The same teams have taken the top six places in the Premier League for the last three seasons, but their stranglehold over the European qualifying spots may be broken in 2019-20. The challenging pack showed last season that they are getting closer. The gap from Chelsea in third down to West Ham in tenth was just 20 points – as small as it has been in the last 12 years, and 13 points fewer than it was the season before.
And that’s despite the fact Everton, Leicester and West Ham had fairly disappointing campaigns. Those three clubs – as well as Wolves, who were the closest challengers to the top six last season – have all strengthened this summer and will feel as if they have an opportunity to bridge the narrowing gap.
Wolves
Wolves finished seventh last season, just four points behind Manchester United, which gave the club a taste of European football for the first time in 39 years. The extra fixtures are already piling up. They played their first competitive game of the season in July against Northern Irish side Crusaders in a Europa League qualifier. They won that two-legged tie and now face Armenian side Pyunik for a chance to play either Torino or Shakhtyor Soligors in the final round of qualifying before the group stage begins in September.
Given the extra workload, Wolves were surprisingly slow in the transfer market this summer. Leander Dendoncker and Raúl Jiménez have both made their loan moves permanent (and, at £30m, the deal for Jiménez is a new transfer record for the club) , but those deals were already agreed. The first new face through the door, Jesús Vallejo, joined the club a couple of days after they had played their first game of the season in Belfast in the Europa League.
Even though he is only initially joining on a season-long loan, Vallejo should prove to be worth the wait. The 22-year-old Real Madrid centre-back captained Spain to glory at the U21 European Championship earlier this summer. He has not yet made a big impact at the Bernabéu but he should be considered a significant upgrade on Ryan Bennett.
Wolves have also signed young Italian striker Patrick Cutrone from Milan for £20m. He is another hot prospect who went off the boil last season. Still just 21, Cutrone scored 10 goals for Milan in just 1,512 minutes in Serie A in the 2017-18 season, but managed just three last season, the last of which came at the start of December. The Italian could prove a real coup but, unlike Vallejo, he may have to settle for a spot on the bench initially, given the rapport Jiménez and Diogo Jota built last season. Crucially, though, he gives Nuno more scope to rotate his squad.
Everton
Everton have enjoyed a more productive summer, though there will be greater pressure and expectation on the team and coach Marco Silva as a result. They have lost a star man in Idrissa Gueye, who joined PSG for £29m. Gueye’s replacement, Jean-Philippe Gbamin – who joined from Mainz for around £22.5m – is six years younger and has a lot of catching up to do to fill his boots. Gbamin isn’t particularly strong in possession for a holding midfielder, boasting a meagre 80.4% pass accuracy, and does not come close to Gueye when it comes to breaking up play.
The club signed André Gomes on a permanent deal for £22m after being impressed by his loan spell last season. Fabian Delph should prove to a be another very shrewd addition at just £8.5m – an absolute bargain fee in this market. He’s a leader on and off the pitch and a potential driving force from deep now that he is back in his favoured midfield position.
However, their most interesting new arrival is that of Moise Kean, who joins from Juventus on a permanent transfer for £29m even though he finished last season in superb form for the Italian champions. The teenager scored more frequently in Serie A (every 89 minutes) than any other player last season, earning himself a call-up to the Italy team, where he has leapfrogged the aforementioned Cutrone in the pecking order. When he made his full international debut earlier this year he became the youngest forward to start a game for Italy since Edoardo Mariani in 1912.
There is plenty of pressure on Kean’s young shoulders given Everton’s lack of goals last season. A starting striker only found the net in seven of their 38 league games last season. If Kean makes the desired impact, Everton should be a force. If Wilfried Zaha joins him on Merseyside, the club will be all set to target a European return.
Leicester
Leicester City are also expecting to make great strides this season, with Brendan Rodgers’ influence on the team now in full effect. They managed to retain the services of young Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans – signing him permanently from Monaco for a club-record fee of £40m – despite apparent interest from Manchester United. Harry Maguire did depart for Old Trafford, but there’s real optimism around their young squad.
They have two excellent full-backs in Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell and another hot prospect in new signing James Justin. His arrival from Luton for £8m could even push Pereira – the club’s player of the season for 2018/19 – into a more advanced role.
They should carry a real threat going forward. Jamie Vardy was isolated too often under Claude Puel but the addition of Ayoze Pérez – signed from Newcastle for £30m – should help solve that problem. Leicester now have a great combination of grit and guile in midfield. If Rodgers can find a capable replacement for Maguire at centre-back, Leicester will be well placed to push up the table – but it’s a big if.
West Ham
West Ham are the real dark horses for a place in the top six, but they should not be overlooked. They finished just five points behind Wolves last season and have pulled off some eye-catching transfers this summer.
Not only have they signed French striker Sébastien Haller for £45m, Spanish attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals for £24m and Swiss striker Albian Ajeti for £8m, but they also have players who can make a decisive impact returning to fitness to bolster their enviable attacking line-up. After spending large periods of last season injured, Manuel Lanzini and Andriy Yarmolenko are back in the fold to complement Felipe Anderson and Jack Wilshere, an oft-forgotten man who has shone in pre-season.
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