Have title contenders done enough in transfer window to challenge Arsenal?
Arsenal have started the new Premier League season with two wins as the transfer window closes, looking in ominous shape to retain the crown they won for the first time in 22 years last season.
The Gunners had a quiet final day to the window having concluded their business before the traditional late rush – but those hoping to unseat the reigning champions have all been busy expensively re-shaping their squads to mount a challenge.
So how do Arsenal look? And have their main rivals done enough to prevent Mikel Arteta’s side winning a second successive title?
And what are the other big issues as the Premier League’s transfer business was concluded until January?
Arsenal’s interest in Atletico Madrid’s Argentina forward Julian Alvarez did not bear fruit, despite their attempts to persuade him away from his preferred destination of Barcelona.
Alvarez’s dream move to Barcelona was emphatically blocked by the Atletico hierarchy, leaving The Gunners with hope he may take the only choice available to him to leave Diego Simeone’s side.
In the end, no deal was done – and perhaps the only flaw in Arsenal’s current make-up is whether they carry a consistent spearhead threat up front.
Elsewhere, they look formidable in all areas and still the team to beat after cruising past Coventry City and winning at Aston Villa in their opening two league games
They also dismantled Manchester City in The Community Shield, and have had an excellent transfer window to build on last season’s success, when the Premier League was won and they reached the Champions League Final.
Bruno Guimaraes, a £75m signing from Newcastle United, showed in his brief cameo in the 1-0 win against Aston Villa what he will bring - passes that cut through the home defence and a fierce competitive edge.
England defender Ezri Konsa offers instant class in defence after moving from Aston Villa, and while Christos Tzolis had a tough night at Villa Park, substituted at half-time, he has already demonstrated what an asset he could be on the left flank.
Not quite a case of “No Alvarez No Problem”, but he was hardly a deal breaker for Arsenal, who still look best equipped to win another title at the conclusion of the transfer window.
Manchester City have undergone heavy transition, from manager Pep Guardiola being replaced after 10 years by Enzo Maresca, to the departure of key figures in their glory years such as Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Jack Grealish, as well as Savio, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzales, James Trafford, Nathan Ake and Tijjani Reijnders.
The burning ambition remains, however, as proved by the manner in which they have attacked the market to replenish their squad for a title tilt.
City paid £125m – equalling the British transfer record - to reunite former Chelsea manager Maresca with Enzo Fernandez, having already paid £116m to sign England midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
And further quality arrived in the shape of Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for £65m, the brilliant Morocco 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, who cost £85.6m from Lille, as well as Allan Elias from Palmeiras in Brazil.
It amounts to quite the rebuild, with the Fernandez deal taking City’s spending to a Premier League record £458m for a single transfer window, surpassing Liverpool’s £415m from last summer.
However, City have also achieved around £300m worth of player sales this summer, illustrating the vast turnover at the start of the post-Guardiola era.
An eventful window but one that leaves City, who still have so much class elsewhere, in good shape to mount a serious challenge.
Chelsea may have lost Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for £125m in the final hours of the window, but the business done this summer will still delight new manager Xabi Alonso.
Alonso opened with two Premier League wins, but goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s display in the opening victory at Fulham persuaded him to finally solve a long-standing problem by signing Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa.
The list of incomings and outgoings are – as usual – almost too numerous to mention, but Morgan Rogers - a £117m signing from Aston Villa - has already formed a devastating trio in attack with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, while Maxence Lacroix is a quality defensive addition.
And in a shift in strategy, veterans Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck were brought in to add experience and their consummate professionalism to the Chelsea dressing room.
Chelsea were in the market in the final hours as well, but were bitterly disappointed when Monaco pulled the plug on their move for highly-regarded midfielder Lamine Camara as Fernandez departed.
A huge squad has no European football to offer a distraction, which is why Chelsea and Alonso could well believe they have the quality to also run close – although they remain outsiders.
Liverpool’s main task this summer after appointing Andoni Iraola to replace sacked Arne Slot, was to somehow compensate for what they would miss without Mohamed Salah after he left Anfield at the end of last season.
Bradley Barcola was the prime target and eventually signed from Paris Saint-Germain for £123m. He possesses lightning pace, creativity and goals, but he is not a like-for-like replacement for Salah, preferring to operate on the left.
Victor Munoz, a member of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, is another wide man who has already shown what he can deliver with a spectacular equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Rather than simply replace Salah, Liverpool’s strategy has been to find a way to get goals from the wide positions and elsewhere rather that focus on one single player to replace the Egyptian.
All very well – but Liverpool’s opening draws against Newcastle United and Forest showed a fault which holed them below the waterline last season has not been addressed.
The lack of a natural number “6” has left a midfield imbalance that leaves them horribly vulnerable to counter-attacks. Teams can still run straight through Liverpool, but Iraola showed no inclination to make a signing in that position.
Can Liverpool cure that tendency to be exposed? This could be the flaw that stops them making amends for their dismal title defence last season.
After addressing their attack last summer when they brought in Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, United’s window this time has been about midfield renewal as Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba were signed.
Is it enough to make United serious contenders after Michael Carrick took them to third place and back into the Champions League last season after succeeding Ruben Amorim in a caretaker capacity?
Carrick is now in permanent charge, but this has been a mixed start to the season with defeat at newly-promoted Hull City before a 5-2 win against other Premier League newcomers Ipswich Town.
United decided not to make any late moves, leaving Carrick’s squad looking more like one who will realistically challenge for the top four once more but will be nowhere near the title.
Tottenham Hotspur have had a spectacular transfer window as they spent more than £300m – but results so far have been less than spectacular with two league defeats away to Brentford and at home to Newcastle United.
Roberto De Zerbi has been given huge backing, right up until the close of the window when he got his wish to bring in Mykhailo Mudryk, who played under him at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mudryk resolved a doping case with the Football Association in July, but has not played a competitive match since November 2024.
De Zerbi must mould his host of new faces, 10 with the arrival of Tosin Adarabioyo from Chelsea, into a coherent unit, but this looks like a squad that possesses promise – with De Zerbi’s biggest task getting Spurs to ditch the losing mentality that has seen them finish 17th in the last two seasons.
Aston Villa finished fourth and won the Europa League in a season of stunning success under Unai Emery, but this is effectively the start of a new era at Villa Park.
Goalkeeper Martinez, defenders Lucas Digne and Konsa, midfielders Rogers and Tielemans, as well as striker Ollie Watkins, all left.
Parma’s Japan keeper Zion Suzuki replaced Martinez, while other arrivals included defenders Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Southampton, Aaron Wan-Bissaka from West Ham United on loan and Matteo Ruggeri from Atletico Madrid.
Freiburg’s Swiss midfielder Johan Manzambi was another arrival, along with winger Ibrahim Mbaye from Paris Saint-Germain, striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea and Germany veteran Leon Goretzska.
The rebuild was fleshed out with midfielder Joao Gomes arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers and winger Alejandro Garnacho on loan from Chelsea.
It will take even the great alchemist Emery time to fashion his new team, but he has been given the materials to work his magic for another season aiming for the top four.
