What Premier League teams have the most work left to do this transfer window: Newcastle, Man United and more

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A fortnight from now the first round of Premier League games will be done and dusted. For some, panic will be setting in, the business they failed to do before a ball was kicked creating immediate issues. It is at this moment that some of the most disastrous decisions are made.

It is not, however, too late to head that eventuality off at the pass. The coming days promise to be convulsive ones for the Premier League as buyers who tried to bluff their way to a lower price deal with head coaches who want nothing more than to get their full squad on the training pitch in time to prepare for week one. They know who is usually the one to pay the price when the failings of the transfer window are reflected on the pitch.

For the five clubs below then, this could be a critical juncture for the nine months to follow. Here is what they need to do:

1. Newcastle United

Their supporters will not need reminding of this, but Newcastle’s transfer window is shaping up to be one of the most significant of the Premier League’s recent history for all the wrong reasons. What began with a flurry of targets — Bryan Mbeumo, Joao Pedro and James Trafford to name but a few — choosing Premier League rivals has devolved to a position where their best player is pushing for the exit. Alexander Isak wants to move and Liverpool, first through the sale of Luis Diaz and now with Darwin Nunez in line to follow, are primed to break the British transfer record if that’s what it takes.

Still, suppose Newcastle held on to Isak, unlikely as that seems. They would still have to assess this as a window frittered away. Their key targets said no and the players they have got in, Anthony Elanga and Southampton loanee Aaron Ramsdale, really should figure as not much more than depth pieces for a Champions League team. The upgrade that they have been crying out for on the right side of the front three does not seem imminent, nor does the right sided center back they whiffed on last summer when they failed to sign Marc Guehi. Someone needs to fill Sean Longstaff’s spot in the squad, Callum Wilson’s too.

It should be said that there is still plenty of talent in this Newcastle squad and with Benjamin Sesko lined up to succeed or supplement Isak, there are linings of silver on the dark clouds that hover above St. James’ Park. But with an extremely tricky start to the season there really is no time like the present for Newcastle to jolt their summer into gear.

2. Everton

Unlike team number one on this list, you cannot question the activity at the Hill Dickinson Stadium so far this summer. Carlos Alcaraz got the permanent move his impressive spell on loan merited, Mark Travers is a very useful backup goalkeeper at the Premier League level and Thierno Barry looks to have the potential to be an ideal David Moyes striker. Yes, he is very tall. Adam Aznou, too, looks quite Moyesian, a full back whose statistics from last season scream defensive solidity.

For most teams that would be plenty to get on with, it’s just that after their disastrous dalliances with 777 Partners and the ballooning costs of their new stadium Everton needed more than most. Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ashley Young and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are among those who have left a short-handed squad, all three of those without bringing in a fee. Moyes knows there is still work to be done.

“I think there’ll be deals next week,” he said after the Premier League Summer Series ended on Sunday. “I think we’re getting much closer. But I felt that four or five weeks ago as well. Obviously, we’re getting near the tickly bits and we’ve got to get some things done.”

Owners The Friedkin Group are evidently working to ensure that Moyes does not come to regret his words. At the time of writing, Everton were closing in on a deal for Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and were in talks to sign talented young Southampton winger Tyler Dibling. With those deals Everton would be getting a lot closer to where they need to be but Moyes was not wrong when he said this was a team that needs “nine or 10” through the door. An authoritative midfielder wouldn’t go amiss, nor would the sort of creative midfielder who could get the Hill Dickinson bouncing from day one. Jack Grealish, you say?

3. Manchester United

Was it the wisest decision to invest over $170 million of what is a stretched budget in the Premier League’s biggest expected goals overperformers from last season? Only time will tell whether Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo were a good use of cash but to hear their club captain tell it, Manchester United still need plenty more.

“It was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here and more quality to get everyone to step up to get into the starting XI,” Bruno Fernandes told host broadcaster NBC after a 2-2 draw with Everton in the Premier League Summer Series. “That’s what the club and the manager are trying to do and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.”

They might need more than one or two. A striker certainly is high on their wishlist though they are battling with Newcastle for the services of Sesko. If not him Ollie Watkins is understood to have his admirers at Old Trafford, but there is a real risk of paying big money for the post prime years of a 29-year-old. After the center forward there are still other spots that could do with the sort of targeted, well-planned recruitment that has hardly been a staple at Old Trafford of late.

Fernandes seems to suit Ruben Amorim’s double pivot nicely but is Manuel Ugarte the sort of dominant midfielder who can partner him in a United side that is competing to qualify for Europe? Atalanta’s Ederson and Angelo Stiller of VfB Stuttgart remain on the market. What of the goalkeeper position too? Andre Onana’s proclivity for blunders obscures his many perfectly adequate performances. Given that Jim Ratcliffe says the purse strings are strained, maybe that is just one where you have to settle for what you already have.

4. Brentford

There is a quite compelling case to be made for swapping out Brentford for Aston Villa, West Ham or Wolves. The Bees have been active in the market and yes they have lost last season’s best player in Mbeumo, but they already had their replacement for him in the side last season, where Kevin Schade delivered 11 Premier League goals.

Christian Norgaard is gone too, but as steadying veterans at the tiller go, Jordan Henderson is hard to beat. Losing Mark Flekken probably wasn’t a hardship anyway, even less so when you replace him with Caoimhin Kelleher. They’ve signed Antoni Milambo after an encouraging season with Feyenoord while Michael Kayode flashed promise on loan.

Oh, and if any team has earned the right to be trusted with a squad overhaul it’s Brentford, who rose from League One to established Premier League side while consistently selling their best players. They’ve coped without Ezri Konsa, Ivan Toney and David Raya, they even got promoted the summer after losing Watkins. Should things be so different this time just because Thomas Frank left too? A manager might have the same positive impact as a really good player and we know that this club can recruit well enough to offset any such loss.

Then again given that Brentford have an untested head coach at the helm and are running the risk of losing Yoane Wissa along with Mbeumo, taking 39 goals out of the team without a new signing to replace them. Given that there is a rookie head coach in Keith Andrews, it may be wise to make sure he does not want for options in attack. 

5. Fulham

Yet to purchase an outfielder, Fulham are looking good in preseason, where they have four wins from four, and will not have to worry about their goalkeeper position given the arrival of Benjamin Lecomte to vie with Bernd Leno. Reiss Nelson also wants to go back to Craven Cottage after his loan spell last season, per CBS Sports sources, and both Fulham and Arsenal are motivated to do the deal, though the latter are pushing for a permanent sale.

Roll out what would effectively be last season’s squad and you would expect Fulham to drop back a little bit from upper midtable to lower but not face any great threat to extending their Premier League stay into its fifth year. Then again, it couldn’t hurt to strengthen in a few spots. Raul Jimenez, 34, played the sixth most top flight minutes in the squad last season and, while Marco Silva deserves a reputation as a striker whisperer, the ageing Mexican international plus Rodrigo Muniz is one of the less fearsome strike pairings in the Premier League. Similarly, a new midfielder to oust one of Sasa Lukic or Sander Berge could greatly enhance Fulham’s control of games. This is not a case of major surgery being required, but with the right additions this Fulham squad could be one to take very seriously.

6. Chelsea

It’s been a whole two days without any incoming business y’know…

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