Nottm Forest – It’s been quite the last 12 months for Forest. They are back in the Premier League for the first time in 23 years having sat bottom of the Championship in September 2021 with only 1 win in 8 games !! Steve Cooper did a miraculous job to get his side into the play offs which they eventually won. This season is more of a free hit for Cooper and his players. No one is expecting much of them considering they have had to replace nearly half of their team. They have made the most signings in the league and understandably so. Forward Taiwo Awoniyi, right-back Neco Williams (Liverpool), midfielder Orel Mangala and defender Moussa Niakhaté have all been brought in for a combined fee of about £52 million, three of which are from the Bundesliga. Interestingly free agent Jesse Lingard signed on a free having just left Man United and the Red Devils number 2 Dean Henderson has signed on loan with Forest for the season as their first choice.

Southampton – The saints have had an excellent window. Man City duo Gavin Bazunu (goalkeeper)and Roméo Lavia (midfielder) both signed for a total of £23 million which are terrific signings considering their age and potential. Armel Bella-Kotchap was brought in from VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga for just under £10 million but the signing of Joe Aribo from Rangers tops the lot. The Nigerian was a key player for both Steven Gerrard and then Giovanni Van Bronckhorst at the Glaswegian side. He was the player to break the deadlock against Frankfurt in the Europa League final for Rangers in May. He’s a strong carrier of the ball and has a superb engine and would slot in nicely alongside James Ward-Prowse or Oriol Romeu in the Southampton Midfield. It could be an exciting season with a much more youthful side than we have become accustomed to in the last few years under Ralph Hassenhüttl.

Tottenham – The pressure is truly on Antonio Conte and Tottenham this season. They’ve spent big on transfers with Richarlison coming in from Everton for £60 million shows the intent of the North London side as they already have arguably the best front three in the league in Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski. They have Champions League football back and it will be interesting to see which competition they will prioritise the most, as their squad depth and reliance on a few key players to keep fit could hamper their chances of going all out in all the available competitions. It must be said however that their squad looks a whole lot stronger going into this campaign than it did last season. Yves Bissouma was brought in from Brighton as well as the additions of Ivan Perisic from Inter, Djed Spence from Middlesbrough, who was a key part of Forest’s promotion to the Premier league and also Clement Lenglet on a season long loan from Barcelona. A 3rd place finish and a trophy should be the aim this season as there aren’t many who expect anyone to topple Man City and Liverpool just yet although it could well be a possibility if everything falls into place.

West Ham United – The hammers will be hoping to become a regular in the sort of top 6/7 in the Premier League. Depth was the problem last season as playing pretty much the same set of players for the entire season really did have a fatigue effect on them. The same thing could happen this season should there be failure to add much needed reinforcements. Football moves on very quickly and top half finishes in the last 2 seasons from the hammers doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same result the following season. Teams have strengthened around them and they must do the same. If they do then there’s no reason why they can’t retain their place just outside of the top 6.

Wolves – The side from the Black Country have added to their squad, pinching promising British defender Nathan Collins from Burnley for around £25 million and have finally tied down RB Leipzig’s Hwang to a permanent deal after coming in on an initial loan last season. The latest addition however is Gonçalo Guedes from Valencia who is a gifted winger from Portugal and scored a total of 30 goals in 140 games for Valencia. He will be hoping to be a regular fixture at Wolves and hopefully get back into the Portugal national team for the World Cup later this year. However there are rumors circulating that club captain Conor Coady could make a move to Everton. This is potentially damaging due to his qualities in and around the club as he’s an important figure on and off the pitch.