Crystal Palace

Last season 2nd Manager Arsène Wenger Key players in Granit Xhaka (B. M Mönchengladbach) £34m; Rob Holding (Bolton) £2m Key players out Mikel Arteta (retired); Tomas Rosicky (retired); Mathieu Flamini (retired) Verdict A new striker could change things but as things stand, Wenger has put himself under major pressure again in the final year of his current contract. Last season’s second place owed more to the collapse of others. This season 5th Last season 16th Manager Eddie Howe Key players in Jordon Ibe (Liverpool) £15m; Lewis Cook (Leeds) £10m; Brad Smith (Liverpool) £6m Key players out Matt Ritchie (Newcastle) £12m. Verdict They fell away after good runs in December, January and March. Howe has signed young players with something to prove in the Premier League. Manager and players have the experience to build on last season. This season 12th Last Season 1st (Championship) Manager Sean Dyche Key players in Nick Pope (Charlton) £1.1m; Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton) £2.5m Key players out Joey Barton (Rangers) free; Matt Gilks (Rangers) free; Matt Taylor – released Verdict Dyche’s second Championship promotion was impressive but it is hard to see them survive on such meagre resources. They were the lowest scorers in the league when they went down in 2015, and much rests on Andre Gray. This season 19th Last season 10th Manager Antonio Conte Key players in Michy Batshuayi (Marseille) £33.2m; N’Golo Kanté (Leicester) £32m Key players out Mohamed Salah (Roma) £12m; Nathan Ake (Bournemouth) loan; Baba Rahman (Schalke) loan Verdict Can they get Romelu Lukaku back? If not there is a concern over where goals will come from. Should be better defensively under Conte. Returning to the Champions League places would be a decent return. This season 4th Last season 15th Manager Alan Pardew Key players in Andros Townsend (Newcastle) £13m; James Tomkins (West Ham) £10m; Steve Mandanda (Marseille) free Key players out Dwight Gayle – (Newcastle) £10m Verdict Strong transfer window so far with Townsend, Tomkins and Mandanda, all starting XI players. Went from Dec 19 to April 9 without a win in the league last season. Puts pressure on Pardew to start the season well. This season 13th