NEWCASTLE MAN CITY SHEFFIELD UNITED
ONE thing you can be sure of is that if things go wrong or not to plan Mike Ashley will be the one to take the blame.
He has been up front about trying to sell the club and how much money will be available. Managers and players
– and the fans – they all know what they are getting into yet he is used as the excuse for all the problems.
Manager:
Major arrivals:
What they need: Another of the large posse chasing in-demand England hitman Callum Wilson from Bournemouth – but hard to see them competing in a bidding war with any Premier League rivals.
I DON’T think it’s as simple as just going out and spending another fortune on a top-class centre back to play alongside Aymeric Laporte. That won’t solve their problems.
The issue for City is how the team is set up as a whole and I think at the highest level in the Champions League Pep Guardiola has been found out to a degree.
At his peak at Barcelona they could afford to be weaker defensively. Now they can’t.
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Major arrivals: Nathan Ake, (Bournemouth, £41m) Ferran Torres
(right) (Valencia £21m).
David Silva, (Real Sociedad, free) Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich, £54m).
What they need: Lionel Messi was on Pep Guardiola’s most-wanted list. But if disappointed the Barcelona genius is now staying in Spain, City, arguably, needed a world-class central defender more and can focus on Kalidou Koulibaly now.
IT won’t be easy to replicate what they did last season but it’s by no means ns impossible.
Of course, teams will have a better idea now of how to counter their system but that doesn’t mean they will be able to stop it.
Wilder has trust in his players because they are all part of a cohesive system. They should be full of confidence that they can maintain ain their standards, not fearful that they will somehow be found out.
Manager: Chris Wilder
Major arrivals: Aaron Ramsdale, (above) (B’mouth, £18.5m) Wes Foderingham (Rangers, free).
Major departures: Mark Duffy (released).
Title odds: 500-1 What they need: Chris Wilder has promised an ‘explosion’ of signings this week. Young Bayern Munich striker Leon Dajaku and Reading duo Yakou Meite and John Swift are on his radar.