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One week to go: What every Premier League club needs in the transfer window

Hamish Williams
Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi reacts after West Ham’s Declan Rice scores their first goal
Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi reacts after West Ham’s Declan Rice scores their first goal

Arsenal

Central Defence

Arsenal have made a solid enough start to life after Arsene Wenger to currently sit fifth, however Unai Emery’s defence is a mess. Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea was their first cleansheet since beating Huddersfield on December 8 and their 32 goals conceded is nine more than Tottenham and 19 more than Liverpool.

Rob Holding is out long-term, while Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis have both fallen short of expectations. Laurent Koscielny’s return is a boost but if Emery wants to continue with a back three more cover is required, especially with Hector Bellerin’s knee injury.

Who they’ve been linked with: Eric Bailly, Denis Suarez, James Rodriguez

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Bournemouth

Central Defence

Only three teams have a worse defensive record than the Cherries and with Simon Francis out with an ACL injury and several teams casting admiring glances at Nathan Ake, Eddie Howe could well do with some reinforcements.

Linked with: Signing Chris Mepham from Brentford was a great start

Brighton and Hove Albion

The Seagulls are arguably still too reliable on Glenn Murray for goals
The Seagulls are arguably still too reliable on Glenn Murray for goals

Goalscorer

Brighton aren’t in pressing need of signing anyone but they are still reliant on Glenn Murray for goals. A striker or winger who can chip in with five or 10 goals a season would be like gold dust for Chris Hughton.

Linked with: Alexis Mac Allister

Burnley

Midfield Creativity

Burnley have struggled for goals all season and despite having four strikers on their books, injuries to Steven Defour and Robbie Brady have meant the service to them has been sorely lacking all season.

Linked with: Stewart Downing, Vincent Janssen

Cardiff City

Fullback

The Bluebirds will have hoped Emiliano Sala would have given the Bluebirds some much needed firepower up front. Sala’s tragic death en route from Nantes will leave a massive hole for the club, Cardiff have also signed Oumar Niasse on loan but it remains to be seen wether they will dip into the market again for another striker.

Neil Warnock may turn his focus to fullback; there was a reason he was so keen on Nathaniel Clyne – Lee Peltier, Greg Cunningham and Joe Bennett are hardly Premier League quality.

Linked with: Adrien Tameze

Striker ​Gonzalo Higuain has already signed for the Blues on loan
Striker ​Gonzalo Higuain has already signed for the Blues on loan

Chelsea

Fullback

Chelsea’s signing of Gonzalo Higuain should solve two problems: The Argentine should score some sorely needed goals, while allowing Eden Hazard to return to his creative best on the left.

Now Maurizio Sarri needs to address his unbalanced defensive line. Marcos Alonso is too attacking and defensively suspect on the left, while Cesar Azpilicueta is the opposite on the right – defensively sound, but he doesn’t offer enough in attack.

Linked with: Leandro Paredes, Nicolo Barella

Crystal Palace

Striker

Palace’s problem hasn’t changed – they still lack a goal threat. Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend are doing their best, but imagine how much better they could be with a reliable central striker to occupy defenders and give the tricky wingers an outlet.

Linked with: Cenk Tosun

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Everton

Winger

The Toffees have been busy in previous transfer windows and this January could be better spent by clearing out some of the deadwood and allowing the current starters to settle into their roles. However, a pacy winger to offer a different threat up front and help stretch Everton’s attack wouldn’t go amiss.

Linked with: Gianluca Mancini

Fulham

Central Defence

Claudio Ranieri’s squad is crying out for an experienced central defender. All season Fulham have been let down by their inability to see out a match without fatal lapses of concentration at the back.

Linked with: Gary Cahill, Danny Simpson, Shinji Okazaki

Fulham have won just once in the last 10 games but Ranieri is remaining upbeat and believes his side has enough quality to avoid relegation
Fulham have won just once in the last 10 games but Ranieri is remaining upbeat and believes his side has enough quality to avoid relegation

Huddersfield Town

Goalscorer

13 goals in 23 games is no way to survive relegation. The Terriers are in dire need of finding some bite.

Linked with: Karlan Grant

Leicester City

Striker

Recalling Harvey Barnes from loan should help lighten the creative load on James Maddison, so Leicester’s next move should be for striking cover. Kelechi Iheanacho has struggled since arriving, Shinji Okazaki may be leaving, and at 32 the Foxes may need to come up with a succession plan for Jamie Vardy.

Linked with: Jarrod Bowen, Danny Drinkwater

Liverpool

Playmaker

There are no pressing needs for the Premier League leaders, however the Reds’ midfield would appear overstocked with workhorse, box-to-box types. Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Giorginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita are all similar players and at times Liverpool have lacked drive and creativity in midfield.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s return could well help but Adam Lallana appears perpetually injured and the Reds could do with someone who can pull the strings.

Linked with: Timo Werner

Manchester City

Holding Midfielder

Man City midfielder Fernandinho plays a vital role for the Premier League champions, linking the defense and the attack and providing irreplaceable influence on a match.
Man City midfielder Fernandinho plays a vital role for the Premier League champions, linking the defense and the attack and providing irreplaceable influence on a match.

For all the talent Pep Guardiola has at his disposal he is lacking a like-for-like replacement for Fernandinho and it was noticeable that City’s defeats against Leicester and Palace came when the midfield lynchpin was injured.

The Brazilian has been predictably excellent this season, but someone will need to help carry the central midfield load sooner rather than later.

Linked with: Matthijs de Ligt, Ruben Neves, Ante Palaversa

Manchester United

Central Defence

New manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown that this Manchester United squad wasn’t quite as bad as Jose Mourinho made it out to be. However, a commanding centre back and a genuine midfield enforcer would not go amiss.

Linked with: Toby Alderweireld, Ivan Perisic

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Newcastle United

A Goalscorer

It’s a no-brainer really. The Magpies need a new fullback or two and a midfielder who can dominate games, but their biggest issue is a lack of goals.

Rafa Benitez always sets his teams up to be tough to be break down, now he needs to somehow find a reliable goalscorer to lift his team away from the relegation zone.

Linked with: Jordan Lukaku, Ibrahim Amadou

Southampton

Central Defence

With a new manager still finding his feet and a club who have made some expensive mistakes in the past couple of windows, it is hard to know what the club’s spending priorities are. However, the Saints’ defence would appear to be their weakest point.

Linked with: Joakim Maehle

Spurs are without Harry Kane until March
Spurs are without Harry Kane until March

Tottenham Hotspur

Central Midfield

It would be easy to say Spurs need a striker, but that issue will largely be resolved when Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both return over the next month or two. Tottenham’s most pressing need now is central midfield.

With Moussa Dembele’s departure and Victor Wanyama’s chronic injury concerns, Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield options are limited to the injured Moussa Sissoko, Eric Dier, Harry Winks and 18-year-old Oliver Skipp.

Linked with: Jarrod Bowen, Malcom, Steven Bergwijn

Watford

A Goalscorer

Another team not in pressing need to add to their squad – unless of course the rumours of Abdoulaye Doucouré moving to PSG come true. However, Roberto Pereyra is the only Hornets player to score to more than three goals this season so a new goalscorer would be a boost for the Hornets.

Linked with: None

West Ham United

Striker/Fullback

So much depends on what happens to Marko Arnautovic. At the beginning of January, the Hammers’ mot pressing need was central midfield reinforcements but Declan Rice’s emergence but Arnautovic’s mooted move to China have thrown a spanner in the works. If the Austrian does go, Manuel Pellegrini will almost certainly need to find a new target man.

If he stays, would it be really that difficult to find an improvement on at least one of Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku, Pablo Zabaleta or Ryan Fredericks?

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wide Player

Wolves have adapted to life in the Premier League brilliantly but an injury to Jonny Otto showed they lack depth at wingback. Goals have also been a slight problem with Adama Traore and Helder Costa in particular struggling to adapt to the Premier League. If Nuno Espiritio Santo can find someone who can cover one or even both positions, Wolves could be well on their way to finishing ‘the best of the rest’.

Linked with: Gelson Martins, making Raul Jimenez and Jonny’s loan permanent