Marca analyzes in detail, team by team, the keys to the Premier League 2024/25 before its start.
Pep Guardiola playing cards.MARCA InfografÃa
Pep Guardiola is not bluffing. His Manchester City has won six of the last seven editions of the Premier League. Now he has in his hands a historic and unprecedented win – he can win five English leagues in a row.
Arsenal, however, wants to steal their hand after falling short in the last two seasons. Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are in worse shape, but they are hoping that chance will turn their trump card into a winner.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham and Iraola’s Bournemouth, among others, are looking to shake things up.
A strange summer at the Etihad. There was speculation about the departure of De Bruyne and Ederson, Julian Alvarez has left and, for now, only Savinho has arrived.
The possible sanction hovering on the horizon for breaking 115 financial fair play rules – there is even speculation of relegation – has altered their market plans. There is no doubt about it.
Even so, City are still a length ahead of the chasing pack. They have in their ranks the last four English League MVP’s (Foden, Haaland, De Bruyne and Rúben Dias), Bernardo Silva… and the ‘invincible’ Rodri, who has only one defeat in 81 matches. The ‘Cityzens’, the first team to win four Premier Leagues in a row, have a shot at a historic second leg.
It would be the icing on the cake for the Guardiola project. Pep’s contract ends in 2025 and his future is also up in the air.
They say that third time’s the charm. And that’s what Arteta promised the Emirates Stadium after fighting for the Premier League title until the last minute last season. From ‘Guardiola vs Klopp’ we have moved on to ‘Guardiola vs Arteta’.
A titanic struggle based on the attrition of the enemy to take the crown of English soccer in which Arsenal continues to close the gap on Manchester City.
They are now a much more mature team capable of adapting to any context that, last season, came out on top in the ‘melee’ against City. They have retained Raya (Golden Glove) and, with the arrival of Calafiori, the ‘Gunners’ are an increasingly well-rounded team that is on target for the Premier League. The dream is to sign Merino to join Rice and Odegaard in the engine room.
The red side on Merseyside is facing the year following the departure of Jürgen Klopp. The German coach left the Liverpool bench at the end of last season after nine seasons at the helm. The successor, Arne Slot, a coach to continue the style and idea of play that Klopp implemented during his time at the ‘Reds’.
The reigning English League Cup champions face a year of transition in a league where Arsenal and City are the top contenders for the title. In a summer with little movement in the transfer market, the club is on tenterhooks over the possible departure of Luis Diaz to Guardiola’s side. It looks like a campaign of metamorphosis with the aim of returning to reign England.
The Aston Villa of the Basque coach continues to banish all the prejudices that dragged Unai Emery.
The former coach of Sevilla among others has been two consecutive seasons sneaking the villains in Europe and this season has done so in the Champions League itself, even generating debate during some part of the course if they could take the Premier League title. A fact that was finally unfeasible due to the devilish pace of the great giants of the championship.
This season Villa Park will play the highest continental competition 40 years later, but they have managed to keep the block and have been reinforced with players who were excelling at the highest level as Maatsen or Onana or young talents like Philogene.
With these weapons, Villa will fight again for a place in Europe and, who knows, if they can repeat in the Champions League.
Spurs face an exciting season, where they will try to return to Champions League places. This competition has been difficult for them in recent years, as they have not participated in Europe’s top competition for two seasons. It seemed that the world was coming to an end when Harry Kane left the English club last summer.
The truth is that, this season, they achieved a better position than the last one with Kane. They finished in fifth place, just two points away from playing in the Champions League.
With Heung Min Son at the helm, Spurs are a more mature and ambitious team. In addition, it should be noted that the team led by Postecoglou has paid the highest amount for a player in its history.
Dominic Solanke arrives at Tottenham for 75 million euros and signs a six-year contract until June 2030.
Todd Boehly’s investment of more than 1 billion since his arrival has resulted in the world’s largest squad. As many as 43 players have trained with the Blues this summer.
Pochettino appeared to have got things back on track – he guided the team to the League Cup final and to winning the last five Premier League games – but he made a surprise departure and left his place to Enzo Maresca, who is on his way up from Leicester.
Pedro Neto, Dewsbury-Hall, Jörgensen, Veiga, Guiu, Adarabioyo… have arrived and Thiago Silva has left, but there are still many unknowns to be resolved.
They are looking for a way out, especially for Lukaku and to bring in another ‘9’ (Osimhen is the one they want). At the back, doubts remain: they have conceded 63 goals! in the league. In the midfield, there is plenty of room for improvement: Caicedo, Enzo, Lavia? Up front, everything will revolve around Palmer.
The big loser of the last FA Cup was not Manchester City… but Newcastle, who saw Manchester United snatch their ticket to European competitions this season. For many, it was a step backwards after reaching the Champions League.
But, with hindsight, the ‘Magpies’ are stabilizing their flight in the upper echelons of the Premier League. Something unimaginable a few years ago at St. James’ Park, which has become the dentist of the Premiership.
However, the demands are increasing and the problems with the ‘FFP’ have led Newcastle to keep a low profile during this market. They sacrificed Minteh and Elliot Anderson… in exchange for bringing in Vlachodimos, Lloyd Kelly and executing the purchase of Lewis Hall.
The best news is that Eddie Howe has turned a deaf ear to England’s call and the spine (Botman-Guimaraes-Isak) is still in place. Also, Tonali’s return could be considered a new signing. We’ll see if Arabia brings him any more gifts.
A reconstruction with the aim of rising from the ashes. Erik ten Hag at the helm and a plan, Ajax 2.0, to make Old Trafford ‘the theater of dreams’ once again. The Dutch coach is assembling several of the players who made it to the Champions League semi-finals with the Amsterdam side in 2019.
The team with the most league titles in England, they have not won a Premiership since Ferguson’s time and the FA Cup achieved last season is not enough for a club of such magnitude.
With the arrival of Yoro and De Ligt, the Manchester team has strengthened its defensive wall. It is not necessary to start the house from the roof and that’s what they must have thought. The goal is to return to Europe’s top club competition.
After a couple of disappointing seasons in London, West Ham’s directors have decided to change the captain who will lead the ‘hammer’ ship. Now comes Lopetegui who, after a disastrous first experience in the Premier League aboard Wolves, will seek to make amends at the English capital club.
This team cannot be expected to get into the European places due to the great competition for those privileged positions, but what West Ham must do at least is to get as close as possible and put up a fight.
That will depend largely on players like Paqueta, Kudus or Ward Prowse, proven players in the Premier League and the adaptation to the English league of great signings like Füllkrug or Guido Rodriguez.
Crystal Palace face several key challenges in the Premier League. Their great performance in the final stretch of the season excited all the fans. They will be looking to maintain stability in their squad after the departure of important players this season, such as Olise to Bayern Munich.
In addition, figures such as Eze and Guehi are hanging by a thread. Both players have had a lot of suitors this summer after a great season. The club is relying on new talent and veterans to fill the void.
The Eagles’ new signings Kamada and Chadi Riad must adapt quickly to the team’s style of play, as they must make up for the departure of Olise and the possible departures of Guehi and Eze. The main objective of Oliver Glasner’s team is to salvage the season after the unseating of his team.
Something broke down at the Falmer Stadium late last season. De Zerbi, who had been tipped for Bayern, Barcelona and Liverpool, ended up leaving for Marseille through the back door.
The coach who managed to win the hearts of Guardiola himself with his soccer handed over the baton to Fabian Hürzeler. The 31-year-old German has just been promoted to St. Pauli and will become the youngest permanent manager in the history of the Premier League.
The challenge for Brighton, who have lost another legend in Pascal Gross, will be to survive smoothly with the second-youngest squad (23.7 years on average) in the Premiership. Wieffer arrives to bring balance to a team that is pure vertigo with Mitoma, Joao Pedro, Enciso, Ferguson…. As if that were not enough, they remain faithful to signing promising players who will be the talk of the town: Minteh, Osman? Not forgetting Barco, who arrived in January.
It took Iraola a while to get the hang of the Premier League. But, once he got back on track, he led Bournemouth to dream of Europe with the best finish in the club’s history with 48 points that made him live the final stretch of the season with the utmost tranquility.
All this, without giving up his aggressive and vertical style that he put into play at Rayo and that made the Cherries the most bitter fruit in England.
Of course, they have received a hard blow with the departure of Dominic Solanke to Tottenham. A situation they had already anticipated in January with the arrival of Unal.
However, his 19 goals do not score themselves and they will have to reinvest the 65 million paid for their ‘killer’ with their heads. Everything points to Evanilson (Porto). For the moment, JuliAn Araujo, Dean Huijsen and Luis Sinisterra have arrived.
London’s oldest professional team has managed to consolidate its place in the Premiership after years of relegation and promotion, which did not allow them to establish themselves in the English top flight.
After the loss of their most outstanding player, Palhinha, to Bayern Munich, the team has brought in Smith Rowe to make up for his absence, a player who will be in charge of the Fulham team.
One of the oldest grounds in the country, Craven Cottage, will once again enjoy another season in the Premier League. The thirteenth position of the previous season will be, once again, the goal of a club that will try not to suffer the consequences of such a competitive league.
Since their big breakthrough in the Premier in the 2018/19 season, in which they managed to qualify for Europe with Nuno on the bench despite being a newly promoted side, Wolves have lost their way.
Since then, they have slipped away from the top half of the table and have even seen their place in the elite endangered at some point.
This summer they have added a promising striker in Larsen, as the Molineux Stadium outfit have been short of a goalscorer since Raul Gimenez’s great seasons at the club. Although it is also true that the Norwegian is not the most effective ‘9’ in the world.
Now in Gary O’Neil’s second season in the dugout, Wolves will be looking to take a step forward to stabilize in mid-table and try to climb up the table.
Everton face the 2024/2025 season with numerous challenges, especially after narrowly avoiding relegation in the last two campaigns. Under the management of Sean Dyche, the team is looking to stabilize and improve its performance to stay away from the danger zone in the Premier League.
However, the lack of financial resources to make major signings has forced the club to rely on young players and low-cost reinforcements.
In addition to financial problems, Everton are also facing pressure from their fans and uncertainty surrounding the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, adding an extra layer of tension to the season. The club hopes to overcome these difficulties and achieve a stronger and more competitive campaign.
While historic teams such as Sunderland, Leeds or Derby County are burning in hell, Brentford have turned excellence -in their fourth consecutive season in the Premiership- into a routine.
Last season -between December and April they won only two games out of 18- even doubts arose around Thomas Frank, one of the most reputable coaches in football.
Now, after he served his suspension for gambling, it is Ivan Toney who has them on tenterhooks. His contract expires in 2025 and he is being touted by Arsenal and Chelsea. To make matters worse, his natural replacement, Igor Thiago, signed for 33 million from Brugge, is injured and will not return until December.
Once again, the block and the set-piece will make the difference in a squad that could do with new additions, apart from the promising Fabio Carvalho to make the difference, especially up front, along with Mbeumo and Wissa.
The monumental investment made by Nottingham Forest after their promotion to the Premier League in 2022 ended up having its consequences in the form of a sanction last season for exceeding the spending limit imposed by the English competition.
But the reality is that not even the four points deducted did not jeopardize one of the cheapest relegations in recent memory on the islands.
This season, however, it does not look like the film will follow the same script. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest is signing a rather discreet market in which only the arrivals of Milenkovic and Jota Silva stand out, in addition to the barter between Vlachodimos and Elliot Anderson with Newcastle. Perhaps not enough to prevent the leaves of the ‘tricky trees’ from turning from evergreen to deciduous this season. Nuno, of course, will not be at ease.
The team that pulled off a miracle in the 15/16 season by becoming Premier League champions returns to England’s top competition after sweeping through the Championship. The man in charge of leading Leicester back to the English top flight, Enzo Maresca, left the club at the end of last season to join Chelsea.
Former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper will be responsible for creating a solid project to achieve relegation. Dewsbury-Hall, one of their most distinguished players, followed in Maresca’s footsteps during the summer transfer window and will be a notable casualty this season. Vardy, the club’s great emblem, will continue to be one of the references in attack.
A new guest at the table of the biggest clubs in England. They had not been in the Premier League for 22 years and now, thanks to Kieran McKenna, Ipswich manager since the end of 2021, ‘The Blues’ have returned to the elite of English soccer with two consecutive promotions thanks to an excellent season in the Championship in which they finished second only to Leicester.
Now this season they have the most difficult challenge ahead of them, which is not to get there, but to stay there. With talented young players to follow like the left back Leif Davis, who shone last season in the Championship, scoring 2 goals and sharing 21 assists, or other newcomers like Delap (Manchester City) or Hutchinson (Chelsea), they will try to achieve the feat and stay one more season in the Premier League.
Southampton were promoted to England’s top competition after a glorious feat accomplished in the EFL Championship playoffs . Russel Martin’s side face several challenges following their promotion to the Premier League for the 2024/2025 season.
First, they must consolidate their place in the league, avoiding immediate relegation. It is true that they have strengthened very well in this market, acquiring the services of Ben Brereton, Downes, Sugawara and their most expensive signing, Harwood-Bellis.?
Finally, Southampton will also face financial pressures, as they will need to balance transfer spending in order to maintain the club’s financial stability.
The combination of these factors will make for a challenging season, but with proper planning and execution, Southampton could secure their stay in the Premier League.
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