipswich
Town) Loan, Brett Pitman (Ipswich Town) Undisclosed, Jayden Stockley
(Portsmouth) Loan
Verdict: Bournemouth are a lock to
be a fan favourite team given they will be underdogs for literally every
match they play. There are some solid signings there and the record
club fee of £8m suggests Tyrone Mings will be one to watch. I think
Bournemouth will be the first team to be relegated this season.
Last season: promoted Prediction: 20th
- Chelsea
Ins: Nathan (Atletico Paranaense) £4.5m, Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco) Loan, Asmir Begovic (Stoke City) Undisclosed
Outs: Christian Atsu (AFC
Bournemouth) Loan, Didier Drogba Released, Gael Kakuta (Sevilla)
Undisclosed, Petr Cech (Arsenal) £10m, Mario Pasalic (AS Monaco) Loan,
Josh McEachran (Brentford) Undisclosed, Izzy Brown (Vitesse Arnhem)
Loan, Lewis Baker (Vitesse Arnhem) Loan, Marco van Ginkel (Stoke City)
Loan, Tomas Kalas (Middlesbrough) Loan, Patrick Bamford (Crystal Palace)
Loan, Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid) Undisclosed
Verdict: They've brought in
Begovic, Falcao and Nathan, a terrific mixture of names but I don't
think any of them will start much. Having said that, Chelsea had far and
away the best team last year and I think that's still the case this
time round. Couple their squad with the best manager in the league and I
think Chelsea are winning the league again.
Last season: 1st Prediction: 1st
- Crystal Palace
Ins: Yohan Cabaye (Paris Saint Germain) £12.8m, Patrick Bamford (Chelsea) Loan
Outs: Lewis Price Released, Owen Garvan Released, Peter Ramage Released, Stephen Dobbie Released, Jerome Thomas Released
Verdict: Yohan Cabaye is a very
good signing for Palace, who are quite the change from Paris St
Germain. The Alan Pardew-managed side will likely be hard to beat at
home but I can't see this side scoring enough goals to be a genuine
threat to teams.
Last season: 10th Prediction: 11th
- Everton
Ins: Tom Cleverley (Manchester United) Free, Gerard Deulofeu (Barcelona) £4.2m
Outs: Antolin Alcaraz Released, Sylvain Distin (AFC Bournemouth) Free
Verdict: Everton were poor last
year but they are a far more settled unit in 2015 and I think that'll
pay dividends. Tom Cleverley gets a lot of criticism but he's a simple
player who is a good fit for a club like Everton, while Gerard Deulofeu –
who spent time on loan at Everton – will provide plenty of X-factor.
Last season: 11th Prediction: 8th
- Leicester City
Ins: Christian Fuchs (Schalke) Free, Robert Huth (Stoke City) Undisclosed, Shinji Okazaki (Mainz) Undisclosed
Outs: Chris Wood (Leeds United) Undisclosed, Esteban Cambiasso Free
Verdict: Releasing Chris Wood could
really hurt Leicester this season and without him they'll struggled to
survive. In all seriousness, they've added experience in Huth and Fuchs
which a club like Leicester need and I think they'll comfortably stay
up.
Last season: 14th Prediction: 14th
- Liverpool
Ins: James Milner (Manchester City)
Free, Danny Ings (Burnley) Tribunal, Adam Bogdan (Bolton Wanderers)
Free, Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic) Undisclosed, Roberto Firmino
(Hoffenheim) £29m, Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) £12.5m, Christian
Benteke (Aston Villa) £32.5m
Outs: Steven Gerrard (Los Angeles
Galaxy) Free, Glen Johnson Released, Brad Jones Released, Sebastian
Coates (Sunderland) Undisclosed, Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) £49m,
Andre Wisdom (Norwich City) Loan, Rickie Lambert (West Brom)
Verdict: Brendan Rodgers must have
the biggest budget but the worst transfer record. The loss of Gerrard is
immense off the field, but on the field I think their midfield will
cope. The biggest question remains up front, Benteke is a good player
but is he a player that is going to score the 25 goals Rodgers needs in
his system?
Last season: 6th Prediction: 5th
- Manchester City
Ins: Enes Unal (Bursaspor)
Undisclosed, David Faupala (Lens) Undiclosed, Raheem Sterling
(Liverpool) £49m, Fabian Delph (Aston Villa) £8m, Patrick Roberts
(Fulham) Undisclosed
Outs: Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa)
Undisclosed, James Milner (Liverpool) Free, Dedryck Boyata (Celtic)
Undisclosed, Angelino (New York City) Loan, Micah Richards (Aston Villa)
Free, Karim Rekik (Marseille) Undisclosed
Verdict: For the combined price of
£57m you can have Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph. No thanks. Manuel
Pellegrini has lost his marbles. Fortunately a club like City can afford
expensive flops but I don't think any of their acquisitions are going
to contribute to a title win.
Last season: 2nd Prediction: 4th
- Manchester United
Ins: Memphis Depay (PSV
Eindhoven) Undisclosed, Matteo Darmian (Torino) Undisclosed, Bastian
Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) Undisclosed, Morgan Schneiderlin
(Southampton) Undisclosed, Sergio Romero (Sampdoria) Undisclosed
Outs:
Tom Cleverley (Everton) Free, Ben Amos (Bolton Wanderers) Released, Tom
Thorpe Released, Saidy Janko (Celtic) Undisclosed, Nani (Fenerbahce)
Undisclosed, Will Keane (Preston North End) Loan, Robin van Persie
(Fenerbahce)
Verdict: As
enjoyable as Manchester United's struggles have been in recent times I
think Louis van Gaal has assembled a very tidy squad. Bastian
Schweinsteiger is a superb addition, as is Morgan Schneiderlin. Those
two should allow Wayne Rooney to get further advanced where he is most
dangerous. I think this could be a very nice season for the Red Devils.
Last season: 4th Prediction: 3rd
- Newcastle United
Ins:
Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV Eindhoven) £14.5m, Aleksandar Mitrovic
(Anderlecht) Undisclosed, Chancel Mbemba (Anderlecht) Undisclosed
Outs:
Jonas Gutierrez Released, Ryan Taylor Released, Adam Campbell Released,
Remie Streete Released, Sammy Ameobi (Cardiff City) Loan, Adam
Armstrong (Coventry City) Loan, Freddie Woodman (Crawley Town) Loan
Verdict:
A few tidy signings for the Toon, adding to their already solid squad.
They don't have enough to threaten challenging for Europe but they'll be
up in the top half.
Last season: 15th Prediction: 9th
- Norwich City
Ins: Graham Dorrans (West
Bromwich Albion) Undisclosed, Youssouf Mulumbu (West Bromwich Albion)
Free, Robbie Brady (Hull City) Undisclosed, Andre Wisdom (Liverpool)
Loan
Outs: Cameron McGeehan (Luton Town) Undisclosed, Mark Bunn (Aston Villa) Free
Verdict:
I get the feeling Norwich will be in a relegation scrap come April. I
think they'll concede far too many goals and it's hard to see them
scoring many either. Fortunately I think there are three worse teams and
they should stay up, just.
Last season: promoted Prediction: 17th
- Southampton
Ins: Juanmi (Malaga) £5m,
Cedric Soares (Sporting CP) £3.6m, Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham) Loan,
Cuco Martina (FC Twente) Undisclosed, Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord) £10.5m,
Steven Caulker (Queens Park Rangers) Loan
Outs:
Artur Boruc (AFC Bournemouth) Free, Jos Hooiveld Released, Cody Cropper
Released, Omar Rowe Released, Jake Sinclair Released, Nathaniel Clyne
(Liverpool) £12.5m, Dani Osvaldo Released, Morgan Schneiderlin
(Manchester United) Undisclosed, Sam Gallagher (Milton Keynes Dons) Loan
Verdict:
The perennial over-achievers of the Premier League have again been
raided in the off-season, losing key players Schneiderlin and Nathaniel
Clyne. They've made a few signings who are unknown to the Premier League
now, but could well be stars in a few months. Given Southampton's
ability in the past at unearthing top talent, I wouldn't be surprised if
these signings turn out very well.
Last season: 7th Prediction: 8th
- Stoke City
Ins: Jakob Haugaard
(Midtylland) Undisclosed, Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen)
Undisclosed, Joselu (Hannover 96) £5.6m, Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea)
Loan, Shay Given (Aston Villa) Free, Glen Johnson (Liverpool) Free,
Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona) Free
Outs:
Thomas Sorensen (Released), Wilson Palacios (Released), Andy Wilkinson
(Released), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla) Undisclosed, Asmir Begovic (Chelsea)
Undisclosed
Verdict: I really
like the signing of Marco van Ginkel, although he's returning from a
serious injury so his input may not be as great as you might expect from
someone once seen as the next big thing in Dutch football. Still, him
and fellow Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay are very good players, but the loss
of Asmir Begovic is tough for the Potters.
Last season: 9th Prediction: 15th
- Sunderland
Ins: Sebastian Coates
(Liverpool) Undisclosed, Adam Matthews (Celtic) £2m, Jeremain Lens
(Dynamo Kyiv) Undisclosed, Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur)
Outs: El-Hadji Ba (Charlton) Undisclosed, Santiago Vergini (Getafe CF) Loan
Verdict:
There's not a lot to see here, Sunderland are a constant relegation
battler and they're not moving away from that anytime soon. In fact, I
think the only place they're moving is down to the Championship.
Last season: 16th Prediction: 18th
- Swansea City
Ins:
Andre Ayew (Marseille) Free, Franck Tabanou (St Etienne) £3.5m,
Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Heerenveen) Undisclosed, Eder (Braga) £5.2m
Outs: Alan Tate Released, Gerhard Tremmel Released, David Cornell Released, Jazz Richards (Fulham) Undisclosed
Verdict:
Andre Ayew has been a highly sought after player for a number of years,
and while he's not what he once was he's a terrific pick up for
Swansea. They've still got some quality in their side and another
mid-table finish looms for the Welsh club.
Last season: 8th Prediction: 10th
- Tottenham Hotspur
Ins: Kevin Wimmer (Cologne) £4.3m, Kieran Trippier (Burnley) £3.5m, Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid) £11.5m
Outs:
Jordan Archer Released, Cristian Ceballos Released, Bongani Khumalo
Released, Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande) £9.9m, Lewis Holtby (Hamburg)
£4.6m, Etienne Capoue (Watford) £6m, Younes Kaboul (Sunderland)
Undisclosed, Benjamin Stambouli (Paris Saint Germain) Undisclosed
Verdict:
They really still haven't recovered from Bale leaving have they?
They've let a few players go that they paid for with Bale money, and not
surprisingly, they've gone for less than what Spurs bought them for.
They're still a solid side, but I think they are still recovering from
some poor signings made in the past few seasons.
Last Season: 5th Prediction: 6th
- Watford
Ins: Sebastian Prodl (Werder
Bremen) Free, Giedrius Arlauskis (Steaua Bucharest) Undisclosed, Jose
Holebas (AS Roma) £1.8m, Matej Vydra (Udinese) Undisclosed, Etienne
Capoue (Tottenham Hotspur) £6m, Valon Behrami (Hamburg) Undisclosed,
Allan Nyom (Granada) Undisclosed, Miguel Britos (Napoli) Undisclosed,
Jose Manuel Jurado (Spartak Moscow), Steven Berghuis (AZ Alkmaar)
Undisclosed
Verdict: It's
wonderful to see Watford back up in the Premier League, it really is.
But make the most of it, because I think they will be going straight
back down.
Last season: promoted Prediction: 19th
- West Bromwich Albion
Ins: James McClean (Wigan Athletic) £1.5m, James Chester (Hull City) Undisclosed, Rickie Lambert (Liverpool)
Outs:
Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion) Undisclosed, Alex Jones
(Birmingham City) Free, Kemar Roofe (Oxford City) Undisclosed, Youssouf
Mulumbu Released, Chris Baird (Derby County) Free, Jason Davidson
Released, Alex Palmer (Kidderminster Harriers) Loan
Verdict:
Rickie Lambert's a great player for a team like West Brom, I think
that'll prove to be a shrewd signing. There's no doubt this team has
some class in it and I think they'll be well clear of the relegation
battle.
Last season: 13th Prediction: 9th
- West Ham United
Ins:
Darren Randolph (Birmingham City) Free, Pedro Obiang (Sampdoria) £4.3m,
Dimitri Payet (Marseille) £10.7m, Angelo Ogbonna (Juventus) £8.5m, Carl
Jenkinson (Arsenal) Loan, Manuel Lanzini (Al-Jazira) Loan, George
Dobson (Arsenal) Undisclosed
Outs:
Dan Potts (Luton Town) Free, Carlton Cole Released, Guy Demel Released,
Jussi Jaaskelainen Released, Nene Released, Stewart Downing
(Middlesbrough) £5.5m
Verdict: Ahh, West Ham. Big
Sam is gone. What does that mean? Well they might play a palatable
brand of football for one; whether the results come I'm not so sure. I
don't think this is a team that will be relegated but they'll be in the
bottom half.
Last Season: 12th Prediction: 12th
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