While our previous club Southampton was a surprise club in the Premier League last season, another surprising team was Everton FC.
Advertisement
In the run-up to the announcement it was predicted the deal could be worth two, three or maybe four billion, but £5.136billion was certainly an astonishing
figure.
Fans’ feelings would be mixed on Di Maria’s exit, but there is no doubt losing De Gea would be a huge blow to Louis van Gaal as his side return to the Champions League.
That said, however, Hughes has made a decent job of taking Stoke in a different direction to the route-one path ploughed by Tony Pulis, and they should enjoy another successful season.
Manchester United acted fast in this year’s window, sealing a £31m move for Netherlands forward Memphis Depay in May, before bolstering their midfield with the signings of Germany worldwide Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich and France’s Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton in July.
If you were putting together an ideal Premier League centre-back, it might look quite a bit like Phil Jones.
And thirdly comes Costa, who exists on the periphery of an injury or a suspension seemingly all the time, and would be hugely missed by this Chelsea side were he to be forced out of contention again.
Turned down summer move to City after an £8million release clause was activated – then did a U-turn inside a week – and the England worldwide could benefit from that decision to blossom into one of the best midfielders in the Premier League…if he can break into the City team.
So, what will be different this year?
Chelsea may well defend their title this year, they have the resources to do so. A blockbuster move has seen England winger and the 2014 incumbent of the prestigious Europe’s Golden Boy award, Raheem Sterling, arrive at the Etihad.
“I didn’t win with Chelsea but I felt super happy with the title, I was not more happy because I lost that semi-final with Real Madrid to Bayern Munich on penalties, when Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Sergio Ramos missed the first and the second penalty”.
Manchester United FC are performing a major re-engineering of their team.
“It’s a new step in my life”. Should the club fail to regain their spot in the Premier League’s top seven this season, the Spanish manager could find himself leaving Goodison Park.
Still waiting for the lenses of my crystal ball to clear up so that the oracle can reveal its content, I can see some inscription emerging.
The only area of concern for the Blues is up front.
Slaven Bilic, Steve McClaren and Claudio Ranieri have the foundations to lead West Ham, Newcastle and Leicester to safety. With players there is a moment when their experience has a fight with their physical condition.
GOING DOWN: Leicester, Bournemouth, Watford. As ever, the joy of promotion is threatened by the reality of relegation.
Advertisement
The late November visit to Tottenham will conjure up memories of last season’s shambolic 5-3 defeat at White Hart Lane, but most other away games in the rest of 2015 will be approached with full confidence by the Blues, including the trip to Old Trafford between Christmas and New Year.
