Big Summer Moves in the Premier League
The 2017/18 Premier League season has ended with Manchester City as Champions. West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Swansea City suffered relegation and the teams remaining in the Premier League for next season will already be looking at potential transfer targets.
Early Transfer Window
This year, the transfer window will open early as Premier League clubs voted to close the transfer window before the start of the season. That means clubs can begin doing business from Friday 17th May, so there is no time to ponder potential targets, Premier League clubs must act now.
The transfer window will close at 5pm on the Thursday before the start of the 2018/19 Premier League season. FIFA regulations state that every country must have at least one transfer window that lasts for 12 weeks, which is why the start date has been pushed forward. However, as other transfer windows around Europe do not close until later, Premier League teams can still sell players until 31st August.
Potential Deals
So, with the new dates in mind, we could some Premier League transfers ahead of the World Cup and one man who could be on the move is Wilfried Zaha. The Crystal Palace winger, who was named the Premier League player of the month for April, has been in excellent form as Crystal Palace moved clear of the relegation zone.
His pace and dribbling skills have seen the Ivorian linked with a move to Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. If a big money move materialised, Zaha will be hoping he performs better than his previous opportunity on the big stage when joined Manchester United.
Talking of Manchester United, there was an incident at the club on the final day of the Premier League season as Anthony Martial was seen driving away from Old Trafford prior to the match against Watford.
Martial was expected to start the match and this has fuelled speculation the Frenchman could leave Manchester United this summer. Juventus have been linked with a move for the forward and could seal the deal following the World Cup.
Stoke City were relegated from the Premier League this season but goalkeeper Jack Butland has earned plenty of praise for his performances. There will be no shortage of Premier League clubs looking to obtain his services and newcomer, Wolverhampton Wanderers are just one of several clubs being linked with the England international.
Finally, the top teams around Europe will be looking at the situation of Toby Alderweireld, who seems set to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer. The central defender has failed to agree a new deal at the club and this has alerted some of the big names in the Premier League and around Europe.
According to reports, Chelsea are leading the race to sign the Belgian but without the offer of Champions League football, Alderweireld could be looking at a top four team or a move to a team in Spain or Italy.
With the Premier League transfer window opening early this season, we could be in for some big money moves sooner than ever before.