⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[shinratensei_]

I believe Pep Guardiola has plans for the coming season, already City have made some signings in January that seem to have revived City’s performance towards the end of the season, helping them secure Champions League qualification for next season. Liverpool despite winning the league trophy are still strengthening their side which means there will be tough competition next season.

Pep has a serious plan for the next season. He wants his club to get back into the right way. He signed some important players to fix the loopholes, he even sign a former staff of Jurgen Klopp, which is bolding his intenion to make City a winning team again.
He's working to rebuild the squad again from the scratch and we may be see his team can compete for the UCL again soon.

It seems all of clubs are in the process of improving their squad. The next season will be very exciting to watch.

[AprilioMP]

Pep Guardiola is genius and he has been made great history in Manchester City but Pep's favorite tactical style likely was known well by many clubs in Premier League. He has to upgrade his management as well as build up a new squad for the club that are both big tasks for him. History shows that no club, no national team can dominate forever and there are always up and down times. Hence I believe Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are going downside but it's very natural.

When Manchester City dominated the Premier League in 4 consecutive seasons, Kloop seemed to have said that the Pep era would soon come to an end. And yes, it's true. Pep Guardiola's genius as a coach reinforces that he is able to be a coach who provides new colors for modern football.
This season 2024/25, Pep stopped and Arne Slot who broke the pace of Manchester City as a team that lifted the trophy. Even Arsenal were not able to.
If Pep is known for his genius, then what about Arne Slot with Liverpool's game this season?

[reagansimms]

~~~

I believe Pep Guardiola has plans for the coming season, already City have made some signings in January that seem to have revived City’s performance towards the end of the season, helping them secure Champions League qualification for next season. Liverpool despite winning the league trophy are still strengthening their side which means there will be tough competition next season.

What Man City have experienced this season could reveal who the key players are in Guardiola squad. Previously, management was not too concerned with the condition of the current squad, this is where the beginning of the collapse of their dominance in the EPL in the last 4 years. Guardiola must immediately fix the delay in regeneration in his squad, he must bring in a general figure in midfield as an ideal partner for Rodri, he also needs to find a reserve player who is able to compete with the core players.

I believe they have the potential to bounce back after going through their worst season since Guardiola took charge. He will try to make improvements to his squad and build better chemistry between the players, so they can fly even higher.

[SatoPrincess]

yes this season Manchester United has indeed performed very badly which makes them not have a schedule in any European competition next season. but in my opinion there is a team that is worse than Manchester United, namely Arsenal and even the harsh criticism came not from the fans but from the legend himself Thierry Henry who said more or less like this "MU has played in 5 finals for the last 5 seasons but they say that Man United is a cursed team while Arsenal who performed well in the last 3 seasons they did not get a single trophy and did not play in a single final match."

Source; https://x.com/mysemuanyabola/status/1928256320484036665

It’s absolutely insane to compare Arsenal and Manchester United this season not to talk more of saying Arsenal were worse than Manchester United. Everyone has suddenly forgotten that in this period Arsenal won the FA Cup and community shield. It is also shocking that nowadays a team’s success is only based on winning trophies while finishing second in the league and semi finals in the Champions League means nothing.

[Inwestour]

What Man City have experienced this season could reveal who the key players are in Guardiola squad. Previously, management was not too concerned with the condition of the current squad, this is where the beginning of the collapse of their dominance in the EPL in the last 4 years. Guardiola must immediately fix the delay in regeneration in his squad, he must bring in a general figure in midfield as an ideal partner for Rodri, he also needs to find a reserve player who is able to compete with the core players.

I believe they have the potential to bounce back after going through their worst season since Guardiola took charge. He will try to make improvements to his squad and build better chemistry between the players, so they can fly even higher.

I think Guardiola and the management were hoping that the current squad would be enough to keep dominating for example in the league. But as it turned out maintaining such a high pace in all competitions is impossible without refreshing the squad. Especially since during the off season instead of signing new players City let go of several players young players who came off the bench and strengthened the team at the right moments. I hope that this off season City will be much more active in the transfer market. Guardiola is a good coach and I am sure he can bring the team back to its former glory.

[Distraction]

Let's look at the changes in the PL before next season...

The teams relegated:

• Leicester
• Ipswich
• Southampton

The teams promoted:

• Leeds
• Burnley
• Sunderland

This season all the teams promoted found themselves back in the Championship in the end.    I wonder if any of the new trio will survive. They are rewarded a lot of money which can be spent on transfers to build a better squad. I think Leeds could manage to stay out of the relegation area.

[Volgastallion]

Yeah, it was a weird season for the City, they faced some real problems with underperformance and even Guardiola himself started expressing his doubt on whether they would qualify for the next season's Champions League, but they managed to turn things around and ended up in a decent 3rd place.
I can't imagine the City not improving next season. Pep Guardiola has already made some changes and has let in some fresh blood to the squad, and I think we'll see some more transfers to come in the near future.

And there is 1 thing that is quite annoying for Man City too, where the club was hit by a very epic comeback by Man United in the 88th and 90th minutes. Where, in the match last December, Man City had been leading 1-0 from the 36th minute and had been able to defend it until almost the end.

But suddenly in the late minute, the 88th minute, Man United got a penalty kick and ended up with a goal, a draw. Then, Man United managed to add another goal 2 minutes later. Until the end, Man City actually lost because they were hit by an epic comeback

And this is included in the Most Improbable Comeback award

Source: EPL Most Improbable Comeback award

This season from the Manchester United is gonna pass to the history as the most non sense ever, its impossible to follow any path of them, they lose against the weak teams, and they do they best against the big 6.

It was impossible to bet on them this season, its like burn your money.

[Akbarkoe]

..................

It’s absolutely insane to compare Arsenal and Manchester United this season not to talk more of saying Arsenal were worse than Manchester United. Everyone has suddenly forgotten that in this period Arsenal won the FA Cup and community shield. It is also shocking that nowadays a team’s success is only based on winning trophies while finishing second in the league and semi finals in the Champions League means nothing.

It doesn't mean anything, it's just an expression of disappointment from the fans, they are always in the best position in every season to be able to win the trophy and so in other competitions they always appear convincing, but their hopes of being able to win the trophy again are always gone. and of course I don't want this to happen again in the next season.

I think Guardiola and the management were hoping that the current squad would be enough to keep dominating for example in the league. But as it turned out maintaining such a high pace in all competitions is impossible without refreshing the squad. Especially since during the off season instead of signing new players City let go of several players young players who came off the bench and strengthened the team at the right moments. I hope that this off season City will be much more active in the transfer market. Guardiola is a good coach and I am sure he can bring the team back to its former glory.

Of course they have to refresh again in the next season, for their back line they have a fairly strong back line and a fairly luxurious front line, so their focus for now is their midfield, KDB has left Manchester City and although Rodri has now recovered from the ACL injury he suffered, but the injury record could be the reason his performance might decline slightly. Manchester City really has to recruit a new midfielder to strengthen its midfield.

[Velvet78]

I'm still curiously waiting for who Arsenal will sign for their CF position this summer...

Gyökeres and Šeško are the names stepping forward recently. Gyökeres can actually be signed for a 65 million euros package. But his total cost could still find an amount around 100 million they say. Maybe this is why Arsenal is still undecided about him. 

Šeško could also be a great alternative. I don't know how much Leipzig wants for him though. His market value is 65 million now but this isn't the asking fee. I just want to see Arsenal making the right choice for themselves to achieve success finally.

[kawetsriyanto]

• Leicester
• Ipswich
• Southampton

This is not the first time Leicester City has been in such a position, relegated. In fact, in 2020-2021, Leicester was in 5th place and had indeed been successful. However, as experienced by several other clubs, they could not secure their position in the next few seasons.

Leeds and Burnely are also not new names. But can they survive for at least 2-3 seasons? Because often promoted clubs can only survive for 1 season and are finally relegated again.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

I'm still curiously waiting for who Arsenal will sign for their CF position this summer...

Gyökeres and Šeško are the names stepping forward recently. Gyökeres can actually be signed for a 65 million euros package. But his total cost could still find an amount around 100 million they say. Maybe this is why Arsenal is still undecided about him. 

Šeško could also be a great alternative. I don't know how much Leipzig wants for him though. His market value is 65 million now but this isn't the asking fee. I just want to see Arsenal making the right choice for themselves to achieve success finally.

Arsenal got good money from going to UEFA Champions League semi finals this season and for years, a central forward or more exactly a striker position is their weakest position. They perhaps will want to improve their squad with this important position but it's not easy to find good available strikers for sale on the transfer market.

If there are such strikers, Arsenal will have to compete with many big clubs in Europe, and not limited in Premier League clubs. So the race in transfer market is very hot while Arsenal don't have good history like other clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City or Liverpool. It can be a very big factor for convincing such world class strikers to join Arsenal and ignore offers from other big clubs.

Without such top notch strikers, Arsenal will struggle to win big titles like Premier League and Champions League.

[slapper]

I'm still curiously waiting for who Arsenal will sign for their CF position this summer...

Gyökeres and Šeško are the names stepping forward recently. Gyökeres can actually be signed for a 65 million euros package. But his total cost could still find an amount around 100 million they say. Maybe this is why Arsenal is still undecided about him. 

Šeško could also be a great alternative. I don't know how much Leipzig wants for him though. His market value is 65 million now but this isn't the asking fee. I just want to see Arsenal making the right choice for themselves to achieve success finally.

You'd think we were ready to sign the Messi-Ronaldo combination of our dreams, given how Arsenal fan are hanging on every rumour about Gyokeres or Sesko. It's not just about who is cheaper or more flashy when it comes to Arsenal's strikers. We are talking about a club that missed 68 big chances last season (fourth highest in the league) and watched Havertz top-score with 9 goals

Gyokeres scores a lot of goals in Portugal (45 goals, 8 assists), but can he even come close to such numbers in the Premier League, where defenders know how to wrestle? And that "€65 million deal" isn't the end. When you add in salary, agent fees, and Coventry's 10-15% cut, we're looking at around £100 million

On the other hand, Sesko is all about potential. His stats aren't superb (17 goals in the Bundesliga), but he's a Red Bull pressing machine, he's younger, he's a huge danger in the air, and he definitely fits Arteta's long-term plans. The problem is that Leipzig wants more than £90 million, and he's still raw. Do they have the patience, or do they want the trophy right now?

In my opinion, Arsenal can't afford to have another season of "almost." They are desperate for THE guy to turn those missed chances into trophies, or else we'll just have another top-four parade

[JeffBrad12]

I'm still curiously waiting for who Arsenal will sign for their CF position this summer...

Gyökeres and Šeško are the names stepping forward recently. Gyökeres can actually be signed for a 65 million euros package. But his total cost could still find an amount around 100 million they say. Maybe this is why Arsenal is still undecided about him.  

Šeško could also be a great alternative. I don't know how much Leipzig wants for him though. His market value is 65 million now but this isn't the asking fee. I just want to see Arsenal making the right choice for themselves to achieve success finally.

This netflix FC is not a serious team. They have been linked to the Gyokeres since last season, but not even official bid came from them. I think the rumor linked them to the Gyokeres is just BS. I guess they will once again to use Merino as a striker next season. It's just netflix FC does netflix FC things.  

[ITExpert]

Yeah, it was a weird season for the City, they faced some real problems with underperformance and even Guardiola himself started expressing his doubt on whether they would qualify for the next season's Champions League, but they managed to turn things around and ended up in a decent 3rd place.
I can't imagine the City not improving next season. Pep Guardiola has already made some changes and has let in some fresh blood to the squad, and I think we'll see some more transfers to come in the near future.

This is exactly how it has been for Manchester City. This season has been quite disappointing because the out-of-form performances have not been spectacular. Rather, it has been a throughout season that Manchester City's form has been very inconsistent. Whatever game they played, things were showing that how good they are at communication and strategy. They have become a part of this team, but they still need new faces, new talent and young players. I think that the transfers that are happening now should be very high because if we make transfers possible and give space to new faces and new talent, then only then can they return to their position because the performance you have cannot be because of one person. Your entire team has to contribute so much to it. So I hope that when new talents, new people and young players come, the Manchester City team will be able to maintain the position they have.  They can restore it and bring their performance, or rather good performance in to a consistency.

[Abu-Naim]

This netflix FC is not a serious team. They have been linked to the Gyokeres since last season, but not even official bid came from them. I think the rumor linked them to the Gyokeres is just BS. I guess they will once again to use Merino as a striker next season. It's just netflix FC does netflix FC things.  

Arsenal board is actually acting very slow in this transfer window, they clearly know that they have one major problem in their squad which is the striking position, and they are the team that are linked to these two strikers any big team is dreaming to sign, yet, they are not making enough effort for any official bid for any of these two strikers, and they are all available on market.

If Arsenal aren’t serious, they might even lose these two strikers because other big teams from the Premier League are also linked to these strikers. From what we have been seeing so far in the news, Arteta is interested in signing Benjamin Sesko, while Arsenal fans are interested in Victor Gyökeres; and the money both teams are asking for are similar which is something Arsenal should afford without any problem, but we don’t know what they have in mind.

[Dzwaafu11]

This netflix FC is not a serious team. They have been linked to the Gyokeres since last season, but not even official bid came from them. I think the rumor linked them to the Gyokeres is just BS. I guess they will once again to use Merino as a striker next season. It's just netflix FC does netflix FC things.  

Arsenal board is actually acting very slow in this transfer window, they clearly know that they have one major problem in their squad which is the striking position, and they are the team that are linked to these two strikers any big team is dreaming to sign, yet, they are not making enough effort for any official bid for any of these two strikers, and they are all available on market.

Arsenal management are always slow in the transfer window, and that is why we always end up without getting a good deal at the end of the window. I don’t know why they keep things slow when they know we actually need to fix this problem; instead, they should act fast in getting Victor Gyökeres. They keep delaying till another club buys the player. By now I think we should have heard news that Arsenal are interested in getting a new striker ahead of next season.

If Arsenal aren’t serious, they might even lose these two strikers because other big teams from the Premier League are also linked to these strikers. From what we have been seeing so far in the news, Arteta is interested in signing Benjamin Sesko, while Arsenal fans are interested in Victor Gyökeres; and the money both teams are asking for are similar which is something Arsenal should afford without any problem, but we don’t know what they have in mind.

Sometimes they should not mind the fans' opinion; if Arteta is interested in getting Benjamin Sesko, they should do that. As long as we know the two strikers are good and capable of attacking and doing what we want, the fans will be adapted and know why they chose the striker. They shouldn’t be slow; the players are good, and other clubs want them too since they are also linked to them.

[pawel7777]

What is going on in Arsenal? It looks like Arteta/club management are doing some big cleaning.
I read that they announced 17 players will be leaving club this summer:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/breaking-arsenal-release-players-arteta-35335759

Obviously, almost definitely there will be some new players joining in, names like Benjamin Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike are being mentioned, but those will be pricey.

You could think that the second place and reaching the semi-final of the Champions League could be counted as an achievement, but I guess the club owners are not quite satisfied with a 5th consecutive season without winning a trophy (not counting the 2023 Community Shield).

[KingsDen]

What is going on in Arsenal? It looks like Arteta/club management are doing some big cleaning.
I read that they announced 17 players will be leaving club this summer:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/breaking-arsenal-release-players-arteta-35335759

Obviously, almost definitely there will be some new players joining in, names like Benjamin Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike are being mentioned, but those will be pricey.

You could think that the second place and reaching the semi-final of the Champions League could be counted as an achievement, but I guess the club owners are not quite satisfied with a 5th consecutive season without winning a trophy (not counting the 2023 Community Shield).

Arsenal management should be very cautious of how the reshuffle their team this season. I can assure you that Arsenal squad is one of the most coached squad in Europe last season. We also can attest that Arsenal has been in great form for the past three seasons under Mikel Arteta. For instance this is the third consecutive time that Arsenal ended the English Premier League has runner up and they have been doing good in the European competition. What they need is to reinforce their current team and not to reshuffle. A world-class striker is okay to blend the team.

Arsenal is already doing well, what they need is change of mentality and strategy to win finals and not to destabilize the team.

[TelolettOm]

But suddenly in the late minute, the 88th minute, Man United got a penalty kick and ended up with a goal, a draw. Then, Man United managed to add another goal 2 minutes later. Until the end, Man City actually lost because they were hit by an epic comeback

This season from the Manchester United is gonna pass to the history as the most non sense ever, its impossible to follow any path of them, they lose against the weak teams, and they do they best against the big 6.

It was impossible to bet on them this season, its like burn your money.

If we think about it, yes. They often lose ridiculously to small clubs, especially in the Premier League, they are really bad.
But throughout the 2024/2024 season, Man United will be more enthusiastic when playing against top clubs.

Man United won 11 times throughout this season, and they got some of those wins from big clubs.

[JeffBrad12]

This netflix FC is not a serious team. They have been linked to the Gyokeres since last season, but not even official bid came from them. I think the rumor linked them to the Gyokeres is just BS. I guess they will once again to use Merino as a striker next season. It's just netflix FC does netflix FC things. 

Arsenal board is actually acting very slow in this transfer window, they clearly know that they have one major problem in their squad which is the striking position, and they are the team that are linked to these two strikers any big team is dreaming to sign, yet, they are not making enough effort for any official bid for any of these two strikers, and they are all available on market.

If Arsenal aren’t serious, they might even lose these two strikers because other big teams from the Premier League are also linked to these strikers. From what we have been seeing so far in the news, Arteta is interested in signing Benjamin Sesko, while Arsenal fans are interested in Victor Gyökeres; and the money both teams are asking for are similar which is something Arsenal should afford without any problem, but we don’t know what they have in mind.

It seems Arteta still no see it as his priority. Don't expect something big from thehis club until he will able to sign a quality striker. Wasting big money for Zubimendi ain't good as it's still not yet solving their loopholes.