Man City primed to arrest champions’ curse
With a squad capable of ripping through opponents, not many would bet against Pep Guardiola’s men to defend their Premier League crown european
1 DAY TO GO ~318.1cr now) and Aymeric Laporte (€65m; ~517.2cr now) were all brought in for a whopping €318.8m (~2,536.9cr now).
Furthermore, for the owners who have continuously invested millions over the past decade, reshaping and enhancing the squad as per the demands of various managers, a Champions League title is yet to be won.
Should Guardiola and his team push for European glory — an achievable task given their collective prowess — there is the threat of a rival sneaking ahead on the domestic front, especially at the business end of the season.
But the Spanish manager reaffirmed his intent of maintaining the high standards in the league as City gear up to arrest the trend of the champions sliding in the following season. This decade has seen holders falter miserably in the next term. Defending champions United (in 2013-14) and Leicester (in 2016-17) both failed to qualify for the Champions League. It happened to Chelsea twice, in 2015-16 and last season.
“That is why next season we are going to be focused on the EPL in pre-season and in the first game,” Guardiola said recently.
Given his pedigree in Spain and Germany, where the 47-yearold has managed to defend league titles, one cannot completely rule out the possibility of a repeat.
BEST SUITED?
The biggest problem for Guardiola at the moment will be selecting the 11. With Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus now an established goal getter, where does that leave the club’s legendary striker Sergio Aguero, who scored a winning brace against Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday? Or the other way around.
After Mahrez’s expensive addition, how does Guardiola rotate between Sterling, Sane (€50.5m; ~401.9cr now) and Bernardo Silva (€50m; ~397.9cr now) and still manage to keep all his stars smiling and content. And yet justify the lavish spending to the club’s management. But when it comes to keeping up the standards of a blockbuster campaign, isn’t it better to have a problem of plenty? And going by the current state of things, none other than Liverpool have managed to close that gap on them.
LIVERPOOL
Total spending The biggest spenders in this window, and that too by a huge margin, Liverpool have splurged on good players. Their biggest buy is goalkeeper Alisson Becker from Roma for a world record breaking deal of €62.5m (~497.7cr). Naby Keita (€60m, ~477.55cr, from RB Leipzig) and Fabinho (€45m, ~358.3cr, from Monaco) are the next big deals.
BIGGEST BUY
Alisson Becker
(~497.7cr) from Roma
€62.5m ARSENAL
Total spending
Under a new coach in Unai Emery, Arsenal showed some initiative in the transfer window, choosing to strengthen their midfield by buying Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno (€25m, ~199.03cr, from Bayer Leverkusen) and centre-back Sokratis (€16m, ~127.3cr from
Borussia Dortmund) are the other two top buys. BIGGEST BUY
Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria
€30m
(~238.9cr)
WEST HAM
Total spending A surprising entry in this list, West Ham have gone for a few changes and almost all of them have arrived from other leagues. Right-winger Felipe is a big ticket buy from Lazio while centre-back Issa
Diop (€22m,
~175.21cr, from
Toulouse) and winger Andriy Yarmolenko
(€23m, ~183.1cr, from Borussia
Dortmund) are the other big buys.
BIGGEST BUY
Felipe
Anderson
(~239cr) from Lazio
€30m MANCHESTER UNITED
Total spending
With an almost settled look to their squad, the former champions Manchester United have bought just five players so far in the transfer window. Midfielder Fred (€59m, ~470cr, from Shakhtar Donetsk) and right-back Diogo Dalot (€22m, ~175.2cr, from FC Porto) are their top two buys.
BIGGEST BUY
Fred (~470cr) from Shakhtar Donetsk
€59m LEICESTER CITY
Total spending Former champions Leicester have gone in for quite a few changes in their roster. They spent a lot to get attacking midfielder James Maddison from Norwich. Apart from him, right-back Ricardo Pereira (€22m, ~175.09cr, from FC Porto), goalkeeper Danny Ward (€14m, ~143.26cr, from Liverpool) and winger Rachid Ghezzal (€14m, ~143.26cr, from Monaco) are the other top buys. BIGGEST BUY
James Maddison
(~199cr) from Norwich
€25m