Christmas is here & with it the January transfer window. The Premier League table looks exactly like what we feared in August with the Manchester clubs leading the way followed by four teams who are now seemingly fighting for Champions League places.
The hectic Christmas schedule has caused many concerns to managers and as the injuries in the squad mount up they begin to assess the reinforcements required. These reinforcements could be short term due to player injuries or long term to replace outgoing players or to strengthen or reinvigorate the squad.
A look down the team sheets of the top 6 clubs in England reveal there will be more changes then initially anticipated. Given below is a list of players who appear on their way out of their respective clubs. These players would need to be replaced in the squad to ensure that the club has enough quality to last the season. The squad requirements are assuming no players leave the current squad.
Manchester City
Confirmed Departures: Carlos Tevez
Possible Departures: Wayne Bridge
Contract Renewals: Nigel de Jong, Stuart Taylor, Owen Hargreaves
Manchester United
Possible Departures: Tomasz Kuszczak, Michael Owen, Paul Pogba, Mame Biram Diouf
Contract Renewals: Darron Gibson, Dimitar Berbatov
Squad Requirements: Defensive Midfielder (Short Term), Versatile Defender (preferably left footed), Creative Midfielder
Tottenham Hotspurs
Possible Departures: Carlo Cudicini, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Giovani dos Santos, Sébastien Bassong, Niko Kranjčar, Vedran Ćorluka, Steven Pienaar
Contract Renewals: Heurelho Gomes, Ledley King
Squad Requirements: Back-up Wingers
Chelsea
Confirmed Departures: Alex, Nicolas Anelka
Possible Departures: Salomon Kalou
Contract Renewals: Henrique Hilario, Jose Bosingwa, Didier Drogba
Squad Requirements: Back-up Full-backs, Centre-back
Arsenal
Possible Departures: Vito Mannone, Sébastien Squillaci, Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh, Manuel Almunia
Contract Renewals: Lukasz Fabianski, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie
Squad Requirements: Defender, Back-up Striker
Liverpool
Possible Departures: Fabio Aurelio, Maxi Rodríguez
Squad Requirements: Back-up Striker (Short Term)
The stakes are unusually high this season. If Arsenal or Chelsea lose out on a Champions League spot it would not only cost them a few million but would also put a huge dent in their chances to compete with the Manchester clubs in future seasons.
On the other hand this season represents the best chance for any team to overtake Chelsea and Arsenal who both appear to be in a transition period where they are trying to replace key members of their team. If Tottenham fail to qualify for Champions League they may not be able to retain their key players. The optimism around Liverpool is sure to wear out if the club has to survive another season without Champions League. All these factors make this January the most exciting transfer window to date.
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