Arsenal – Nicolo Zaniolo
Arsenal’s transfer window has been one of success and ambition, although it does still seem as if there is still a way to go in terms of bringing in a couple more quality players despite their hugely impressive pre-season.
The central midfield position is the one which is seeing the most attention from Arsenal in the transfer market currently, with the Gunners linked to moves for Youri Tielemans and Lucas Paqueta. These are two distinct midfield players that are both capable of contributing importantly in attack as well as being effective ball-retainers for their respective sides.
So now it’s pretty clear what mould of player Arsenal are after, I’m going to throw another name into this mix: Nicolo Zaniolo of Roma. The difficulty here is that Roma manager Mourinho is desperate to keep him at the club, and with very good reason – Zaniolo is extremely versatile as well as strong physically, standing at a giant 1.9m. This would add an incredibly important dynamic to Arsenal’s midfield area, while he also has the capability to play effectively on the right wing, which provides great depth across the Gunners’ attacking positions and allows depth in the case of Saka’s potential absence.
Overall, this deal makes a lot of sense and would undoubtedly improve Arsenal’s attacking prospects across multiple positions. However, if Arsenal were to capture this signing, they would have to move very quickly as Tottenham are also very keen on a move for Zaniolo, with Conte also keen to bolster the quality of his midfield personnel.
Chelsea – Wesley Fofana
Okay, this is probably a bit of a cop-out with it being very well known that Chelsea are seriously moving to try and secure the signature of Fofana after the failed move for Kounde. In fairness, it is very easy to see why Chelsea want Fofana, as he would essentially complete their defence which has been such a stressful area this summer due to the exits of Rudiger and Christensen.
In effect, this signing would be the final piece of the jigsaw in terms of Tuchel’s defence, and at only 21 years of age, he offers a long term option as a mainstay in Chelsea’s backline for many years to come – with plenty of space, time and opportunities to continue developing. On top of this, Fofana would get to play alongside both Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly, and would undoubtedly benefit massively from playing alongside two top level, experienced defenders week in-week out.
There’s no illusions that this signing will be an easy capture for Chelsea, with Leceister remaining adamant that he is not for sale despite Fofana himself being keen on a move and doing his best in an internal sense to make it happen. Although, in my humble and irrelevant opinion, if Chelsea were to sign only one more player this window, then this should be their man.
Liverpool – Christian Pulisic
Now this is an interesting one and, to be honest, probably comes across a bit weird given just how tough Pulisic is finding things at Chelsea in terms of getting consistent, quality game time under his belt.
It’s a curveball, because we have seen glimpses of incredible ability and the potential to become a lethal winger – think 2020 post lockdown restart. But the massive looming reservation is that he has simply not kicked on from this and has not been able to reproduce these top level performances consistently over a sustained period of time.
So it probably doesn’t make much sense for him to be considered as a suitable Liverpool signing at this point, but if there’s any place where his skillset will be fully appreciated and utilised it will be at Liverpool, whose wingers are always involved in their final third play – just look at the impact of Luis Diaz’s arrival.
There’s also the factor of Klopp, who mentored Pulisic during his time at Dortmund and played an important role in his emergence. Reuniting with Pulisic could prove very fruitful if he is able to produce more consistent displays of quality, which we know he is capable of from his flashes of brilliance as a direct, quick and aggressive winger.
Manchester City – Alejandro Grimaldo
This was probably the hardest club to decide upon a signing, as City are pretty set at the moment, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t complete any more business during this window.
However, if there was one position to prioritise it would be at left back, and with the club having lost out on Cucurella, it is clear that a backup/rotation left back is a keen priority for the club after the exit of Zinchenko to Arsenal.
And although Cancelo is incredible on the left side in an inverted role, there may come a time during the season when Pep wishes to utilise a more conventional left back. Therefore, it is sensible for City to cover this possibility and to not limit the capability of the Champions in any way regarding how they play.
In this case, Grimaldo of Benfica would be an incredible capture for the Citizens, having been linked with a move away from Portugal to a bigger club for a while now. At 26, he has the experience and know-how to slot into this City team as a traditional left back, as well as having the room to develop under Guardiola’s guidance to become a long term option for the club.
Manchester United – Sergej Milinkovic Savic
Nothing is more clear at the moment for United than the need for an upgrade in the central midfield department. So while they remain in the hunt for Frenkie de Jong, the situation is not exactly in their favour with de Jong not keen on a move to Old Trafford. And, with limited time left in the window to secure this central midfield capture they desperately need, it may be sooner rather than later that United decide to shift their attention to other options.
One of the potentially best options is Milinkovic Savic of Lazio, who has been linked with moves to an ‘elite’ club every window for a few years now, and he’s exactly what United need in their midfield in terms of his enormous quality as a box-to-box midfielder. As well as this, at the age of 27 he will be entering the prime years of his career, and so the club can be assured that this is a player who can arrive and bring an instant impact.
His physicality is another factor which would make him such a great capture for United’s midfield, as it gives him the ability to dominate the midfield zones and provide a solid, reliable platform to launch attacks and to more freely unleash United’s talented attacking stars such as Sancho and Fernandes. In my opinion, this is an option well worth the potential £50m price tag.
Tottenham – Milan Skriniar
Well, I’m writing this just as Tottenham have impressively dismantled Southampton 4-1 on the opening day of the Premier League season with an accomplished attacking performance. And it’s looking like Spurs could be really dangerous this season under the management of Antonio Conte, although the defence in terms of personnel is still looking fairly lightweight compared with the rest of the team.
This applies particularly to the centre back department, and while Conte has turned the three of Dier, Davies and Romero into a rock solid and cohesive trio, it still feels as though a world class centre back signing would make the world of difference to Spurs this season.
Milan Skriniar would be a perfect option for this Spurs team, having previously worked under Conte at Inter Milan, meaning that he would need little time to slot into Conte’s system of play and adjust to his ideas.
The other factor when considering Skriniar that would make him such a good signing is his dominating physical presence, which would be so valuable in Spurs’ backline in terms of giving them a clear focal point and a more dominant presence than that offered by Dier and Romero at the moment.
All in all, this would be a near perfect signing for Spurs to shore up their back line and give Conte a player whose physical qualities would be greatly appreciated in the Premier League.
