Five talking points from the Premier League transfer window so far

We’re a month into the transfer window and while the summer tournaments have delayed deals, there’s been plenty going on in the Premier League.

From PSR loopholes to promoted teams showing intent, we’ve looked at five talking points from the Premier League transfer window so far.

How will PSR pawns fare?

The Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability regulations (PSR) dominated the transfer talk last month as clubs scrambled to finalise deals and bring balance sheets into order. The flaws of the rules meant clubs worked in tandem to explore loopholes with those needing funds to remain compliant – Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Everton – involved in talks or transfers between themselves to plug financial gaps.

The explanation for this is how these transfers can be accounted for. While the fee from a sale can be immediately added to the balance sheet, the money for a purchase can be amortised over the length of the player’s contract. Therefore, it provides instant cash and spreads debt over the coming campaigns.

Everton’s Lewis Dobbin and Aston Villa’s Tim Iroegbunam swapped clubs, while Chelsea’s Ian Maatsen also headed to Villa with Omari Kellyman moving in the opposite direction. The deal for Kellyman was valued at £19m, despite the 18-year-old playing just 35 minutes of Premier League football and signing for Villa for just £600,000 a year ago. Perhaps no deal exemplified the rule-navigating madness quite as much.

Maatsen featured in a Champions League final last season and looks like a shrewd signing for Aston Villa but there are fair question marks over Dobbin, Iroegbunam and Kellyman and the true intent of their purchases.

Are PSR transfers a nonsense or defiance to the elite?

Chelsea stockpiling shows no sign of stopping

Chelsea have broken records and battered bank accounts under the ownership of Todd Boehly, who in a little over two years in charge has signed 36 players and twice broken the British transfer record.

Chelsea’s remarkable recruitment drive has not led to the success anticipated after consecutive seasons outside the Champions League, but a focus on emerging talent has been designed to safeguard the club’s long-term future. The Blues are again stockpiling starlets in the early weeks of the 2024 window, with Marc Guiu, Omari Kellyman and Renaito Veiga all signed and aged 20 or under.

A deal has also been reached for Brazilian teenager Estevao Willian to arrive next summer in a coup for Chelsea, though the gung-ho approach to new signings has left the Blues bloated. Chelsea currently have 41 first-team players on the books. Expect sales and plenty of them before the deadline.

Five players Chelsea should sell this summer

Ipswich make a statement

Ipswich Town are back in the Premier League after more than two decades, returning to the top division of English football for the first time since relegation in 2001-02.

Kieran McKenna has overseen back-to-back promotions with the Tractor Boys and after recommitting his future to the club this summer, has begun work on strengthening his squad.

Ipswich have already eclipsed their previous record signing four times this summer, including a club-record £22.5m deal for Omari Hutchinson after his loan from Chelsea last season.

Liam Delap and Jacob Greaves arrive from the second tier with bags of potential, while Arijanet Muric has been snapped up from Burnley after impressing despite the Clarets’ relegation last term. Whether Ipswich have enough to survive remains to be seen, but their signings are all aged 25 or under and capable of growing at Portman Road.

New regime offers encouragement at Manchester United 

Manchester United’s poor record in the transfer market has been well-documented with the Red Devils enduring a decade of decline despite huge investment. Short-termism and bad judgement have been prevalent but the club’s business this summer offers encouragement.

New investors Ineos have restructured the hierarchy with Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox arriving in support of Erik ten Hag, and funds have been freed up early to sign Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro.

The former was named Serie A Young Player of the Season in 2023-24 after helping Bologna to Champions League qualification, while Yoro was wanted by Real Madrid, Liverpool and PSG before United flexed their financial muscle to land the highly-coveted teenager.

With negotiations ongoing in pursuits of Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite, United appear to be targeting players of the right age profile and potential for sustained success. It has been a long time coming.

Ashworth hails Yoro as ‘one of the most exciting young defenders in world football’

Towering Forest will be tough to get through

Nottingham Forest narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League in 2023-24, ending the campaign in 17th after a four-point deduction for financial breaches.

Just five teams conceded more goals than Forest last season, though that number fails to reflect the true picture of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. Just three teams – Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool – recorded a lower xGA (Expected Goals Against) figure than Forest last season, a statistic used to measure the quality of chances afforded to opposition sides.

Whether through bad luck or bad goalkeeping, Forest conceded 10.75 more goals than they would reasonably have been expected to ship based on the quality of chances created against them.

That should instil optimism around the City Ground ahead of the new season, while the arrivals of the towering Carlos Miguel and Nikola Milekovic should solidify the spine of the side. The former is a colossal goalkeeping presence at 6ft 8in and arrives from Corinthians, tasked with ending a patchy recent record when it comes to signing goalkeepers. Milenkovic, meanwhile, looks an astute addition at £12m.

Linked with some of the Premier League’s top teams in recent seasons, the 6ft 5in Serbian has reached three major finals with Fiorentina over the last two seasons and has 56 caps at international level. The 26-year-old ranked in the 97th percentile of centre-backs in Europe’s top leagues for aerial duels won per game last season and could form a solid partnership with Murillo.

Read – Five free agents who could improve Champions League clubs

See more – Seven Premier League transfers you might have missed this summer

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