Which clubs are in for a desperate month of transfer activity?
Now that the Premier Leagues clubs alphabetically arranged A-L have had their July transfer business analysed, let turn our attention to the clubs from M-W.
Manchester City
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Kyle Walker | Tottenham Hotspur | £43.35m |
| Bernardo Silva | Monaco | £42.5m |
| Ederson | Benfica | £34m |
| Douglas Luiz | Vasco da Gama | £10.2m |
| Danilo | Real Madrid | £25.5m |
| Benjamin Mendy | Monaco | £46.75m |
Manchester City must of been the third busiest club in this window behind Everton and Huddersfield.
The defensive full back area definitely looks strong with Walker, Danilo and Mendy having arrived.
Perhaps another left back could be on their way given that Mendy is the only recognised left back in the squad.
After letting Willy Caballero go on a Bosman, Pep Guardiola better hope that Ederson is the perfect replacement and can overhaul Claudio Bravo as first choice keeper.
Given his tender age of 23, he could well be a great signing for the Citizens, if can replicate the domestic double that he got with Benfica last season.
Bernardo Silva and Douglas Luiz has already joined a very strong midfield.
Given the number of midfielders currently at City, surely Samir Nasri and Fabian Delph are set to leave before September although Luiz has now been loaned out to Girona.
If not, there will be a lot of options available and perhaps some frustrated players at lack of game time till January.
Overall, a decent transfer window so far but expect to see some outgoings in order to fund some new arrivals and particularly at left back.
Manchester United
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Romelu Lukaku | Everton | £72m |
| Victor Lindelof | Benfica | £29.75m |
| Nemanja Matic | Chelsea | £40m |
Jose Mourinho must be disappointed at only landing three signings so far. The good news is that he worked with Lukaku and Matic before at Chelsea so knows how to get them playing their best football.
Victor Lindelof has been on the cards for a while so clearly has potential to be a key man at the back for United.
Newcastle United
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Jacob Murphy | Norwich City | £9.61m |
| Florian Lejeune | SD Eibar | £8.5m |
| Christian Atsu | Chelsea | £6.38m |
| Javier Manquillo | Atletico Madrid | £4.25m |
| Mikel Merino | Borussia Dortmund | Loan |
Rafa Benitez didn’t see his transfer window get off well with questions over the transfer budget available to him.
Defence seems strong with Florian LeJeune and Javier Manquillo joining.
The only real concern is that LeJeune hasn’t held down a starting spot at any of his clubs after joining and has been loaned out on plenty of occasions.
Christian Atsu and Mikel Merino should bring some quality given that they come from two of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Atsu was with Newcastle on loan last season so now is the time for him to show his talent without worrying about loan deals being cut short like he had when loaned out by Chelsea.
Jacob Murphy has plenty of skill and talent given that he was one of Norwich’s best players last season.
Now that he’s in the Premier League, this will be a tough test of just how good he is as a striker.
In summary, decent business so far but could do with an attacking midfielder to help them out, if opt for a 4-2-3-1 strategy because I don’t see anyone in the current squad doing that at minute.
Southampton
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Jan Bednarek | Lech Poznan | £5.1m |
Southampton are certainly in for a desperate August under new manager, Mauricio Pellegrino.
If Jan Bednarek is the only signing then the Saints could be in trouble because they have pretty much stood still, having only let Jay Rodriguez go.
July has definitely been disappointing and the late sacking of Claude Puel didn’t help their transfer plans at all. August better bring plenty of new players or I will be disappointed with how they have done.
Stoke City
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Josh Tymon | Hull | Free |
| Darren Fletcher | West Bromwich Albion | Free |
| Kurt Zouma | Chelsea | Loan |
Hopefully there is more to come from Stoke in August as definitely has a huge transfer budget to splash out on some decent players.
Out of the three signed so far, Kurt Zouma looks like he could bring something to a club that traditionally waits till near October, before starting their season proper in terms of winning.
The Potters better to start turning their dealings table as August looks like it could be a lively month for them.
Swansea City
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Roque Mesa | Las Palmas | £10.63m |
| Erwin Mulder | Heerenveen | Free |
| Tammy Abraham | Chelsea | Loan |
For a club that spent much of last season fighting the drop, these signings look rather disappointing.
Mesa isn’t really someone who is going to contribute goals looking at his Las Palmas stats. For that reason, I wonder if he will be used in a deep role at Swansea
Mulder might be a strong goalkeeper given his record in Eredivisie but doesn’t look like someone who can knock Lukasz Fabianski out of the no.1 keeper role.
Tammy Abraham however could be the best of a bad bunch after scoring 23 goals for relegation threatened Bristol City in the 2016-17 Championship season.
He however comes from Chelsea on loan meaning that he could be a Premier League flop like Patrick Bamford was after a successful spell in the Championship.
Either way, Paul Clement should look to bring more players in to help improve the squad.
Tottenham Hotspur
Sadly Tottenham haven’t made any signings yet. Perhaps that is a clear indicator that Mauricio Pochettino could be focused on promoting from within the youth academy.
Watford
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Tom Cleverley | Everton | £7.91m |
| Will Hughes | Derby County | £7.74m |
| Nathaniel Chalobah | Chelsea | £4.85m |
| Kiko Femenia | Alaves | Free |
| Daniel Bachmann | Stoke City | Free |
Marco Silva will be happy with his transfer business from July.
Chalobah, Cleverley and Hughes are all great additions to the midfield and will add extra unpredictability to Watford’s formation.
Kiko Femenia is a versatile defender because he can play as a centre or right back.
Having played for Alaves, he knows all about how to stay in the top flight so expect him to bring some experience at times when the Hornets look set to drop.
Bachmann is a talented goalkeeper, who struggled to break through at Stoke against Jack Butland and Shay Given.
With Heurelho Gomes approaching retirement and Giedrius Arlauskis unlikely to play, this is Bachmann’s chance to start shining against Costel Pantilimon for the no.2 keeper position.
Watford should be happy with their business so far so expect a quiet August at Vicarage Road.
West Bromwich Albion
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Jay Rodriguez | Southampton | £11.65m |
| Yuning Zhang | Vitesse | £7.65 (loaned straight to Werder Bremen) |
| Ahmed Hegazy | Ahly | Loan (fee – 850k) |
West Brom have had quite a under the weather window in July.
Apart from Rodriguez, the other two signings seem quite random given that most people probably never heard of Yuning or Hegazy before.
Hegazy’s stats doesn’t really stand out as a reason for Tony Pulis to sign him so ii fear he could be a big flop.
With Craig Gardener and Darren Fletcher both gone, I am surprised at lack of investment in midfield. With only nine midfielders, Pulis seems very light on creative players because four are wingers.
If the Baggies are to replicate last season’s top ten finish, they need to focus on getting some creative midfielders in alongside one or two who can attack from within midfield.
West Ham United
| Name | Club arriving from | Price |
| Joe Hart | Manchester City | Loan |
| Pablo Zabaleta | Manchester City | Free |
| Marko Arnautovic | Stoke City | £18.96m |
| Javier Hernandez | Bayern Leverkusen | £15.13m |
Slaven Bilic will be glad with the business done so far.
To get Joe Hart in is mighty impressive given his talent and Zabaleta will bring some extra quality down the flanks.
The arrivals of Arnautovic and Hernandez will help the Hammers’ current strikers improve, after a lacklustre first season at the London Stadium.
In summary, West Ham should be proud of those July signings but there is more work to do.
With only eight midfielders, August should be spent bringing in some extra players to bolster midfield and particularly in centre and attack alongside one winger.
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