The 2019 summer transfer window is upon us! Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who feed us horribly misinformed transfer rumor nonsense over the next three months, but also woe unto us, the fans, who masochistically love the latest juice tying our beloved club with some unknown entity from De Graafschap.
After five years of tight and taut Puma jerseys, Arsenal is now beginning the first of its five-year deal with adidas as the official kit supplier. This isn’t the first time the three stripes have graced Gunners apparel: between 1986 and 1994 it was adidas that outfitted the London club.
During this period, Arsenal won the First Division twice (1988-89, 1990-91), as well as one FA Cup (1992-93), two League Cups (1986-87, 1992-93) and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1993-94).
Everyone knows that Christian Pulisic isn’t going to immediately step into Eden Hazard’s shoes at Chelsea and act as a carbon copy of the Belgian. Hazard, of course, is eight years older than Pulisic and currently much more decisive in the final third: Hazard hit 16 Premier League goals last campaign, the American tied his career best by reaching four in the Bundesliga.
Chelsea has made its first, and probably only, move while serving a two-window transfer ban (this summer and next January) by permanently signing the previously on-loan Mateo Kovačić from Real Madrid for a fee that could approach nearly $57 million.
The 25-year-old just completed his first season with the Blues, and with plenty of unforeseen circumstances ahead, Kovačić had to be brought back.
Manchester United looks to be wrapping up it’s second signing of the summer transfer window. After a poor season with an obvious lack of quality in an aging squad, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has identified younger targets with potential for long-term improvement. Recently signing 21-year-old Daniel James from Swansea City, United turned its attention to its defensive targets. While it seems pretty clear that Matthijs de Ligt will not be moving to Old Trafford any time soon, Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks primed and ready to sign a contract with the northern giants.
It was recently announced that Rafa Benitez will be leaving Newcastle when his contract expires on June 31.
This is a huge loss for the Magpies, unquestionably. With Mike Ashley still at the helm of the former Premier League title challengers, Benitez was rarely supported in the transfer window, and had to do his best with the players that he had.
One of the major criticisms Chelsea consistently has taken over the past few years is its inability to break youth into the first team. While the Blues have one of the best academies in English soccer, they consistently loan out their best products and are never heard from again.
But with the year-long transfer ban stopping Chelsea from buying more players to fill the holes in its roster, it will have to rely on its youth products to step up.
One such player is Tammy Abraham.
Newcastle United fans were sad to hear this morning that manager Rafael Benítez would not be re-signing with the club for the 2019-20 season.
It is with disappointment that we announce manager Rafael Benítez will leave Newcastle United upon the expiry of his contract on 30th June 2019.
Over the course of his first four seasons in the English Premier League, Sadio Mané’s best goalscoring total was the 13 he scored during his first year with Liverpool. So while many credited Liverpool’s improvement this past season to newer faces like Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Andrew Robertson and Fabinho, Mané’s ability to elevate his own game and score 22 goals — good for a three-way tie with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and teammate Mo Salah for the EPL’s Golden Boot — was equally as instrumental in a historic year for the Reds.
It's been a weird year for Chelsea fans. After finishing third in the English Premier League and winning the Europa League, manager Maurizio Sarri has left the club to return to Italy. He will be coaching Juventus.
As that news is settling down, one rumor won't go away: Blues legend Frank Lampard is set to take over at Chelsea.