Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Soccer Saturday pundits on transfers for Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham


The Soccer Saturday pundits on what last season's top six need from the remainder of the transfer window.

The Premier League's top sides have already been busy, spending over £600million between them, but what else do they each need to boost their chances of landing the title?

Here's what Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas think...

Chelsea

Paul Merson: They still need another centre-forward and centre-half with the extra games they're going to have to play. They've got the money to go and get Virgil van Dijk or they could even go for Jonny Evans, who I like.

Strikers are hard as everybody wants one but if Alvaro Morata gets injured is Michy Batshuayi going to fire you to title? He's a decent player but I'm not sure he's at that level.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one that has been mentioned but I'm not sure he's got that physical presence to lead the line on his own so it's a difficult one.

Tottenham

Paul Merson: It's hard with Tottenham because they already have their line-up sorted so you've got to go for somebody young who is willing to fight for their place and be grateful to be there, like Davinson Sanchez is coming from Ajax.

They spent £40million on a centre-half but really they need to spend that on a centre-forward. If Harry Kane gets injured they've had it.

Especially with the Champions League group they've got, they have to win both games against APOEL and then try to get results elsewhere, so they they won't have a game where they can rest players or afford to play a weaker team.

People will say Heung-Min Son did a job but will he deliver over the course of the season? It's the same with Vincent Janssen. They need somebody else who can lead the line and score goals.

Manchester City

Matt Le Tissier: I was chatting to my old team-mate Gordon Watson about this and we decided that they needed a 25-year-old Yaya Toure.

I didn't really see enough of Ilkay Gundogan to be sure he's the answer to all of their problems in central midfield. He had great stats but perhaps lacks that physical presence to have the same impact.

However, based on their firepower they are the favourites for the title. Everton are no mugs and they still got themselves back into the game last Monday with 10 men.

Liverpool

Phil Thompson: I still think Liverpool need a top centre-back and a striker to really challenge; two players who will really improve the starting line-up rather than squad players.

That's what is going to make Philippe Coutinho and future players linked with top clubs stay, giving them proof that Liverpool have the ambition to win things rather than just settle for being in the Champions League.

The club has made profits in the transfer market for the previous three windows and clearly are not short of money to turn down over £100million for Coutinho, so I'd like to see them go out and sign Virgil van Dijk and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to really make a statement.

Arsenal

Charlie Nicholas: We've hopefully got a striker who will score 20-plus goals in Alexandre Lacazette and if Alexis Sanchez can repeat last season's tally with Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud chipping in then they should sore enough goals.

Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez

However, the problem is at the back. Does the back three really work for Arsenal? Not if Nacho Monreal is in there, so we need another centre-back if Arsene Wenger is going to persevere with it, while a commanding, holding midfielder is also needed. There’s also plenty of business to be done in terms of reducing a bloated squad. Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs, Francis Coquelin and Lucas Perez are still yet to move on and would free up a decent budget to replace them with higher quality.

Manchester United

Matt Le Tissier: There's not a lot needed to be honest. United are pretty well set but and I like their squad generally with a good balance to it.

Maybe a left-back could be a target as Luke Shaw might need a fresh start somewhere else. He's not really nailed down that place and it just feels like he's not really in favour with Jose Mourinho.

It is probably them and City who need the least, though, and I expect the Manchester clubs to battle it out for the title this season.

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