Premier League pulse: Arsenal unfazed by Vinicius fee, City fight to keep Rodri

By David Billington

With the new Premier League season fast approaching, clubs across England are entering the decisive phase of their summer rebuilds. From Liverpool’s new era under Andoni Iraola to Arsenal’s ambitious pursuit of Vinicius Jr and Manchester City’s battle to keep Rodri, transfer plans, contract talks and selection dilemmas are gathering pace. Here’s a round-up of the biggest stories shaping the final weeks before the campaign kicks off.

Can Iraola take Liverpool into the top four?

In 2013 Liverpool decided to sign an experienced right-back and the captain of Athletic Bilbao was their choice. Adoni Iraola was approaching the final six months of his contract.

The Reds manager at that time was Brendan Rogers, and he thought the 31-year-old would be a good addition to his squad. Liverpool were however disappointed as Iraola decided to stay at his boyhood club and signed a two-year extension.

To show the quality of the man, he sent a letter to the club’s hierarchy at Anfield in which he said he was certainly interested but he had decided to stay in Spain and he thanked them for their interest in signing him and he explained his decision. It was well received and the Basque coach earned a lot of respect.

This time as he approaches his first game away at Newcastle on Sunday, August 23rd, his aggressive, hardworking, attacking brand of football will speak for him.

Iraola has been tasked with bringing back the excitement to the Kop after a lack lustre season of playing negative football under Arne Slot. After a short holiday back in his home town of San Sebastian with wife Itziar and their two young children and enjoying his main hobby of cycling, he has returned for the challenge of putting Liverpool back in the top four. If anyone can do it, he can.

Arsenal not scared of £137m price tag for Vinicius Jr

This could amount to nothing, but you never know in football. Arsenal believe they have a more than 50% chance of signing Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr this summer.

The Brazilian has only 12 months to go on his current contract and negotiations, I am told, are not going too well. I have heard that Real do not want to lose him but neither do they want him to go at the end of his contract, and they get nothing in terms of a transfer fee. Therefore, they have put a price tag of £137 million on Vinicius Jr which has not scared Arsenal away. Real’s old warhorse manager Jose Mourinho has pledged to keep his winger.

Bukayo Saka is currently the Gunner’s top wage earner on £375k a week but they are looking at offering the charismatic Brazilian over £400k! Incredible money!

Arsenal are encouraged because Real are close to signing Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig and he would be an ideal replacement for Vinicius Jr. I am hearing that nothing is arranged as yet.

Mikel Arteta met with his recruitment executives to discuss the possibility of buying Vincius Jr, and he pointed out that Arsenals have so far not had a good summer bringing in fresh elite talent. They lost the battle for Morgan Rogers who joined Chelsea for £117million and Leicester City winger Jeremy Monga went to Manchester City.

Manchester City fight to hold on to Rodri

Can Manchester City keep World Cup hero Rodri? (Reuters Photo)

World Cup Golden Ball winner Rodri has stirred up the interest of several top European clubs with his best player in the tournament performances.

Most importantly, he came through the competition without injury and proved that he is not so likely to miss matches despite returning to the UK for a back operation, but he is expected to be back and ready to play very quickly. Manchester City are hoping they can retain his services for the new season but a new contract has been on the table unsigned for some time. His current contract expires at the end of June next year, when he will be 31-years-of-age.

Rodri has hinted previously that he could be tempted with a move to Real Madrid. Interestingly, he said, “Having played for Atletico in 2018/19 before, it would not prevent me from playing for Real Madrid. Other players have done it before.”

Josko Gvardiol has ignored interest from Real and signed a new five-year contract. The defender from Croatia became the third City player to accept a new deal with Phil Foden and Abdukodir Khusanov also extending their contracts. Gvardiol said, “This is a world-class squad that is young and full of potential. I truly believe we will have a lot of success in the coming years.”

Iraola faces defensive challenge at Liverpool

You never quite know where you are with Liverpool and their defence. Last summer, Marc Guehi was so close to being transferred to Anfield that the staff at Crystal Palace made a wonderful farewell video for him such was his popularity with players and assistants. The move collapsed at the 11th hour when the Palace chairman changed his mind. Ibrahima Konate was close to signing a year’s extension to his contract, but then he left suddenly and followed Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid on a free transfer.

It is now less than four weeks until Andoni Iraola supervises his first match working for Liverpool and his defence is looking thin. Joe Gomez, their play anywhere go to defender, pulled up in a pre-season friendly against Sunderland in Nashville, Tennessee, USA and it was his ninth injury period since the start of the 2023/4 season. Captain Virgil van Dijk has been away on holiday following time off after his World Cup appearances for Holland. Iraola has not been able to spend any time with his defensive players as yet.

He insists Liverpool have two world-class talents in youngsters Jeremy Jacquet, 21 years-of-age, and Giovanni Leoni, only 19 years-of-age, who was signed 12 months ago from Parma. The problem is, despite how good Liverpool think these two youngsters are, they have zero minutes of Premier League experience. Captain Van Dijk is now 35 years-of-age and Gomez 29, so the need to sign a new defender is the highest priority at Anfield.

Martinez ready for United

Lisandro Martinez is ready to be included in Manchester United’s opening game of the season away at Premier League new boys Hull City on August 22nd. The Argentine, 28 years-of-age, limped off with a thigh injury in their World Cup 1-0 loss to eventual winners Spain. He was, however, named in the Team of the Tournament.

Arsenal’s Christos Tzolis could be a good buy

There are a lot of reasons why Arsenal supporters have written to me to ask why the club have spent £34million on 24-year-old winger Christos Tzolis.

The fact is, I am not sure because his career is so up and down that it almost makes you giddy. Even staff at the Emirates stadium seem a little unsure of him.

Tzolis was a child superstar in Greece since the age of seven. His first Greek team, PAOK were not surprised when Barcelona came knocking on the door after he put in an impressive performance against them. He scored one and assisted another and Barca checked and found that he had scored 100 goals in a single season for the Greek sides’ youth team.

Tzolis is renowned for being level-headed, humble and his main desire is to play for the team and not himself. A nightmare three seasons at Norwich harmed his career and he was loaned out for two of those years. He was only 19 when he joined the Canaries for £9.3million. But he was sidelined, and it took a period playing for Belgian team Brugge where he rebuilt his career, scoring 43 goals and making 45 assists in 108 games over two seasons.

Tzolis can play out on the left, but he can also be useful as a No10, and he set up Reiss Nelson in a behind closed doors friendly match against MK Dons which Arsenal won 3-0.

He models his game on legend David Villa and he certainly has an eye for scoring. He possesses pace and aggressiveness explosions of speed and is very good at positional play. He is a perfect fit for Mikel Arteta’s style and strategy and if everything goes well he could impress in the Premier League.

Why Chelsea need Henderson and Welbeck

At first glance supporters of Chelsea might ask “Why are the Blues signing two mid-thirties veteran players”?

Jordan Henderson is 36 years-of-age and Danny Welbeck 35. Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso explains, that is the point. Both players have proved themselves over and again at club level and on the international stage. Their experience will be very valuable to Chelsea, and they have been brought in to provide leadership both on the field and in the dressing room, but most of all to give Chelsea’s young players more confidence to avoid yellow and red cards this coming season. Chelsea’s discipline record is dreadful and last season they suffered the highest number of red cards in the league. 84 yellows isn’t particularly high, but 8 red cards mean you no longer have 11 players on the pitch and that is where the problem lies.

Three players who could leave Stamford Bridge

We are about to see how newly installed coach Xabi Alonso is progressing with rebuilding his Chelsea team. On Saturday, August 1st they play Tottenham. The following Wednesday, the challenge is Juventus, August 8th AC Milan and they entertain Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on the 15th.

Three players who need to impress Alonso or face the exit door if they fail to do so, include striker Liam Delap. He cost only £30million from Ipswich after scoring 12 goals but failed to find the net after suffering injury and discipline problems. He managed only two goals in total last season but he did put one away when Chelsea beat Barcelona in the Champions League. With Joao Pedro, Marc Guiu and Emmanuel Emegha all competing for the same position Delap might well end up the loser.

Wesley Fofana has an equally tough challenge as Chelsea have several centre-backs and that was the case even before they showed interest in Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix. Fofana is certainly a talent, but at 25 years-of-age he has suffered many fitness problems. Regrettably, he has attracted more attention for motor driving penalties in his Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Lamborghini Urus and he has ten convictions! If Alonso plays with a back three then he has a chance to make one of them his own but he must step up and show his quality on the pitch, not as a racing driver!

Jamie Gittens was Chelsea’s forgotten player last season. Still only 21 years-of-age, he arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £48.5million but started only five games before a hamstring injury ended his season in February. He is fit again, but the club has signed Morgan Rogers and the Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian, who will also be available for the right wing position.

Jorell Hato has been gifted a chance to impress now Marc Cucurella has gone to Real Madrid. Hato can play centre-back or left-back and the 20-year-old must grab his opportunity because Chelsea are already in talks with Rayo Vallecano’s Pep Chavarria.

Can Unai Emery make Alejandro Garnacho a winner?

The big question Aston Villa fans are asking is whether Alejandro Garnacho was worth taking on loan from Chelsea? The Villa hierarchy have every faith in Unai Emery to coach the very best from the 22-year-old. Emery is known for taking players who have experienced tough times at their previous clubs and turning around their careers. He is credited in rescuing the careers of Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Joao Felix. Garnacho has definite qualities but his attitude often lets him down, painting him as a moody spoilt child who sparkled at Manchester United but bombed out at Chelsea.

Villa lost 4-2 to La Liga side Real Sociedad this week, but Emery kept Garnacho on the bench so he can introduce him into the squad slowly.

Let us see how Unai gets on with the youngster, because if he fails too, then it is unlikely Garnacho will play for another Premier League club and Europe might be his only option.

I will make Tottenham great again, says De Zerbi

Tottenham’s hierarchy seem to be good to their word and are backing Roberto De Zerbi all the way with £237million worth of signings so far for the new season. Midfielders Mateus Fernandes, 22, and Sandro Tonali, 26 joined from West Ham and Newcastle. Dutch centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke arrived from Brighton and free transfers have brought in goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and Andy Robertson to boost De Zerbi’s squad.

De Zerbi says he rarely gets more than four hours sleep these days because he is so busy and commented, “We have not finished yetI spoke a lot of the time with the owners and with the board of directors. They want to build a very strong team for this season but also create one for the future to bring back the glory days.”

De Zerbi admits that upfront the squad could do with more strength because at the moment Dejan Kulusevski, Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are all out injured. James Maddison is still being treated carefully because of his long term injury but he more than makes up for missing games with his dressing room presence where players listen to him and he holds court.

Romero’s agents in talks with Inter Milan

Tottenham have entered into talks with Inter Milan over the possibility of the Italian giants signing club captain Cristian Romero. The World Cup winning player has endured a difficult time recently at Tottenham serving several separate suspensions during the 2025/6 season. Centre-back Romero has made 156 appearances for Spurs since joining them in 2021, and he led them to their Europa League success last year. Van Hecke’s arrival from Brighton made it easy for Tottenham to give permission to Romero’s representatives to talk to Inter, and they visited the Italian side’s headquarters last weekend.

– Ends

Published By:

Akshay Ramesh

Published On:

Aug 3, 2026 13:52 IST