This coming Monday is transfer deadline day in the English Premier League. It might even be Monday by the time you read this – in which case, welcome to one of the most exciting days on the football calendar! This is the last chance for Premier League clubs to strengthen their squads in 2024. After the day is over, they’re all stuck with what they have until January next year. By then, it might be too late to improve their prospects for the season – the teams at the bottom of the table will be in a relegation dogfight, and the battle for the top four spots will likely already have been whittled down to six or seven teams at most.
Most of the ‘smart’ business has been done already. Where possible, clubs don’t like to leave it to the last second before they spend big money and bring players in. Deadline day is the 24 hour period where common sense goes out of the window. Transfers become like an online slots that’s come to life, and is played for bigger money than you’ll find on even the most lucrative online slots websites such as Dove Casino. Money is spent, gambles are taken, and unpredictable results often follow. The consequences are far greater, though. The worst thing that can happen to you at an online slots website is that you’ll lose a little money. For a Premier League team, bad transfer strategy can lead to relegation – and those losses run into eight or nine figures!
Almost anything can happen on deadline day, and moves sometimes come out of nowhere. We’re aware of a few that are ticking away in the background even as we write this article, though, so let’s see if we can make a few predictions!
Jaden Sancho to Manchester United
This is the move that’s been rumbling on all summer, and really ought to have been done and dusted by now. Manchester United want Jaden Sancho. Jaden Sancho is understood to want to join Manchester United. Borussia Dortmund have named their price, and Sancho is even thought to have agreed on personal terms with the Manchester club. The only thing holding the deal up is Ed Woodward’s negotiation skills (or lack thereof), and United’s unwillingness to meet the asking price. The deal has appeared to be dead several times in the past few weeks, but we’re now being told that Sancho has informed his friends that he expects to be a United player before the window closes. If that’s what he’s saying, we have no reason to doubt him.
Ousmane Dembele to Manchester United
We apologize for mentioning Manchester United twice, but the Old Trafford club is expected to be the most active of any of the bigger Premier League sides on deadline day. If they don’t get Sancho, they may well end up with Barcelona’s Frenchman Ousmane Dembele instead. He’s not guaranteed a starting berth at the Nou Camp anymore, and he’s known to be good friends with Paul Pogba, who he plays alongside at international level. Various press outlets are claiming that Pogba has made a personal phone call to Dembele in an attempt to persuade him to join him in England, and Dembele has become receptive to a move because of that phone call. Barcelona claims that they’ve had no contact with United about a move, but the Catalan giants always keep their cards close to their chest until the last moment when it comes to transfers, so that doesn’t mean that nothing’s happening.
Kurt Zouma to Everton
Thanks to the management of Carlo Ancelotti and a couple of big-money summer moves, Everton are a totally different team this season than they were at the end of the last one. James Rodriguez and Allan have both been fantastic signings, but there are suggestions that the club isn’t quite done with splashing the cash around just yet. Their forward line is sharper than it’s been for many years, but they still believe there’s work to do at the back. To that end, they’d like to bring in Kurt Zouma from Chelsea. Zouma had a successful loan spell at Goodison Park two seasons ago and appears to be surplus to requirements at Chelsea. It’s a move that makes sense, and the price shouldn’t be prohibitively high.
Josh King To Tottenham Hotspur
Although Tottenham are showing signs of improvement under Jose Mourinho and have battled through to the group stage of the Europa League, they still have huge problems in the striking department. Harry Kane can’t possibly be expected to play every single game, and if he gets injured, they’re in trouble. This scenario played out last season, and Spurs looked impotent as they rotated Son, Moura, and Lamela up front. Mourinho is said to believe that Bournemouth’s Josh King is the answer to the problem, and as Bournemouth are now in the Championship, it shouldn’t be a difficult move to pull off. King almost joined Manchester United late last season before the club brought Odion Ighalo in on loan instead, so the striker is overdue his big move. The time may now be right for it to happen.
Thomas Partey to Arsenal
Arsenal’s post-Wenger era hasn’t gone to plan thus far. Bringing in Unai Emery as the legendary manager’s replacement was a catastrophic error, and Mikel Arteta is still in the process of steadying the ship and turning the club’s fortunes around. He’s also still in the process of rebuilding the team in his image, and he thinks that Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey would be a big step toward helping him to do that. Where things get complicated is in the fact that Premier League clubs are allowed a maximum of 17 players in their squad who aren’t classified as ‘homegrown,’ and Arsenal already have 19. They need to shift a few players out before they can bring anyone else in from abroad, so for this move to happen, there will have to be some significant shuffling of the pack by the Gunners in the next 72 hours.
If Monday has already been and gone by the time you read this, you can let us know how we did. Were we clairvoyant? Did we miss the mark completely? Has a shocking move happened that none of us saw coming? That’s what the comments section is for, so let us know!
