4 days until the new season! Can you believe it? Where has time gone.
With the Olympics now in full swing and the cricket season entering its final and most interesting stages (some of you will ask does this even exist?) viewers have barely had time to take stock before the Premier League kicks off on Saturday lunchtime with newly promoted (don’t forget manager-less) Hull City hosting champions Leicester City.
Despite the rest of the country bracing itself for financial crises after financial crises, football has continued to defy the panic and break records with the chequebook.
Hardly the biggest shock of all time but Paul Pogba has finally re-signed for Manchester United for £89 million with reports suggesting that add ons could see this figure rise high enough to break into the 3 digit mark. This world record fee has stunned many enough to mask the fact that this might possibly be the worst business deal in history. Let us not forget the Frenchman left for Juventus in the summer of 2012 for free.
If he can help take United to Premier League glory the club will say the money is justified. I can’t help but be sceptical in the mean time that the figure exceeds that paid for Ronaldo or Bale. Despite an abundance of tricks and potential, Pogba is by no means the finished article which begs the question how can a player yet to fulfil his talents be more expensive than one of the greatest players and goalscorers ever to have played the game? Like him or loath him, Ronaldo has demonstrated season after season that he should go down as a great of the game.
Across the city of Manchester news is currently breaking that John Stones will join Guardiola’s revolution for a reported £47.5m. Another never ending transfer story it seems, Stones has been high on Guardiola’s shopping list and with the young English 
defender tied down, he will feel that he has helped fill the missing piece of the jigsaw.
Whilst not quite in the same category of Pogba’s fee, this will now make Stones not only the most expensive English defender but the most expensive defender ever. Again seen as a man with a bright future, you cant help but wonder how much an established defender would cost these days….
Stones was heavily linked with Chelsea last summer although Everton were able to resist the lure of a big pay-out. This year it seems a change of manager has meant a change of thinking. Everton fans will probably be mixed about the news but from memory Stones hardly had the best season last year with injuries and poor form making it difficult to tie down a regular place in the starting 11. The pressure will now be on from the start to justify this fee and Stones will know only too well that he cannot afford another indifferent season.
This takes City’s spending to roughly £160 million for the summer whilst United’s stands at an estimated £145 million making them top of the list for money spent this summer. Whilst this exceeds the spending of other clubs by some way, the majority of hardly shied away from big money.
West Ham recently broke their record transfer fee for Swansea’s Andre Ayew (£20 mil) which may have disappointed some fans after being linked with the likes of Carlos Bacca and Alexandre Lacazette. The feel good factor will remain however with the new London Stadium officially opened before Sunday’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Juventus.
Plenty of time still remains between now and 31st August for more deals to go through.
Arsenal fans will be keen for Wenger to sign a striker and will be even more desperate for a centre back after the worrying injury suffered by Gabriel in their last pre season game against City. Chelsea fans will also want to see a few more new editions to ensure they have a squad strong enough for a title challenge.
At the other end of the table Hull fans would argue they are in more need than anyone to buy a player. The figure for new arrival’s at Humberside stands at a grand total of zero as they struggle to fill the vacant manger’s position. Fellow promotion newbies Middlesbrough will feel comfortable with their work so far and it will be interesting to see how Alvaro Negredo and Victor Valdes fair up in the North East.
On the South Coast, £15 million Jordan Ibe will look to resurrect his career with Bournemouth with Eddie Howe’s men looking to continue the fairy-tale of last year. Their achievements last season should really have received more attention than they did, as indeed should Watford’s. For Southampton life begins with the unknown quantity Claude Puel taking charge. Many fans will wonder whether he has the calibre to continue Koeman’s work but many though the same of Pochettino when he first arrived and look how he is going now.
Whilst I would never wish to predict what may happen, apart from Arsenal finishing 4th of course, it will be interesting to see if the status quo returns this year with the big boys dominating or will last season’s madness continue. And its last season where I want to end on.
In the context of all this money and inflating transfer fees thanks to the new £ 7 billion TV deal beginning, I think we should remember one thing about Leicester’s fairy-tale. Based on hard work, team spirit and a desire to win, they stunned the world with an incredible run to the title. And how much did this really cost?
Well, as they say, a picture tells a thousand words …..
topicoftheweekfootballblog 