In Marvel’s Multiverse saga, the big bad Thanos used to collect Infinity Stones and place them in a glove called the Infinity Gauntlet to harness the powers of the aforementioned stones. Ahead of the new season, the big English clubs have all embodied the Mad Titan, hellbent on collecting huge names from all around the globe to compete for their holy grail, the glistening glory of the iconic Premier League Trophy.
In the recent past, the race for the trophy had but only one destination. The Etihad with a ruthless Manchester City team refusing to relinquish their vice-like grip from the title, winning it a record fourth time in a row from the 2020-21 season to the 2023-24 season. Last season though, Liverpool under new manager Arne Slot, successfully broke the streak and won the title for the 20th time in their history.
So, it was natural that the Reds would do everything in their might to hold on to the silverware for the second year running, something they haven’t done since 1984. So, they needed reinforcements. In came Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz from Bayern Leverkusen, Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth and Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt, while names such as Trent Alexander Arnold, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez left for pastures anew. With the transfer window still active, Liverpool are also circling around stars like Parma’s Giovanni Leoni, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and the biggest of them all, Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side’s second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in Liverpool, England, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo)
With so many signings in a single window, it does strengthen the squad but the club will also have to be adept in man management while dealing with them as the players bed in to the system. This has the potential to be a Man City-like evolution or a complete disaster of epic proportions. Only time will tell.
Man City, meanwhile, are going into the new season with an air of uncertainty around them. Last year’s meltdown is still fresh on everyone’s minds and not even the most ardent of City haters must have had City finishing trophyless in their bingo card. But that is exactly what happened. Pep Guardiola’s side suddenly sputtered, spewed and combusted, relinquishing the EPL title while also getting eliminated from the Round of 16 of the Champions League. Many will point out that the absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri might have been the source of City’s miseries but while that might have been one of the issues, the signs were already there in the 23-24 season when they had been winless in the league for a whole month.
They had recovered back then but last season with Liverpool firing on all cylinders, there was no comeback. The Citizens looked to address the concerns with new signings Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves, Rayan Cherki from Lyon and Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan ahead of the expanded Club World Cup. But after an initial flurry, the malaise of conceding came back to haunt them when they lost 4-3 to Saudi club Al Hilal in another Round of 16 exit.
Now if you come to Arsenal, they have been the most consistent team in the league for the past few seasons, regularly finishing second from 2022-2025. This might be a make-or-break season for manager Mikel Arteta who has been in charge since 2019 and has just a FA Cup to show for it. However, his philosophy has resonated with the squad with the Gunners playing their best football in quite some time, the culmination of which came last season when they knocked out the mighty Real Madrid from the UCL quarter finals. But they still needed a proven No.9 to get that final push to glory. And they have that in Viktor Gyokeres, who last season scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting, more than even Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.
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They have also reinforced their midfield and defence with huge signings like Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, Christian Norgaard from Brentford, Nono Madueke from Chelsea and goalie Kepa Arrizabalaga from Bournemouth to name a few. However, the path to the title won’t be easy with Arsenal given a fixture from hell where they face Manchester United in their very first match, followed by Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle, all within their first 6 matchdays.
Chelsea players celebrate with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy. (AP)
United and recent Club World Cup winners Chelsea have also made signings that plug in the gaps in their respective problem areas with the Red Devils set to field a new look front three with Matheus Cunha from Wolves, Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig while also chasing Brighton’s Carlos Baleba in order to secure their mostly leaky midfield. As manager Ruben Amorim looks to recover from their lowly 15th place finish last term, even he knows it’s going to be a long way back with United having to navigate through a tough opening period with clashes against Arsenal, City and Chelsea lined up in their first 5 fixtures.
Chelsea, meanwhile, seemed to have found their mojo after a couple of underwhelming seasons, finishing 4th in the league in the 2024-25 season and also thrashing Champions League winners PSG 4-0 in the Club World Cup final. This was courtesy of an inspired signing of Joao Pedro from Brighton who has started life at Stamford Bridge with a bang. His partnership with Cole Palmer looks almost Kevin de Bruyne-Haaland-esque which might pose a problem for the rest of the teams. The Blues, however, have also signed Liam Delap from Ipswich Town, Jorrel Hato from Ajax and Jamie Gittens as their squad depth looks formidable heading into the new season.
