Top 6: Ranking the title challengers' transfer business so far
With Manchester United reportedly putting the finishing touches on a monstrous £75-million move for Everton's Romelu Lukaku, theScore assesses how the transfer windows of each of last season's top six have fared so far.
6. Liverpool
Signing Mohamed Salah promises to establish Liverpool as the great entertainers in the division. He cuts inside from the right in devastating fashion, and his arrival enables Sadio Mane to follow suit off the other flank, and Philippe Coutinho to drop deeper into the position where he shone against West Ham United in May.
But the real issues are yet to be addressed. The Virgil van Dijk tapping-up debacle was an embarrassment, and means the Reds are still vulnerable behind the attack. Joel Matip needs a reliable partner in the heart of Jurgen Klopp's defence, James Milner and Alberto Moreno aren't suitable left-back options, and goalkeepers Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius' attempts to corral the ball are akin to a tottering toddler taming a pesky balloon.
5. Chelsea
Reports of Antonio Conte's frustration at Chelsea's inaction surfaced in mid-June, and little has materialised to stifle that anger.
The Italian isn't the kind of character to rest on his laurels, so is desperate to tweak and strengthen last season's title-winning throng. Instead, just a backup goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, and promising Welsh teenager, Ethan Ampadu, have been acquired.
Chelsea may have romped to the 2016-17 Premier League summit after some shrewd moves in the market, but more is needed this summer.
A well-documented pursuit of Monaco's Tiemoue Bakayoko is yet to reach the finishing line as Conte seeks an upgrade on Nemanja Matic, and with Diego Costa's exit inevitable (after Conte informed him he wasn't wanted via a text message), a striker is needed. That won't be former Blues hotshot Lukaku, though, after United appears to be nearing completion of that particular deal.
4. Tottenham Hotspur
Over the last 76 Premier League matchdays, Tottenham Hotspur has been the best team in English football. Much of the good work was in place before this window: a young squad tied down to long-term contracts, and a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of talent emerging from the academy.
Through Daniel Levy's tight business practices and Mauricio Pochettino's trust in youth, Spurs have become a benchmark in how to run a financially astute yet established top-six side.
Nonetheless, issues from last term need to be corrected. Harry Kane has no discernible competition up top after Vincent Janssen peppered the Park Lane and Paxton Road ends of White Hart Lane with wayward digs in his maiden English season. Midfield backup is lacking too, with £30-million Moussa Sissoko proving an unsurprising bust in north London.
Tottenham and Crystal Palace are the only clubs yet to sign a player.
3. Arsenal
(Photo courtesy: Getty)
Alexandre Lacazette is a ferocious and exciting frontman, but his signing for up to £52 million puts Arsenal at risk of facing punishment from the Premier League's new cost control guidelines.
As The Independent's Jack Pitt-Brooke wrote in June:
The rules say that a club's wage bill should not be more than £7 million more than it was in 2016-17, or £19 million more than from the 2012-13 season. If it does increase beyond that limit, the money can only come from external sources such as player sales, ticketing or commercial money, rather than Premier League central funds.
Arsenal already flogs the league's most expensive season ticket and can't expect monumental shirt sales from Lacazette, so there's pressure to sell Mesut Ozil and/or Alexis Sanchez.
If one of that duo signs a £280,000-a-week contract, it will add between £7 million and £8 million to the wage bill, and if both sign it'll be difficult to offset these salary outgoings by just selling Olivier Giroud.
It could be a season of transition, and the club's inability to tie its stars down to long-term contracts is to blame.
2. Manchester United
The Antoine Griezmann transfer fell through due to Atletico Madrid's transfer ban, but it was perhaps a blessing in disguise. Lukaku is a proven Premier League goal-scorer who draws similarities to the Brazilian Ronaldo when he's at his bustling best.
The other forward in the frame, 24-year-old Alvaro Morata, has pocketed 40 league goals in the past five seasons. By comparison, Lukaku, also 24, has netted 85 times.
Victor Lindelof also adds assurance to a backline that already looked a much tougher proposition when the inexplicably underrated Eric Bailly was available. This could blossom into a central-defensive partnership of Ferdinand-Vidic notoriety.
The only concern is finding the successor to Michael Carrick's mantle. Monaco's superb Fabinho was an early candidate, and his less disciplined teammate Bakayoko was also linked. Instead, it appears Chelsea's Matic is on his way - and that seems like a booby prize when compared to what United could've had.
1. Manchester City
Manchester City is quietly and efficiently doing its business in the transfer window as it tries to avoid late buys like those of Leroy Sane, John Stones, and Claudio Bravo last summer. Transfer targets have become known through leaks from agents or, in the case of Bernardo Silva, players being caught jumping on a plane.
Both Silva and Ederson Moraes follow Pep Guardiola's pattern of signing young players that should be mainstays in the City lineup for a decade, and immediately address thin areas of the squad.
There's also a change of tact by the Spanish tactician. Barring a huge calamity, Dani Alves is set to join when he's wound up his holidays with Neymar. To bring in a player who's still among the best right-backs in the world - and certainly over the past 10 years or so - is a huge statement of intent, and should immediately lift the standards of everyone in the City dressing room.
Add the much-touted chases for Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and Alexis Sanchez to the mix, and City is the team to beat in the 2017-18 title race.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images, unless stated otherwise)