Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and West Ham must improve in the next transfer window, but what is one under-the-radar position they each need to target?
London’s current six Premier League sides have all enjoyed mixed successes this term, and will soon have Fulham in the mix for capital bragging rings. The Cottagers have sealed their return to the top-flight with the Championship title after a season back in the second-tier.
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In the Craven Cottage natives’ absence, Brentford have enjoyed some highs along the way, but spent periods threatened by relegation. One of Arsenal and Tottenham are also likely to miss out on Champions League action, barring a disastrous end to the term for Chelsea.
Chelsea head into the final four fixtures three points clear of Arsenal to sit third, far behind runaway leaders Manchester City and Liverpool. The Gunners are also just two-points clear of Spurs, with Manchester United three points back in sixth having also played twice more.
Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League will see Mikel Arteta need a larger and more experienced squad than currently available. The Spaniard has awarded 27 players minutes in the Premier League this season, but he only has 18 of those at hand for the final stretch.
Arsenal – Mikel Arteta needs to strengthen at left-back to support Kieran Tierney
Arteta will tackle the last four games of the term without nine of the players he has played so far. Seven of them have left the Emirates Stadium on loan or in permanent deals, while Thomas Partey is likely out for the rest of the term through injury, and so is Kieran Tierney.
Injuries have been part and parcel of Tierney’s time in north London since joining for £25m from Celtic in 2019. The Scot only made 15 appearances in his first Premier League season, reached 27 last term and could end the current campaign with just 22 appearances made.
Nuno Tavares stood in well for Tierney during his first injury absence of the term back in October and November. But the £7m summer signing from Benfica has proven to be very suspect defensively in their more recent games and is often an accident waiting to happen.
Thus one position Arsenal need to improve in the summer transfer sales is at left-back to strengthen Arteta’s ranks beyond Tierney and his injuries. And he seems to have one in mind, as Viola News cite Arsenal as approaching Bologna over €20m (£17m) Aaron Hickey.
Brentford – Thomas Frank cannot rely only on Ivan Toney in key position
Brentford are not mathematically safe from relegation, but hold an eight point lead over Everton and the drop zone. Thomas Frank, then, can start planning his summer spending with Premier League football in mind, and will know he cannot rely only on Ivan Toney.
Toney has scored 12 of the Bees’ 41 top-flight goals so far this term with seven more than any teammate. Yoane Wissa has struck their second-most with five, but the 25-year-old has not been a consistent threat in the final third with his strikes coming in three bursts.
Additionally, Brentford have only won four of their 19 games that Toney has not scored or assisted in. Six of those games so far have also resulted in a defeat by a single goal margin.
Chelsea – Thomas Tuchel needs to improve his firepower beyond Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea are still in the process of being taken over and until that is cleared, will not be able to sign or sell players. Thomas Tuchel is facing a crisis of depth in defence without adding to his ranks, however, with Antonio Rudiger leading a stampede of out of contract players.
The Blues will also want to strengthen their attack if they are able to add fresh faces to the Stamford Bridge fold. Romelu Lukaku has been far from a resounding success following his £97.5m transfer from Inter Milan. Timo Werner is also still yet to offer a consistent threat.
Lukaku has only provided five Premier League goals and started just 13 of 23 appearances. Likewise, Werner has hit home a mere four in 20 outings, with neither able to lock down Tuchel’s backing. It has left Mason Mount as their top-scorer as the only one to score 10.
Crystal Palace – Right-back a position in need of improving at Selhurst Park
Retaining Chelsea ace Conor Gallagher in another loan deal or, even more so, a permanent transfer would be a dream outcome for Crystal Palace this summer. The midfielder has hit eight goals in 30 games, with only Wilfried Zaha netting more often with 12 for the Eagles.
But boss Patrick Vieira must also look to improve his defence, and particularly at right-back to replace Joel Ward. The Selhurst Park natives are well stocked for attacking options with Jean-Philippe Mateta now coming to the fore with Zaha, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze.
But Ward and Nathaniel Clyne are not ideal options at full-back over the term and could be upgraded this summer. Both are middle-of-the-road options nowadays, capable of making solid defensive and offensive contributions. But neither are able to deliver consistently.
Tottenham – Antonio Conte has golden chance to improve in goal past Hugo Lloris
Antonio Conte will tackle his first summer transfer window as Tottenham boss needing to improve a handful of areas like Arsenal, Chelsea and co. Right-back is one, with Emerson Royal failing to meet the needed grade by some way since his £26m move from Barcelona.
Another striker may be on his radar to support Harry Kane, along with a left-sided centre-half to replace Ben Davies. But one under-the-radar addition Tottenham should target is a goalkeeper, even after locking Hugo Lloris down with a new contract to 2024 this January.
The Frenchman has no rival between the sticks pushing him to perform at his best but still produces vital saves. However, at 35, it may be time to begin looking to the future and try to secure their future option now while their rivals are not in the market for a goalkeeper.
West Ham – David Moyes has three big needs and a fourth welcome avenue
David Moyes will likely have his work cut out this summer striving to plug the gaps he will face at West Ham. The Irons are still to replace Sebastien Haller following his departure in January 2021, which left Michail Antonio as the only recognised striker in east London.
The Hammers also need to replace captain Mark Noble, with the midfielder retiring at the end of the season. Injuries at centre-half for Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma and Issa Diop throughout the course of the current campaign have also highlighted their lack of depth.
Arguably, the only positions West Ham do not have to strengthen is right-wing with Jarrod Bowen and at full-back with Aaron Cresswell, Vladimir Coufal and Ben Johnson. In front of Cresswell, though, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals have been unable to lock up the role.
Benrahma and Fornals show their threat the final-third with little consistency, dipping in and out of big and little impacts. Having paid Brentford up to £30m to sign Benrahma in 2020, Moyes may favour affording the Algerian more time to show West Ham his worth.
But if West Ham sign a striker, central midfielder and centre-half, a new left-forward may feature on their radar, too. Moyes will not want any weak-links in his ranks next term with the Hammers enjoying successive campaigns pushing for the top spots in the league table.
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