Below we’ll discuss which teams are title contenders, what are the most significant transfers in the off-season, and what are games to watch in the opening round.
Manchester City
‘The Citizens’ are Premier League champions in three out of the past four seasons and it seems there is no sign that the remorseless momentum of ‘the Sky Blues’ is going to be checked any time soon.
Pep Guardiola squad didn’t start last season the way they wanted but soon took over the first place and didn’t look back.
They lost the Community Shield to Leicester City with a late penalty goal but still they looked ready to start another winning season.
Kevin De Bruyne is still the main force of ‘the Citizens’ and he will be ready for the season opener. Ilkay Gundogan will be another key in Guardiola’s squad and young Phil Foden is expected to have a breakthrough season.
The biggest signing in the off-season for City is Jack Grealish who has been fantastic at the Euro. City paid €117.50 million to West Ham for the 25-year-old left midfielder.
The other additions include Scott Carson (Derby), Pedro Porro (Sporting Lisbon), Nahuel Bustos (Girona), Ante Palaversa (KV Kortrijk), Diego Rosa (Lommel SK) and Luka Ilic (Twente).
The most significant departure certainly is Sergio Agüero who moved to Barcelona as well as Eric García. The other players who left Etihad are Angeliño (RB Leipzig), Jack Harrison (Leeds Utd) and Lukas Nmecha (VFL Wolfsburg).
Liverpool
Last season Liverpool was hurt by many injuries to key defensive players which quickly ended any title challenge. With Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez returning, Jürgen Klopp’s squad will have a chance for a great start of the season.
The Reds’ success will largely depend on the scoring performance of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané.
The club wasn’t very active on the transfer market with Ibrahima Konaté (RB Leipzig), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool U23) and Sepp van den Berg (Preston) being the only new additions to the squad.
Georginio Wijnaldum who signed with PSG is the only major departure as the only other players that left are Harry Wilson (Fulham) and Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin).
Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has continued to add quality and depth to the Manchester United squad as he has signed Jadon Sancho. United paid a huge €85 million to Borussia Dortmund for Sancho and he is expected to be the game changer for the ‘Red Devils’.
The team is pushing hard towards signing Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane and if he is added to the defensive line next to Harry Maguire, United might have a competitive squad for the title.
Other than Sancho, ex-Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Tom Heaton is the only off-season signing. Accordingly, the only two players that left ‘Old Trafford’ are the goalkeepers Joel Pereira (RKC Waalwijk) and Sergio Romero.
Chelsea
The top news from the transfer market is Chelsea’s signing of Romelu Lukaku on a team-record €115 million deal.
The Belgium striker, who was at Stamford Bridge between 2011-14, will earn £195,000 a week which makes him the highest paid player in Chelsea’s history.
Thomas Tuchel’s squad won the UEFA Champions League last season, and with Lukaku in the lineup they will attack the Premier League trophy.
Roman Abramovich is also trying to pursue Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund and if he manages to land the Norwegian, Chelsea will have the best attacking duo in Europe.
Marcus Bettinelli from Fulham is the only other signing so far.
Numerous players left Stanford Bridge in the off-season with Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori, who both signed with AC Milan are the most significant. The other players who left are Victor Moses (Spartak Moscow), Marco van Ginkel (PSV), Izzy Brown (Preston), Danilo Pantic (Partizan) and Jamal Blackman and Willy Caballero who haven’t found a new club yet.
New teams in the Premier League
Norwich City and Watford won the first two spots in the Championship last year making the step forward to the Premier League while Brentford did the same through the playoffs.
Norwich is the team that bounces back to the top league and hopefully, they can escape relegation this season.
Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell are two emerging talents that will get their chance in the Premier League. Daniel Farke’s has also brought in Billy Gilmour from Chelsea and Milot Rashica from Werder Bremen in hope to have a successful season on the highest level.
Watford has also made moves in the off-season in order to be competitive in the Premier League. Imran Louza, Josh King, Danny Rose and Emmanuel Dennis are among the intriguing early arrivals at Vicarage Road Stadium.
Brentford will play in the Premier League for the first time ever. The whole city lives for the opening round when ‘The Bees’ will host Arsenal. The team has a core of players who mainly comes from their academy but they seem ready for the next step.
Top 10 transfers in the Premier League in the 2021 summer transfer window
New coaches
Four Premier League clubs will start the season with new coaches: Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace, Rafael Benitez at Everton, Nuno Espirito Santo at Tottenham and Bruno Lage at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
2021-2022 First round schedule:
13/08/2021
Brentford – Arsenal
14/08/2021
Manchester Utd – Leeds Utd
Burnley – Brighton
Chelsea – Crystal Palace
Everton – Southampton
Leicester – Wolverhampton
Watford – Aston Villa
Norwich – Liverpool
15/08/2021
Newcastle – West Ham Utd
Tottenham – Manchester City
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