With the conclusion of the Premier League in a short while, every team will be looking to beef up their roster with players and managers. There are a lot of big stars that will be eager to sign new contracts at the end of the season including former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, AC Milan’s Ronaldinho and Kaka, Manchester City’s Robinho, and possibly even David Silva from Valencia!!!!!!!
Off hand, I know that there will be a lot of changes for Chelsea and Liverpool. The Blues are in a difficult situation. Not only do they have many contracts expiring at the end of the season, they also are in search of a new manager. Inconsistent management has plagued Chelsea in the last few seasons. In the last 3 seasons, Chelsea has been managed by 4 different people (Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, and Hiddink), with 4 different philosophies, and 4 different player preferences. With the conclusion of this season, Guss Hiddink will not renew his temporary contract with the Blues, forcing Chelsea to search for another manager.
In addition to the management problems at Stamford Bridge, many contracts on star players are expiring. The future of stars like Drogba and Ballack are uncertain. Anelka has proven himself all season to be the star striker for the Blues by raking up 17 goals in 23 games, while Drogba has only managed 5 in the same amount of games. Micheal Ballack has proven to be ineffective at the club. He was brought in by Jose Mourinho, but Ballack still has not found his place or his rhythm on the squad. These two players have been connected with the killing Scolari’s career with the Blues earlier this season. With many skilled strikers and midfielders available in the market, maybe the Blues should shop around…Tevez would be a nice addition, so would Andrei Arshavin, who has been reported to be in talks with Chelsea.
Liverpool is in a completely different situation, but, nevertheless, what they do this summer will have a huge impact on their title run for next season. Liverpool needs to cut a few players for financial reasons, but they also need to sign up one or two quality players. Currently, David Silva has been linked with a move to Liverpool this summer, which if signed, could be all the support Liverpool would need for next season.
You can expect a few moves from both Manchester City, who is still trying to buy players left and right with little or no impact on their current disposition, and Aston Villa, who sit 5th in the league.
It is interesting to note that Portsmouth is in a financial crisis due to ownership issues. Term players like Jermain Defoe, Sulley Muntari, Pedro Mendes and Lassana Diarra had to be sold to help balance the books in the credit crunch. Portsmouth may even need to sell key players like Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch, and even Niko Kranjcar. This could spell disaster for a team that has hinged on relegation this season.
The newly promoted Champions League teams will be dying to make trades once they have been officially promoted. In one of my previous blogs, I talked about all the changes that just Hull and Stroke made before their 08/09 debut in the Premier League.
However, with all of these teams making some or many changes to their roster, Arsenal’s manager has stated that the club will not seek additional players and that their current roster will be able to challenge Manchester United for the Premiership next season. Cocky words coming from a team that has struggled to hold their 4th spot in the League. With Manchester United being a dominate club, and Liverpool and Chelsea making some key moves during the off-season, which may include signing some key players from Arsenal, Arsenal’s comments seem hollow.. Arsenal’s current roster is far from the team that went undefeated in the Premier League a few years back. I am not seeing Arsenal winning the Premier League next year…it is either going to be Liverpool, Manchester United, or Chelsea. I can see Manchester City finishing higher than Arsenal next season if Arsenal does not make any key moves.
The thing that can change all of this is the fact that many clubs are cutting back their spending and have been influenced by rules that could cause a sharp decline in the amount of foreign players in the Premier League. Although not as strict as the 6-5 rule that FIFA has been pushing, the Premier League is supporting a home grown policy that will favor more English talent than foreign talent and help to strengthen the English National Team.
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