‘Change them all!’ 😬 What do Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United need this summer? | ESPN FC

Time for a kind of transfer talk speculation with a twist, Shaka Heslop. We're going to go through some of the clubs in the Premier League, but I only want you to give me either one name or one position that they most need. Start with Manchester City. They're not getting Bellingham. He's off to Real Madrid. So is it that position or is there a player that could be gettable that they need? What do you reckon for City? That's a tough one because we are talking about a club as we record. That's won two trophies. That's in the Champions League final. So who's the one player that makes them better? I'm not so sure that there's an answer to that in all honesty. I'm going to say stick. Just keep going. Go with who you have, what you got. Their biggest signing, their best signing might be to give Gundo in a two-year deal. Absolutely. So when I say stick, whoever's on the roster right now, just stick with it. Don't take away, don't add, or I can't think of anybody to add off the top of my head. Okay. Arsenal. You look at the left-back area and Zinchenko's played Dermot at the end of the season through injury. Kieran Tierney probably going to go away. Joao Cancelo has been linked with them. Obviously Declan Rice in the middle of the park. But if it's one position or one player, is it a midfielder or is it a left-back? Defensive midfielder for me. I think that's what Arsenal need most. Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, I think can be improved on, both. Xhaka moving on. I have to say, I thought Thomas Partey would be a little bit more of a leader. So they need somebody who can sit in front of that back four and be a leader for us. Liverpool. Looks like Alexis McAllister could be the piece of the jigsaw that will kick things off. And if it is to be him, do they need more or is that just a good start if they get him? I think they need more. And again, I'll add in midfield as probably the greatest need. I just feel that for as good as Liverpool's midfield has been, it's time for freshening up. You've added McAllister. I think that's just one of a needed few steps, few improvements that Liverpool need. I'm thinking another midfielder alongside McAllister as the next most urgent need. And I'm thinking for Manchester United, something, somewhere, someone in the spine of the team. So is it a striker? Is it a goalkeeper? Or is it a midfielder or maybe even a centre-back that's the most pressing for them? And if you've got a name for me, then even better. Most pressing? Striker. There's a need for all those that you just mentioned, but most pressing for me? Striker. I think what that allows is Rashford to play in what I think is his best, and I'll assume it's his preferred position, coming from the wide areas. And if Rashford continues playing as he is, you all of a sudden have got two for the price of one in allowing Rashford to, as I say, play in what I think has been his most effective role for Manchester United. But that being said, that's not the end of the shopping list at all. But you've only allowed me, you've only allowed, like a typical Scotsman, only opened up your purse enough for me to buy 100 million players. I'm not telling you which currency, Euros or pounds or dollars. By the way, just off on a little bit of a related tangent, if it was a case of, we'll give you what they're giving you, we'll give you everything that they're giving you, so it's a choice for Harry Kane between Real Madrid and Man United. Who does he go with? Aye, if it were me, I'd go Real Madrid. It's not you, though. No, it's not. And that's the thing, for all the, again, talk about Premier League goalscoring records, and truth be told, nobody's heard from Harry Kane on this. He's not the one who said, I want to stay here and break Premier League goalscoring records, not as far as I'm aware. That's everybody else has kind of done that speculation for it. But if the choice is going to Real Madrid or staying in Manchester United and breaking the Premier League goalscoring record, I choose Real Madrid. That's me. Others may think that Harry is doing differently. But as I said, as far as I'm aware, Harry's not the one who said that. Oh, he can always come back if he does leave the Premier League and maybe in his mid-30s still have a chance of eclipsing that record. To your former club, Newcastle United, I get the feeling they're going to spend big on one marquee signing this transfer window. I don't. I don't. I've been seeing this all along. When I went to Newcastle just over 12 months ago, back end of... To be awarded the freedom of the city, I believe. I went to Newcastle, and as it happens, a few people that were there, the backroom staff, were still there. So it was good to catch up with them. Steve Harper, who was my teammate, is now the director of the Newcastle Academy, so it's good to catch up with him. But the general feeling at the club is Newcastle aren't going to go into the market for a big marquee signing that certainly the tabloids had been speculating on. It was that they were going to continue adding sensibly as they had done all along. Signing of Alexander Izak is a perfect example. Not the big name signing that many thought Newcastle would be going after. Last summer, they were talking about Neymar, not Mbappe. Anyway, not that big name signing, but where it was needed, and what definitely improves the squad without making the squad all about them or taking away from the camaraderie within that dressing room. So while there'll be speculation, I am going to say no. Until that Kylian Mbappe or Neymar or whoever it may be arrives, I don't think it happens, and I don't see it happening. Is there a position that they need to strengthen? Because the right-hand side of attack was what we were talking about last summer, but Micky Almiron came in and had a really good season. Dan Burns, another one, playing at left fullback. Yeah, he did well, but if someone like Cancelo or others are out there, that would be an upgrade. So I think this is interesting for Newcastle. I get what you're saying, but if the right player becomes available, it won't upset the apple cart. They've got the money to do so. Yeah, if I'm adding one player, it's on that right-hand side. Almiron has been absolutely outstanding. I don't change the defence at all. We are talking about the joint midfielder's defence in the Premier League. I don't think there's any need to address that. I get your point. But if I am changing things, I am doing one of two things. I'll tell you who I think is first on my shopping list, if I can only get one. An out-and-out striker. Listen, I like Callum Wilson, but he suffered injuries and as a result was a little bit inconsistent as a leading attacker. I think one of the strengths of Alexander Isak on your team is Isak can play either as a one, as an out-and-out striker himself, as part of a two, or he can play in a wide area in a front three. I think Isak is far more versatile than I think many people may recognise. I'm going to say that gets credit for that. Many people may recognise. So I would buy that out-and-out striker. I think that gives me a lot of option in how I set up offensively going forward. So that even comes before I start looking at strengthening on the right-hand side of my attack. Because good strikers are cheap. Two more teams to go. Spurs. I don't want you left in charge of my finances, please. You've just spent a hundred million of them. I can dream. I can dream. They're getting nothing from me. You're getting absolutely hee-haw from Stevie Nickle, but that's another story. Two teams to go. I'm intrigued to see how Antroposta Koglu, who's done great himself, he's a super manager. I hope he does well, because if he doesn't do well, then the boot can be stuck into Scottish football. It's just a two-team league, maybe even a one-team league. If he does well down there, what he's done everywhere he's gone, then I think that'll be a good thing for Antroposta Koglu, for Australian football, and for Scottish football as well. But if he loses Kane, is the striker the main priority, or which position is, given that the defence wasn't great last season, and they've got a goalkeeper that's now leaving, so there's a lot of things he needs to do. What's the most pressing? Yeah. Who's the other club to go? Chelsea. Kenneth Ferguson, so you know. Right now, I think my approach for both those clubs is, I know you're asking me for one player, but get a big red Sharpie and just circle the entire field. Just draw a big circle around it. I say, yep, there. That's what you need most. But in all honesty, I think I do that with Spurs more than I do that with Chelsea. I think Chelsea desperately, desperately need a striker, because they have talent in that dress room. Chelsea football club. They've got a lot of players as well. It falls on because they don't have a striker, and then everybody's trying to figure out the role to make up for that. And it hasn't allowed those very talented players to be, let's be frank here, at all good, in many instances. So I think a striker addresses Chelsea's immediate need. For Spurs, let me put it this way. If Spurs keep Harry Kane, I circle the entire field, I just kind of make a little loop around Harry Kane. Everybody else is available. Everybody, every other position, bar, centre, forward. I'll say Hung Min Son as well, just because I like Son. Not that he was anywhere near as good as we expected him to be last season. Let's be honest, he was a little bit disappointed last season. But I like Son. I put that dog to one of those seasons, I'm keeping him. So now we're in the market for nine players. I can't pick one after that. I can't pick one position after that. Well, the other thing is though, they've got like six centre-backs, and Antropos Takoglu's preference is a 4-3-3, that the two full-backs kind of push forward into midfield, take turns and do that. So this is the issue with chopping and changing managers. One guy comes in, Conte likes a back three, and you've got someone that prefers a back four, so you've got surplus of centre-backs. You've got left-backs that are better at left-wing back and then have to go back to left-back. He's got some job on his hands. It kind of sounds like you want to borrow my big Sharpie, Mark. That's what I got. They're like Zorro. It's like Chelsea, Shaka. You've got loads of players, they've got too many players. Spurs, not as many. But at Chelsea, you've got to get red before you can bring in. I think the bottom line is, there's a lot of work for several of the teams that we've mentioned. I think Manchester City right now is the team that's probably sitting pretty. But work to be done in the transfer market.