⚽ Premier League 2026/2027 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Abbatty]

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso's managerial stint with the Premier League club begins today as we look to see Chelsea take on Western Sydney Wanderers in a club-friendly match today. With the FIFA World Cup just over, it seems likely that some of the big stars who are rested will not be in the match.

In fact I think the former Madrid manager might be able to start the pre-season positively for Chelsea as every player in their squad has experience. Also, their opponents in this friendly match, Western Sydney Wanderers, are an inexperienced team so the English club might not have to rush to win against this team.

Finally an official match to begin Xabi Alonso Era at Chelsea. Though, he has played 2 matches behinds closed door in which they won in both 3-0. There are expectations about Xabi Alonso, considering what he did at Bayern leverkusen and also at Real Madrid, Chelsea believes he will bring the club back to where it belongs. Most of Chelsea big boys won’t be playing in this match tomorrow as they are still on their 3 weeks break after the World Cup.

For me I think it going to be a very easy win for Chelsea, I believe they will dominate this game all through and create a lot of chances. For I really would use this match to access the work Alonso have done at the club so far, and if he is the right coach for Chelsea.

[Solodoski]

A. Taylor is deciding to retire from refereeing the football games. So we won't see him refereeing EPL games anymore. this is the news that i have been waiting for more than a decade. I was always getting pissed off with many of his unfair decision. So he no longer give weird foul.

tbh, i am seeing him as the worst referee ever owned by PL. So his retirement is well deserved not only by him, but it's also for the clubs who always getting disadvantages over any of his weird decision.

I feel so so happy with this news! Does any of you guys have same feeling like me?

What took him this long? He has come of age to retire as a legend in refereeing.
Anothnoy Taylor is one of the few good referees in soccer. This news of his retirement has left a scar in my heart.
The referee I want to leave soon is Michael Oliver, not Taylor. However, we can't decide someone's fate.

[SmartCharpa]

I don’t really know why Aston villa decided to sign Garnacho, because i don’t see anything special about Garnacho. He played in Manchester United and Chelsea, but the funniest part is that he didn’t play anything special in those two teams. Garnacho was given opportunity to play in some matches, he was suppose to prove to the coach that he should be given more player time, but he failed, he ended up performing poorly in matches that he played.

Since he will be playing at Aston villa by next season, and am sure he will be given playing time at Aston villa, let’s see how he will perform when the season start, I just hope he won’t make Aston villa regret why they signed him, because Garnacho is not a player I will encourage any team to sign.

Chelsea fans are claiming that Manchester United scammed them for the Garnacho deal. Chelsea signed him after a wonderful seasons under Ruben Amorim and Ten Hag, but he was unable to continue with the performance at Chelsea. To be honest, I like Garnacho but I don’t like as he feels like he’s bigger than any club. A player who has not scored up to 10 goals in a single season, his highest goals in a season at Manchester United was 7 in the 2023/2024 season.

The Aston Villa manager, I think Unai Emery is impressed with Garnacho, because how could you sell your key player for huge amounts of money and loan Garnacho from the same club? I think Aston Villa is trying to be smart here, they don’t want to sign any expensive player this summer. Maybe they will send him back to Chelsea, as they did with Rashford.

[Issa56]

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso recently approved the signature of Dani Wellbeck from Brighton. With this update it means between players like Liam Delap and Nicholas Jackson most likely to leave.

It’s going to be better if Chelsea sign Dani wellbeck, he is an experience player which is really going to help Chelsea by next season. Honestly Chelsea should just allow Liam Delap go, he is a terrible player which won’t be useful for Chelsea. I don’t know what happened to Liam Delap, but his performance was just so terrible last season, I will say he is the worst signing of the season. Delap didn’t make any impact on Chelsea last season, Alonso should just sell him, I don’t think there will be any improvement in his performance even if he stays.

Jackson has been given opportunity so many times to prove himself, but Jackson is not just a player thats suppose to be playing in a club like Chelsea. I will say Chelsea is to big for him to play, or maybe premier league is just so difficult for him to play, Chelsea should just sell Jackson also, Chelsea don’t want players that will pull them back by next season.

[EL MOHA]

It's was never going to be easy to replace Mohammed Salah, because I think he is one of the greatest player at Liverpool and his goals and assist contribution to the team can not be overlooked,  so they are really going to miss him and also find it very hard to replace him. It's a good suggestion that they find a way to bring in players that can share his goals and assist amongst themselves.  They are seriously interested in Barcola and I think he is also interested in a move to Liverpool,  but I still don't think he can replace Salah,  although he is a decent player,  but not at the level of Salah.  This is just my opinion and I open to other people's idea too.

To be honest Liverpool have a very big transfer window in their front because the replacement of the left wing position since Mane left and Luiz Diaz came and also left haven’t been well replaced yet with Gakpo who was deployed there to fill in the space wasn’t as convincing as they would want and that’s why they actually went for Barcola since the winter transfer, now with Salah departure then that leaves them with more open spaces to fill and to be sincere this players are actually not just players that bring in little contributions but the players that contributed to Liverpool 70% goals.

Yes Barcola will be e good signing but still I will say it depends on the amount they are getting him for because he cannot be the only winger arriving to the club, initially he was supposed to be the replacement needed for the left wing position which still leaves the Salah void empty and I think with Real Madrid getting Diomande then Liverpool should be looking into the direction of getting any of the players from Real Madrid with the likes of Rodrigo and Ibrahim Diaz the players that can easily get with less competition from others and also willingness of the club to sell will help out in the fees

[SmartCharpa]

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso recently approved the signature of Dani Wellbeck from Brighton. With this update it means between players like Liam Delap and Nicholas Jackson most likely to leave.

It’s going to be better if Chelsea sign Dani wellbeck, he is an experience player which is really going to help Chelsea by next season. Honestly Chelsea should just allow Liam Delap go, he is a terrible player which won’t be useful for Chelsea. I don’t know what happened to Liam Delap, but his performance was just so terrible last season, I will say he is the worst signing of the season. Delap didn’t make any impact on Chelsea last season, Alonso should just sell him, I don’t think there will be any improvement in his performance even if he stays.

Jackson has been given opportunity so many times to prove himself, but Jackson is not just a player thats suppose to be playing in a club like Chelsea. I will say Chelsea is to big for him to play, or maybe premier league is just so difficult for him to play, Chelsea should just sell Jackson also, Chelsea don’t want players that will pull them back by next season.

Delap and Garnacho are the worst signings for Chelsea last season. I was wondering what Chelsea was thinking when they signed Delap from Ipswich last season. This player could not help his team stay in the Premier League last season, yet they signed him. I don’t think Jackson is a worse signing for Chelsea; he contributed a lot to the team over the last few seasons. Chelsea assumed that signing Delap as a backup striker would help the club.

Xabi Alonso is not in a position to sell the players, but he has made it clear that Delap and some other players are not part of his plan for next season. Chelsea should keep Jackson instead of signing Wellbeck from Brighton. He’s an experienced striker, but Chelsea should consider his age. A 35 years old striker, they can sign him, but at least they still need Jackson to support the team.

[Cryptmuster]

It's was never going to be easy to replace Mohammed Salah, because I think he is one of the greatest player at Liverpool and his goals and assist contribution to the team can not be overlooked,  so they are really going to miss him and also find it very hard to replace him. It's a good suggestion that they find a way to bring in players that can share his goals and assist amongst themselves.  They are seriously interested in Barcola and I think he is also interested in a move to Liverpool,  but I still don't think he can replace Salah,  although he is a decent player,  but not at the level of Salah.  This is just my opinion and I open to other people's idea too.

I think Salah should have left Liverpool after this season. It all started with his conflict with Slot, which then turned into general dissatisfaction among the fans. Even though they eventually resolved their differences and he continued playing, the relationship was never the same. That was when I started to believe that Salah would leave Liverpool.

He's not getting any younger, and he can't run the way he used to. So I think Liverpool had to start looking for his replacement sooner or later. It's better to do it now than wait another season, when Salah's performances are likely to decline even further.

[Velvet78]

I think Salah should have left Liverpool after this season. It all started with his conflict with Slot, which then turned into general dissatisfaction among the fans. Even though they eventually resolved their differences and he continued playing, the relationship was never the same. That was when I started to believe that Salah would leave Liverpool.

He's not getting any younger, and he can't run the way he used to. So I think Liverpool had to start looking for his replacement sooner or later. It's better to do it now than wait another season, when Salah's performances are likely to decline even further.

I don't know whether Salah's downfall is mainly linked with his conflict with Slot. But it must have also had an affect though. However I believe the drop in his performance is mostly natural.

He had one of his career seasons a year ago and it was the total opposite after it... He is 34 now. Probably he will end up in Saudi Arabia or MLS. The Turkish side Beşiktaş was close to signing him though but failed after the increase in his agent's demands. 

[Umulala-alala]

I think Salah should have left Liverpool after this season. It all started with his conflict with Slot, which then turned into general dissatisfaction among the fans. Even though they eventually resolved their differences and he continued playing, the relationship was never the same. That was when I started to believe that Salah would leave Liverpool.

He's not getting any younger, and he can't run the way he used to. So I think Liverpool had to start looking for his replacement sooner or later. It's better to do it now than wait another season, when Salah's performances are likely to decline even further.

I don't know whether Salah's downfall is mainly linked with his conflict with Slot. But it must have also had an affect though. However I believe the drop in his performance is mostly natural.

He had one of his career seasons a year ago and it was the total opposite after it... He is 34 now. Probably he will end up in Saudi Arabia or MLS. The Turkish side Beşiktaş was close to signing him though but failed after the increase in his agent's demands. 

We can't really call it a down fall the team had a bad season so it also affected Mo Salah performance more over age is no longer with him, Salah has had his best football performance in Liverpool he was hard to stop in the premier league and Europa he has won almost everything in football and also individual awards he is due to end his career in the Saudi pro league where he can also make more money even at his age.

[jakdanyel]

Who's going to be the player to replace Salah at Liverpool? At first I thought it might be Yan Diomande. However he is so close to complete his deal with Real Madrid for more than €100m.

Liverpool has been trying to sign Bradley Barcola on one hand. It won't be a cheap deal either. His market value is €90m and who knows how much PSG will demand. But I feel like he will be a really good fit for Liverpool.  

[IceLincoln]

Actually, it's not that difficult for Xabi Alonso because overall Chelsea's squad is already quite good since they have quality players in every line, especially with the many potential young players, it should actually make it easier for Xabi Alonso to build this team, although I also can't deny that Xabi Alonso still needs time to adapt. But at least there are positive progress signs; if not, it's not impossible that Xabi Alonso might end up having the same fate as previous Chelsea coaches.

I don't think Chelsea has a good squad. They have a big squad and a lot of players, but I can't call that a good squad. If you field the first eleven of Chelsea, there is really nothing else on the bench other than average players. Even the first eleven is not a very good one.
They have top players like Cole Palmer, who is no longer performing at the top level, and James, who is always injured. So that is not a good team in my opinion. They are a team that can be used to keep the team in the top 5 if the coach does well, but I don't see that as a team that can compete for the league.

This is what you get when you just buy every available player. This club had an opportunity to buy Osimhen, but they opted for Delap. Decisions like this are what tell you that the Chelsea management doesn't know what they're doing.
If Madrid are serious, they might buy Enzo this summer and that would make things more difficult for Alonso.
I think Alonso will make the team play better, but I don't have high hopes for Chelsea.

Yes it’s true Chelsea don’t have a good squad and it started since they did a total overhaul of the squad and buying new set of young players but that didn’t quite go well for them though Enzo Maresca for me did well. I don’t know why the Chelsea management did not move to sign Victor Osimhen by any means but that’s in the past.
I believe Xabi Alonso is a good coach and strategic leader if the players he have obey his instructions he’ll move them to do wonders. They just need to get in atleast good players.

[abhiseshakana]

Who's going to be the player to replace Salah at Liverpool? At first I thought it might be Yan Diomande. However he is so close to complete his deal with Real Madrid for more than €100m.

Liverpool has been trying to sign Bradley Barcola on one hand. It won't be a cheap deal either. His market value is €90m and who knows how much PSG will demand. But I feel like he will be a really good fit for Liverpool.  

Yan Diomande is a good candidate to replace Salah, since he is not only talented but also still very young , but unfortunately, that hope can no longer be realised, as Yan Diomande has already chosen Real Madrid as his new club. Bradley Barcola is also a player Liverpool are keen to sign , but it seems they will have to dig deeper into their pockets if they wish to secure his signature.

As for a cheaper option, there is Iliman Ndiaye , but I guess Liverpool will prioritise Barcola over Ndiaye, as there were rumours a few days ago that Bradley Barcola had turned down an offer from PSG , and I think this could be an indication that Barcola seems to have already reached an agreement with another club , and that club is likely to be Liverpool.

[rdbase]

Who's going to be the player to replace Salah at Liverpool? At first I thought it might be Yan Diomande. However he is so close to complete his deal with Real Madrid for more than €100m.

Liverpool has been trying to sign Bradley Barcola on one hand. It won't be a cheap deal either. His market value is €90m and who knows how much PSG will demand. But I feel like he will be a really good fit for Liverpool.  

Liverpool player situation for this upcoming season is looking to be in shambles starting with Salah. The club is not knowing if he will be staying or going due to his demands of his agent being so high for those teams that want to sign him. He will more likely stay on but be on the bench until a deal is met to his liking. I can't see him going to the MLS so will probably ride it out until he gets something close to his asking price in the Saudi league.

[Humblevirus]

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso recently approved the signature of Dani Wellbeck from Brighton. With this update it means between players like Liam Delap and Nicholas Jackson most likely to leave.

It’s going to be better if Chelsea sign Dani wellbeck, he is an experience player which is really going to help Chelsea by next season. Honestly Chelsea should just allow Liam Delap go, he is a terrible player which won’t be useful for Chelsea. I don’t know what happened to Liam Delap, but his performance was just so terrible last season, I will say he is the worst signing of the season. Delap didn’t make any impact on Chelsea last season, Alonso should just sell him, I don’t think there will be any improvement in his performance even if he stays.

Jackson has been given opportunity so many times to prove himself, but Jackson is not just a player thats suppose to be playing in a club like Chelsea. I will say Chelsea is to big for him to play, or maybe premier league is just so difficult for him to play, Chelsea should just sell Jackson also, Chelsea don’t want players that will pull them back by next season.

Welbeck doing well at Brighton doesn't mean that, if he comes to Chelsea, he will automatically do well. Welbeck has played for top teams like Manchester United and Arsenal, and his performances were not convincing enough. That is why even Arsenal let him go.So, I can't say he would be a good signing for Chelsea. If Chelsea are really looking for a striker, they should go for Victor Osimhen. He is a much stronger and more talented player, with a good goalscoring record in most of the leagues he has played in. I don't know why Chelsea don't want to go for him. We have heard rumors before that Chelsea wanted to sign Osimhen, but it seems that is no longer the case.

Jackson is not that bad, but he is just not performing as well as many people expected. Even so, I would still prefer to see Jackson leading the front line than Welbeck. Welbeck is already getting older, and many players like him perform well at smaller clubs, but once they move to a top club, they struggle to maintain the same level of performance they showed at their former clubs.

[Proty]

It's was never going to be easy to replace Mohammed Salah, because I think he is one of the greatest player at Liverpool and his goals and assist contribution to the team can not be overlooked,  so they are really going to miss him and also find it very hard to replace him. It's a good suggestion that they find a way to bring in players that can share his goals and assist amongst themselves.  They are seriously interested in Barcola and I think he is also interested in a move to Liverpool,  but I still don't think he can replace Salah,  although he is a decent player,  but not at the level of Salah.  This is just my opinion and I open to other people's idea too.

I think Salah should have left Liverpool after this season. It all started with his conflict with Slot, which then turned into general dissatisfaction among the fans. Even though they eventually resolved their differences and he continued playing, the relationship was never the same. That was when I started to believe that Salah would leave Liverpool.

He's not getting any younger, and he can't run the way he used to. So I think Liverpool had to start looking for his replacement sooner or later. It's better to do it now than wait another season, when Salah's performances are likely to decline even further.

Salah has contributed much to Liverpool, even though he wasn't in form last season. This shouldn't not be the reason why he should leave Liverpool and you never can tell he may actually perform better this season. Salah may not be getting younger as you said but his contribution to Liverpool is something that can not be ignored because of his poor performance last season. His leaving Liverpool should be when his contract expires and in the world cup his performance was really great. Therefore, there still chances that he may perform better this coming premier League season.

[Volgastallion]

Yesterday transfers were crazy, i mean how in the hell you can pay $50 millions for a goalkeeper? No sense, complete no sense, aside of it Welbeck to Chelsea? For real? I like Dany but he was more nearby to the retire or to travel to some arab football than comeback to a top team, just crazy. I know this Chelsea didnt play anything this season and they need to rebuild, but come on you can aim way better.

[Nightwatchmare]

You are right that if the Argentine player Garnacho had more playing time, he might have been able to prove himself better at Aston Villa, but we have seen that this player did not perform well for the two big clubs of the PL, Manchester United and Chelsea.

I don’t really know why Aston villa decided to sign Garnacho, because i don’t see anything special about Garnacho. He played in Manchester United and Chelsea, but the funniest part is that he didn’t play anything special in those two teams. Garnacho was given opportunity to play in some matches, he was suppose to prove to the coach that he should be given more player time, but he failed, he ended up performing poorly in matches that he played.

Since he will be playing at Aston villa by next season, and am sure he will be given playing time at Aston villa, let’s see how he will perform when the season start, I just hope he won’t make Aston villa regret why they signed him, because Garnacho is not a player I will encourage any team to sign.

If you do not see anything special about Garnacho it does not mean teams cannot sign him, and for Aston Villa to agree a £45 million deal with Chelsea even when he did not live up to expections in Chelsea shows that he has something special in him but he found himself in a wrong team. Garnacho played well in Manchester United and had a good performance but in Chelsea, that is where he could not perform well and prove himself in the few chances that was given to him, i do not think it was his fault for the way he played in Chelsea, because Chelsea team performance was poor in general. If Garnacho is given playing time at Aston Villa he will do better but if he fail to impress then i will agree with what you have said about him.

[snipie]

Who's going to be the player to replace Salah at Liverpool? At first I thought it might be Yan Diomande. However he is so close to complete his deal with Real Madrid for more than €100m.

Liverpool has been trying to sign Bradley Barcola on one hand. It won't be a cheap deal either. His market value is €90m and who knows how much PSG will demand. But I feel like he will be a really good fit for Liverpool.  

Liverpool eyed first Yan Diomande but their main target right now is Bradley Barcola. They have to sign him before another team do it. I am not sure about Arsenal chasing him too but they have to move fast.
Another option is Brahim Diaz. If they failed to secure any option by the end of the transfer window then they have to use Victor Munoz who was brought earlier from Osasuna.

[Finebone]

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso recently approved the signature of Dani Wellbeck from Brighton. With this update it means between players like Liam Delap and Nicholas Jackson most likely to leave.

Will Danny welbeck improve Chelsea center forward position?
Yes, I guess so, but it's a deal I don't fancy that much because they need someone that can be involved the more in matches, and I believe that Danny welbeck can't be present consistently, due to his age. Nicholas Jackson and pedro can lead the Chelsea attack very well, and the mistake Chelsea made last season was to let Nicholas Jackson go on loan when he is more of a better option/player  than Liam delap.

Left for me their is no need for this transfer because Pedro and Nicholas Jackson can lead the Chelsea attack very well, and as for liam delap, he should be sold off because he is actually terrible, and is no where near the level of player that should be playing for Chelsea.

[Oluwa-btc]

It’s going to be better if Chelsea sign Dani wellbeck, he is an experience player which is really going to help Chelsea by next season. Honestly Chelsea should just allow Liam Delap go, he is a terrible player which won’t be useful for Chelsea. I don’t know what happened to Liam Delap, but his performance was just so terrible last season, I will say he is the worst signing of the season. Delap didn’t make any impact on Chelsea last season, Alonso should just sell him, I don’t think there will be any improvement in his performance even if he stays.

Jackson has been given opportunity so many times to prove himself, but Jackson is not just a player thats suppose to be playing in a club like Chelsea. I will say Chelsea is to big for him to play, or maybe premier league is just so difficult for him to play, Chelsea should just sell Jackson also, Chelsea don’t want players that will pull them back by next season.

He will be one of the few players who will play for both Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea then. Mind blowing, innit? I have seen the news of Aston Villa bidding for Nicholas Jackson though, I think he will be the first considered to leave the club over Liam Delap who is more of a British player having that as the upper hand on who stays between them.

They'd be at a fatal lose if they attempt to sell him because he was terrible last season. They will want to see him get some game time before such discussions of a sale can be put in place.

And good tidings for Chelsea fans is that, the season yet to be on and Joao Pedro is already showing such great signs banging an hat trick today during their first pre-season with Xabi Alonso.