The Premier League season is over, the transfer window is open for business and England’s traditional topsides are set to jockey again for premium talent entering the 2020-2021 campaign.
While the top four was occupied by the usual suspects (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea), the likes of Leicester City and Tottenham ensured that it wasn’t just a straight processional to all of the league’s European places for the group known as the “Big Six.”
The richest six clubs in the land did all eventually wind up securing European places, with Arsenal, despite an eighth-place finish, winning the FA CUPto book a Europa League berth.
The added fixtures and trophy ambitions mean all will be retooling to some degree–and some have already taken significant steps forward in preparation for next season.
The financial complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic could surely play a role in the levels of spending, though not all are severely impeded or hindered.
Here’s how all six clubs figure to be approaching the summer transfer window, a unique and extended one that runs through Oct. 5 due to the effects of the pandemic on the league’s operations (in reverse order of 2019-2020 finish):