Premier League clubs' transfer needs: Arsenal, Man City, Spurs

The 2024-25 Premier League is underway. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool underlined their status as favourites to challenge for the title with opening weekend wins. Manchester United made a winning start after last season's eighth-place finish, but Chelsea already have a loss in their column after losing their first game under new coach Enzo Maresca.

But although the season is up and running, all of the top teams still have work to do in the transfer market before the summer window deadline on Aug 30.

Some teams have more to do than others, but with less than two week to go before the window closes, what are the top priorities before the biggest clubs in the days ahead?

MANCHESTER CITY

You only need to look at the City substitutes' bench during the 2-0 opening weekend win at Chelsea to know that there is little wrong with Pep Guardiola's squad. Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Nathan Aké were all left out of the starting lineup, while Guardiola didn't even select Rodri for the trip due to the Spain midfielder being given extra time to recover from his exertions at Euro 2024.

On the pitch, summer signing Savinho enjoyed an impressive debut on the right flank of the forward line, while Mateo Kovacic was outstanding in the role usually occupied by Rodri. But while all looks great for Guardiola and City, the one area of concern in the squad is up front.

The £82 million exit of Julián Álvarez to Atletico Madrid, as well as the £20m departure of young forward Liam Delap to Ipswich, has left City short of cover in the attack. If Erling Haaland stays fit between now and mid-July, when City could be playing in the FIFA Club World Cup final, Guardiola will have nothing to worry about. But Haaland is not going to play every game over the next 11 months, meaning City will need to sign a new forward.

Brentford's Ivan Toney is an obvious domestic target, and a fee in the region of £50m will be no problem for City, but signing a top striker to act as cover for Haaland won't be easy.

ARSENAL

It has been a relatively quiet summer at the Emirates, as the big leap forward to build a squad capable of finally ending a 21-year wait for the title hasn't happened. Riccardo Calafiori, the £42m Bologna defender, has been the only significant addition to Mikel Arteta's squad, while Emile Smith Rowe's £34m move to Fulham has been the only big departure.

Throughout last season, the big question about Arsenal was whether they had the firepower upfront to win the title, but despite the lack of a true centre-forward, they still scored 91 goals -- second only to City -- in 38 league games. Kai Havertz continues to score big goals for the Gunners, though Arteta's team would still become so much more dangerous if they could add a genuine striker.

Interest in Brentford and England forward Toney hasn't materialised and Arsenal look set to go with the squad they already have. But if Arteta wants to make his team even stronger, he should push the owners hard to deliver a centre-forward before the deadline.

LIVERPOOL

Much of the noise surrounding Liverpool this summer has been about the lack of signings following the appointment of Arne Slot as head coach to follow on from Jurgen Klopp. Slot has said that he is unfazed by the club's failure to add to the squad, adding that the unsuccessful move for Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi will not prompt him to look at a Plan B. Slot wanted Zubimendi and nobody else for the No. 6 role, so Liverpool are not actively pursuing another midfielder at this stage.

Saturday's win at Ipswich highlighted the strength and depth of the Liverpool squad, so there is no real urgency to bring in new players. The real issue that Liverpool must address is the contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could all leave as free agents next summer if they don't sign new deals.