Summer transfer deals have fans excited ahead of 2018/19 campaign

Premiership clubs have busy bolstering their squads this summer ahead of the new campaign and there have been several massive deals to excite fans. Liverpool have displayed great ambition, Man Utd have strengthened, change is afoot at Chelsea and Arsenal are plugging gaping holes in their team. But the record transfer thus far this summer is Riyad Mahrez’s move to champions Man City, and that is a pretty terrifying prospect for the teams playing catch up with Pep Guardiola’s men. They won the league in record-breaking fashion last season and they could be even stronger with the Algerian pulling the strings.

Mahrez was the superstar in Leicester City’s unlikely Premiership title win in 2015/16 and he has continued to dazzle for the Foxes, despite being frustrated at his failure to secure a move away from the King Power. Now he is at an elite club and he could move onto another level, adding another degree of excitement to an already scintillating Man City attack. He has the pace, dynamism, flair and intelligence to be a revelation in a team that dominates possession and attacks rapidly.

The Citizens were not short of creative talent, with Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva conducting the orchestra from midfield, but Mahrez boosts them even further in this department. He is likely to vie with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva for a place on the wing, and that illustrates just how formidable City will be going forwards. But they would not have paid a club record £60 million for him unless they planned on starting him regularly, so Sterling or Sane could be disappointed.

However, Liverpool are poised to eclipse the £60 million City paid for Sterling with a £67 million deal for Roma goalkeeper Alisson. That will cement their status as the biggest spenders of the transfer window, as they have already forked out £100 million for two midfielders, Naby Keita and Fabinho. The Reds are extremely serious about challenging for the title next season and they have done well to solve several weaknesses in the side. Virgil Van Dijk’s arrival in January tightened the defence, Keita and Fabinho will bring more bite and vitality to the midfield and now they are solving a problem position by adding Alisson to their ranks.

We all know how good Liverpool’s attack is and Man City might start worrying about their ability to defend their crown. A review of betting sites will show you that the Citizens are still the clear favourites to win the league with reputable bookmakers, but Liverpool are second favourites and the odds are dwindling all the time. It will now be up to Man City to respond by doing what they do best: splashing the cash.

They were disappointed to miss out on Napoli midfielder Jorginho. He looked set to move to The Etihad, but Chelsea appointed Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri as their new boss and Jorginho followed. Now City are back in the market for a new midfielder and they could break the Premiership 2018 summer transfer record again to get their man. They have been linked with an £80 million move for Juventus’ Miralem Pjanic and that could well happen. The Italian champions have just broken the bank to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and they may need to balance the books. Pjanic is a talented, cultured midfielder in the mould of Jorginho and he would slot in nicely alongside Fernandinho and De Bruyne.

The Premiership is an arms race nowadays, and these big clubs look set to outdo one another over the course of the summer in a high-stakes game of one-upmanship. Man Utd and Chelsea could gatecrash the party, but right now it looks like a straight fight between Man City and Liverpool to secure the biggest transfer of the summer. It will be advantage Liverpool when the Alisson deal goes through, but City have deeper pockets and it will be fascinating to see how they respond.