Liverpool gets its season underway in just over a week, with the Premier League itself now just six days away from resumption. Manchester City will kick things off against Burnley on Friday night, as Pep Guardiola is reunited with Vincent Kompany.
Despite its fair share of summer upheaval, Guardiola’s side once again goes into the season as the heavy favorite to claim the Premier League title, as it has done in five of the last six seasons. Of course, the goal at Liverpool — the only side to successfully break up that dominance — will be to challenge Manchester City once more , but it will be an uphill struggle.
The transfer situation looks ropey, with Jürgen Klopp now on the verge of getting the season underway without a senior specialist number six. One previously linked player who fits that bill has recently been left out of a squad — but with a move to Manchester United seemingly more likely to be in the works.
The one silver lining is that precious few of the big clubs have enjoyed disruption-free summers. Saudi Arabia has shaken things up in the transfer market for a number of clubs, while Chelsea has its own unique issues — having carried out a Financial Fair Play fire sale ahead of June 30, Todd Boehly is now looking for new investors to come on board.
Here, Liverpool.com takes a scan around the other big sides in the Premier League and around Europe to take a look at the news going on at the other clubs.
Chelsea’s investment hunt
Just over a year after buying the club, Todd Boehly is seeking new investment at Chelsea. His debut year has been marked by a scarcely believable transfer spending spree.
That was only good enough for 12th place last season. Yet Chelsea will hope that the fruits of the investment are seen in the long run, and in the meantime it continues to spend — although this summer has at least seen the club net sizable income from player sales.
According to Bloomberg, Boehly’s Clearlake Capital group is seeking to raise as much as $500m (£392m/€453m), following a ‘tough season’. Investors would receive a stake in the club, with Chelsea seeking to ‘shore up’ its situation.
