As I write this, fresh from Midsummer’s Day, many people are taking a break from the hustle and bustle of club football on an almost daily basis, instead focusing on the World Club Championship or just some time away from the saturation levels we regularly experience.
Others, however, crave its return, missing the key ingredient which helps make them tick, brings them joy and pain, elation and deflation (sometimes on the same day) but, almost always, keeps you coming back for more.
As far as this SBOTOP writer is concerned, nothing provokes such a set of emotions as football and the English Premier League.
Many of you will have already studied our Premier League 2025 betting odds, while others will have been more than mildly excited when the fixtures for next season were released a few days ago – particularly a friend of mine in his mid-50s who described himself as ‘trembling with excitement’ ahead of the big release.
The current state of play is clear and it seems all the leading protagonists are struggling to keep pace with one club.
Newly crowned champions Liverpool are already clear favourites to retain the title next season and their moves in the transfer market this summer, including a club record £100 million pursuit of twinkle-toe German playmaker Florian Wirtz, have set heads turning.
Of course, there is plenty of time to go – it’s not a month since the 2024-25 concluded – and last year’s runners-up Arsenal are reportedly closing in on a midfield recruit of their own in Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
The Gunners will reportedly pay more than his €60 million release clause with reports saying interest from Real Madrid has subsided with Arsenal always in pole position for the 26-year-old’s signature.
Anyone who follows Arsenal will tell you what they need even more than the Euro 2024 winner. That is better fortune with injuries next term and a prolific striker.
It’s all change at their North London rivals who, no sooner had lifted the Europa League – their first trophy for 17 years – then harshly sacked Ange Postecoglou.
His replacement, Thomas Frank, seems an astute move, though. So could he be the man to deliver Premier League 2025 highlights to the Lilywhites?
Following their promotion four years ago, Brentford consistently defied their financial disadvantage under Frank to become established members of the top flight something plenty of other clubs have failed to do in recent years.
Efficiency is the name of the game for Frank, and that could be crucial in a busy season at a club expected to take the cups seriously and facing at least eight Champions League games.
There is set to be plenty of incomings and outgoings before the top flight of the English game gets going again in mid-August.
So much speculation is afoot right now, including Barcelona bringing Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) or Luis Diaz (Liverpool) to Catalonia, while Everton are close to securing a deal to sign Fulham’s Dutch right-back Kenny Tete on a free transfer.
Manager David Moyes has made the position one of his summer priorities due to two veterans reaching the end of their careers.
Ashley Young was not offered a new contract and with captain Seamus Coleman’s time at Goodison Park possibly also drawing to a close, the link with Tete, who has been capped 14 times by Holland, is an obvious one.
As for Rashford, who appears to have been frozen out at Old Trafford by boss Ruben Amorim, it seems unlikely he will return to Aston Villa.
The England man enjoyed a productive loan spell at Villa Park in the second half of the campaign but whether the Midlanders can afford them is unknown after the club narrowly missed out on a return to the Champions League.
Speculation linking goalkeeper Emi Martinez to United continues. There would be a certain irony should the Argentine World Cup winner make the move as he would be initially suspended after being sent off against United on the final day of last season.
Monaco have shortlisted the error-prone André Onana as a potential signing this summer but the goalkeeper is intent on staying at United and proving his worth to Amorim.
Overall, while the speculation will continue (some of it accurate, some of it wild), there is something of a lull at the moment, but most clubs will be working behind the scenes on their next moves and the Premier Leaguer landscape will change quite a bit between now and August 15 when the action begins.
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