Premier League Enters Pre-Season
The Premier League pre season is well under way, with friendly clashes between Man United and Liverpool and Arsenal and Everton already in the books. The Red Devils stomped Liverpool 4-0 and Arsenal did almost as much damage to Everton at 3-0
United have looked good in preseason, following up their Liverpool victory with a win over Crystal Palace which did have some shaky moments after rushing out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Their big summer shakeup started with a new manager, Ten Hag from Ajax, who promptly gave Rangnick the boot after the latter's role had never really materialized in a clearly successful one. They've looked to make smart, efficient signings, as unfortunately they've been snubbed by a lot of the bigger name players as they've no Champion's League to offer. There's also plenty of drama surrounding star player Ronaldo possibly leaving, although it seems like he's getting snubbed by many other teams himself.
Manchester City have done well to bring in Haaland and he should terrorize PL defenses with quality service from City's wingers, but there are still questions as to whether they'll be getting Cucurella, Pau Torres, or Kalvin Philips to reinforce them further. Should be a similar team as last year's title-winning squad with a few key upgrades.
Chelsea looks to be in the midst of a big rebuild themselves, after having two key defenders leave in Rudiger and Christensen and early targets Raphinha and De Light getting snapped up by other teams was a setback, but they have already brought in Koulibaly and are closing in on Kounde as replacements. They've also brought in Sterling, and are rumored to be looking for more pieces, as a defensive mid, wing back, and either a striker or another winger are on the table. The only position they don't need to reinforce is attacking mid, with Mount and Gallagher likely locking that spot down for a while. Rumors also swirl around some of their youth prospects, notably Armando Broja and Levi Colwill, who could have a shot at breaking into the first team this year or be shipped out on loan or even permanently sold.
Liverpool have brought in a big money striker in Darwin, but have let star player Sadio Mane leave for Bayern. Besides a few prospect loans going out, they haven't done much, rumoured to prefer waiting for next year to purchase Jude Bellingham from Dortmund as the next big piece in their midfield, since the German club won't sell this summer after already letting Haaland go.
Tottenham have brought in Perisic and a number of other signings to please temperamental coach Antonio Conte, who did manage to squeeze them into the top 4 and thus the Champion's League for this Season.
Arsenal have brought in Gabriel Jesus to be their top striker as they look to move on Aubameyang who left in January, and are now pushing to sign Zinchenko as well from Man City, though the latter seems to be resisting a move for the moment.
Obviously Chelsea's going to win the quadruple this year, but who else do you think might stand a chance?
