Manchester United have certainly caught the imagination this summer, signing one of Europe’s most exciting young defenders in Victor Lindelof and paying a huge fee for prolific front-man Romelu Lukaku – easily one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League.

But on the outward front, the Red Devils have incurred a massive loss in the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish striker may have only been at Old Trafford for one season but he was so vital to results during Jose Mourinho’s debut campaign in charge and clearly had a huge say in the dressing room.

Likewise, although United have made two major signings, a number of their divisional rivals have been equally if not more proactive in the transfer market this summer.

So, United supporters, bearing not only your club’s swoops but also those of the rest of the top seven in mind, is Mourinho’s side actually in a stronger position now than at the end of last season?

Let us know by voting below…

In a bid to land Inter star Antonio Candreva, Chelsea are willing to offer defender Andreas Christensen in a player plus cash deal.

According to Tuttosport (via the Daily Express), Conte is keen to land the 30-year-old, who is valued at £17million by Transfermarkt, and sees him as the perfect right wing-back for his now famous 3-5-2 system.

Andreas Christensen, the man who could reportedly be sent to Inter in exchange for Candreva, has spent the last two season on loan in Germany, at Borussia Monchengladbach. The 21-year-old was a regular feature in the Bundesliga and performed with the maturity and confidence of a player far beyond his years of experience.

However, for some reason, the Danish international is not deemed to be part of Antonio Conte’s plans and it seems that Inter could well be his destination this summer.

Upon hearing the news, Chelsea fans took to social media to express their thoughts…

Liverpool’s former captain Steven Gerrard is feeling confident that the club will be part of the Premier League title race this summer.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has recruited three new players this summer so far, in the form of Dominic Solanke, Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson.

The transfer window has not gone that smoothly for the Reds, though, with rumoured targets Naby Keita and Virgil van Dijk still at their respective clubs, while the future of Philippe Coutinho remains in doubt. With the Brazilian’s exit looking likely, SportNation.bet have boosted the price of Liverpool to win the Premier League to 20/1.

Despite this, Gerrard has decided to stay positive and believes that the new signings and the current crop of stars can finish second behind Manchester City in the league this season.

The Mirror quotes Gerrard as saying:

“Liverpool look really dangerous on the counter. If they can learn how to break teams down at home and defend a bit better, I think they are a force.”

The ex-England captain believes that Liverpool’s arch rivals Manchester United will claim third place, while reigning champions Chelsea will sneak fourth.

Liverpool, who secured the final Champions League spot in the 2016-17 campaign, will begin the new season with a trip to Watford on Saturday and you can keep up to date with all the Liverpool in comings and outgoings at SportNation.com.

“We met at Stamford Bridge. I took them into one of the Millennium Boxes and within about 15 minutes we’d done the deal.”

That’s how former Chelsea Chief Executive Trevor Birch recounted the seminal moment in 2003 when he took Roman Abramovich and his advisors into a room and agreed the outline of a deal to sell the club to its current owner.

It only took 15 minutes, but that may well have been the most important quarter of an hour in English football’s history. Within a year, Claudio Ranieri had been replaced with Champions League winning manager Jose Mourinho, and Chelsea were never to be the same club ever again.

When you look at the history of billionaires taking over English football clubs, Chelsea is the first in a long line, but even with their success over the last decade it is almost impossible to match that first season under Jose Mourinho.

In many ways, that is Mourinho’s most underrated achievement. From winning two European titles in two years with unfancied Porto in the unfashionable Portuguese league, to dethroning the fabled Barcelona of Pep Guardiola to win an unprecedented treble with Inter Milan, perhaps it’s not surprising that the Portuguese coach’s first season at Stamford Bridge is neglected when the laurel wreaths are being handed out.

He may have won the Premier League, and even the League Cup, but failure to progress past February in the FA Cup and losing out in the Champions League semi-final to a Luis Garcia ‘ghost goal’ perhaps mean that Mourinho’s first great Chelsea team go somewhat under the radar.

There are a few reasons for that. Just the previous year, Arsenal had gone the entire Premier League season unbeaten, and so the sight of Chelsea winning the league having started the campaign with a Champions League winning manager and seemingly infinite money was less than edifying. Perhaps some – in the Arsene Wenger mould – might have seen it as morally dubious. And given their inability to go unbeaten, well, money can’t buy you love.

The other reason it might not be held up as the Mourinho pinnacle is that Chelsea won the league once again the next year, but by then the coach had continued his squad overhaul.

It was a team which wasn’t yet built in Mourinho’s image, and comprising of players like Scott Parker, Jiri Jarosik and Alexey Smertin, all of whom left the club at the end of the season. That’s in fitting with Mourinho’s normal timetable.

The overhaul comes after the first season, and the second is when the masterstroke really happens: as a manager, he’s so good at identifying weaknesses – both in his own team and the opposition – but although the team he had in the second season is probably a better one than he had in the first triumph, the first title victory was better.

Not only did Chelsea win the league, but they did with the best defence the Premier League has ever seen, conceding just 15 goals and winning by a 12-point margin. They were almost unstoppable – certainly barely penetrable.

A settled side has always been a Mourinho hallmark. The accusation that he doesn’t know his best team will rarely be levelled at him, even if his tactical pragmatism sometimes leads to selection choices with the opposition rather than his own team in mind. That settled side saw five players make over 50 appearances for the club that season. One of them was, unsurprisingly, Claude Makelele, who carved out a new position which is now named after him.

That immovable defensive unit is why Mourinho’s first season in English football is in the record books having conceded 15 goals in 38 games, and it’s why it will be remembered, even if Arsenal’s victory the season before gets the glory of being invincible.

Arsenal fans have a song about that season, and the world knows the team as the Invincibles. They are revered and respected; they are legendary. But few remember that Mourinho’s Chelsea went so very close to the same feat. They lost only once.

It shows the price of one failure when the margins are that tight. One rainy day in Manchester, when Chelsea were felled by a Nicolas Anelka penalty and Mourinho lost his first game in English football to Stuart Pearce: that’s the only reason that 2004/05 Chelsea aren’t widely seen as the best team in the history of the Premier League with not only the best defence, but the invincible one.

That defeat, though, may just have been what they needed to achieve such high levels in Mourinho’s first season. In the next game they faced Blackburn Rovers and won 4-0.

In the nine games immediately after the defeat in Manchester, Chelsea scored four goals on six occasions. It was as if they knew the chance at immortality had departed and Chelsea blazed to whatever glory they could grasp in a whirlwind of fury at the injustice of the world.

It’s not that Chelsea don’t get the credit for a near-perfect season. Nor is it the case that Jose Mourinho and his initial Chelsea machine is overlooked in the Pantheon of the great teams of history.

But Manchester United’s 1999 treble-winning side and Arsenal’s Invincibles are often held to loftier heights, not because the teams were obviously better, but because their achievements are more symbolic, more seminal. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Roman Abramovich era is the Champions League victory in 2012, one that eluded Mourinho at the club.

It shows how difficult an unbeaten season is. And it shows how difficult a treble is. Those feats are worshipped for a reason, and Chelsea – despite coming incredibly close to doing both – didn’t quite make it.

And it also shows that, whatever happens in football’s future, and however much is spent by clubs, there are still some things that may never be repeated – United’s treble, Arsenal’s Invincibles and Chelsea’s 15 goals conceded are feats which will likely never be repeated again. Or if they are, we’ll be witnessing a very special team indeed.

Chelsea’s original Premier League winning side deserves to be spoken of in the same vein as those other greats, and they should be considered Chelsea’s greatest side.

And even if Trevor Birch’s 15 minute meeting in 2003 changed the face of the Premier League forever, it was only a year later when his club’s defining season took place.

Tottenham Hotspur are the latest Premier League side to show an interest in Werder Bremen midfielder Thomas Delaney, Weser Kurier reports.

What’s the story?

The summer transfer window may have only just closed but numerous Premier League clubs are already plotting up early plans for January and the end of the current season, with a number of top-flight sides eyeing the same signatures.

Tottenham Hotspur, along with Everton and Burnley, are reported by German outlet Weser Kurier to be tracking the services of Werder Bremen’s Danish international Thomas Delaney- a compatriot of SPurs star Christian Eriksen.

The 26-year-old is said to be ready to swap the Bundesliga for the Premier League, though The Sun claim he rejected the chance to join Burnley this summer, and that opens the door for Mauricio Pochettino’s side to swoop- although a deal won’t happen until the end of the season.

How will he fit in?

Tottenham have enjoyed a remarkable few years but Pochettino’s side are under pressure to continue their rise. Fortunately, a vastly talented squad means that’s very achievable and their midfield is bursting with talent- which raises questions as to where Thomas Delaney would fit in.

A creative midfielder who boasts a strong record of five goals for club and country in the past three games, Delaney would give Pochettino’s side more depth in the attacking third; where the club are often reliant on Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.

Having Delaney would add a new dimension to Spurs’ attack and would bolster the depth within the squad, which will be crucial as the Lilywhites are aiming to become regulars in the latter stages of the competition and that will test the squad.

Tottenham Hotspur will have to take on Real Madrid, Liverpool and Arsenal for the signature of Borussia Dortmund star Christian Pulisic, according to Transfermarketweb.

What’s the word?

The USA international has caught the eye of many since breaking into Dortmund’s first team last year.

Despite being just 19 years of age, the attacking player has become a regular figure, making 64 appearances in total, scoring 10 times and creating 14 assists.

Transfermarketweb reports that Pulisic, who has 16 international caps to his name, is a target for Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Real Madrid.

The teenager’s current contract at the Westfalenstadion does not expire until 2020.

Do Tottenham have a chance?

Given Mauricio Pochettino’s proven track record of developing young players, the North London club would be a suitable destination for Pulisic.

If the midfielder does decide to move on from Dortmund, then he will need to think of progression rather than choosing the biggest club.

Moving to Madrid would be a huge risk as he is unlikely to be handed regular playing time and if he does not hit the ground running, he could end up fading away.

Tottenham would be able to offer more first-team football, as well as guidance to help develop Pulisic’s game.

However, if Arsenal and Liverpool are also sniffing around, then Pochettino will need to do what he can to convince the USA midfielder to choose Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks received his first England call-up on Monday, and West Ham United fans weren’t impressed that he had been picked over Mark Noble.

Following Fabian Delph’s withdrawal from the squad due to injury, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate needed to pick a midfielder to replace the Manchester City man ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania.

But rather than look for an experienced player like Noble – who is yet to receive a call up for his country – Southgate opted to promote Winks from the Under-21 squad despite the fact that he has played just 301 minutes of football for Spurs this term.

West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on the new via social media, and while some believe it will have sent Noble “over the edge”, others simply said it was an “absolutely shocking” decision by Southgate.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

England rounded off their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign with a 1-0 win over Lithuania on Sunday night.

It was another lacklustre performance from the Three Lions, but it was another victory as Harry Kane, who netted from the penalty spot, made the difference for the second successive match.

It was Kane’s Tottenham Hotspur teammate Harry Winks that made perhaps the biggest impression, however, with the 21-year-old handed his international debut.

Winks was a late call-up to the squad after both Phil Jones and Fabian Delph dropped out, and Southgate handed him the chance to impress on Sunday night.

It is difficult to get too excited about England’s hopes ahead of the World Cup, but Winks at least provided some quality in the middle of the park.

The midfielder took to Twitter after the match to reveal his delight, and the Tottenham supporters were out in force to pay tribute to ‘one of their own’.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be found below:

According the the IB Times, Southampton and Newcastle are chasing former Leeds United star Alfonso Pedraza, who is currently playing with Alaves in La Liga.

What’s the Story?

Considered one of the most promising young players to come out of Villarreal’s academy in a number of years, Alfonso Pedraza is being watched closely by Newcastle and Southampton, according to latest reports.

Technically still a Villarreal player, Pedraza has been loaned out to Alaves for the season, his third such move in just 12 months. The 21-year-old spent time with CD Lugo at the start of the 2016/17 before moving to Leeds on a temporary deal in January.

How good has Pedraza been this season?

While the young winger failed to make an impression at Elland Road, his performances for Alaves this season have generated interest around Europe. Pedraza has thrived in a left-back role, something that was never in his repertoire until his move to the Babazorros.

Featuring in 9 games for Alaves, Pedraza has been able to demonstrated his untapped defensive potential while never losing his phenomenal attacking threat. Despite his current club lying in 19th position, the Spanish youngster has been a revelation, which is why Premier League clubs are chasing his signature.

Southampton or Newcastle?

Valued at just £900k by Transfermarkt, Pedraza would be affordable for both Southampton and Newcastle.

The Spaniard will likely want to join the club who can offer more first-team football. With Ryan Bertrand an almost immovable fixture in the Saints team, it seems that Newcastle may be a more appropriate destination for the 21-year-old.

It has now been more than three weeks since Everton sacked Ronald Koeman following a poor start to the season, yet they appear to be no closer to appointing the Dutchman’s long-term successor.

The 54-year-old was relieved of his duties after the 5-2 home defeat by Arsenal last month, with David Unsworth placed in temporary charge to presumably give the Toffees hierarchy more time to make the right decision on should be the new manager.

While Unsworth will have seen it as his opportunity to stake his claim for the job, three successive defeats against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, Leicester City in the Premier League and Lyon in the Europa League – which led to the club’s early exit from the competition – look to have ended the chances of that happening.

While the incredible turnaround that saw Everton come from 2-0 down to beat Watford 3-2 at Goodison Park before the international break could prove to be a turning point, they shouldn’t really have found themselves in the original position anyway.

It seems unlikely that Unsworth will be handed the job on a full-time basis – although he could be in charge for the visit to bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace this weekend considering the lack of progress made.

Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that Sam Allardyce was out of the running after the Merseyside outfit refused to give him a deal beyond the end of the season, while they also haven’t had any talks with Burnley’s Sean Dyche despite the fact that he has been one of the bookmakers’ favourites from the start.

Everton suffered their latest setback on Monday when The Independent revealed that an approach for Watford’s Marco Silva had been rejected, and the Hornets expect the matter to now be closed considering the 40-year-old reportedly doesn’t have a release clause in the contract he signed when he was appointed in the summer.

That will certainly be a huge blow for the Toffees but it does seem to highlight the lack of organisation and forward planning from the majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright.

Surely the duo should have had a good idea of who might be available and whether potential candidates like Silva had a release clause before they wielded the axe on Koeman?

It appears not though, and the longer the uncertainty continues the more it could affect performances on the pitch, and they certainly don’t need that in what is a huge game against Roy Hodgson’s side on Saturday.

It seems to be more and more likely that Everton will either pay through the roof for Silva, or they will be forced to give the job until Unsworth until May.

To be honest it all stinks of bad planning and it goes back to their transfer dealings during the summer, when they failed to bring in a Romelu Lukaku replacement – which was absolutely crucial considering the number of goals he scored last season – as well as adding some much-needed pace or significantly boosting an ageing defence.

They also brought in three players – Gylfi Sigurdsson, Davy Klaassen and Wayne Rooney – that all want to play in the same No 10 role and were often shoehorned into wide positons – while other additions like Cuco Martina and Sandro Ramirez have failed to make the grade.

Considering the money they spent, it has not proven to be a good investment when you look at the Premier League table.

The lack of preparation and poor decision-making on recruitment of players and a new manager certainly suggest that Everton are a long way away from competing with the top six clubs in the Premier League on a regular basis – which is ultimately Moshiri’s aim.

While you would expect them to make mistakes on their way to that point, it has certainly not been a good start and their squad as it stands would be lucky to finish in the top-half, let alone the top six.

With a poor defence, no cohesion up top, some poor summer additions and no manager, Everton have a lot of improvements to make over the next couple of seasons if they want to make an impact at the right end of the Premier League table, and the planning from the very top must improve significantly if they are to achieve that goal.