It has provided some of the most dramatic moments the sport has ever produced and in, just under a fortnight’s time, the next instalment will begin again as the Premier League circus rolls back into town.
No sooner has the dust settled on the final day drama of 2021-22, then 2022-23 is about to burst into action with the promise of yet more Premier League 2022 highlights, compelling spectacles and talking points.
So, what is happening?
Well, let’s start with the new boys Nottingham Forest who have announced the signing of former Man Utd and England man Jesse Lingard for a figure approaching a reported £200,000 a week.
Keen to demonstrate their ambition after winning promotion via the play-offs, the City Ground will be anything but a dull place to watch football next season.
Steve Cooper has persuaded the owners to splash the cash with three £17 million purchases – Neco Williams from Liverpool, Moussa Niakhate from Mainz and Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin – all snapped up in recent weeks.
Unproven at this level, Cooper needs to get his charges up and running quickly, as he will with the newly arrived duo from Huddersfield Town, Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo.
The experience of someone like Lingard in the ranks can only help and no doubt West Ham, who had been cautiously optimistic that they were going to be reunited with Lingard (he excelled during a loan with David Moyes’s side 18 months ago), are disappointed.
They have reacted by submitting a bid for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic, a player who must have caught their eye during their semi-final clash in last season’s Europa League – a competition the German side went on to win.
They are also close to signing Gianluca Scamacca after agreeing a £30.5 million fee with Serie A club Sassuolo for the Italy striker.
Moyes wants a frontman to compete with and take the burden off Michail Antonio and Scamacca, who scored 16 goals in 36 Serie A appearances for Sassuolo last season and has seven caps for his country, should be a shrewd move.
Elsewhere, the price of dropping out of the top flight is evident once again and it must be galling for relegated Burnley to see their best two centre-backs leave on free transfers.
Former captain Ben Mee is close to joining Brentford. The 32-year-old defender reportedly rejected offers from two other Premier League clubs and interest from Major League Soccer.
You may recall Mee missed the final stages of the season at Burnley through injury, becoming part of the caretaker backroom staff. Had he been fit, I suspect they would have preserved their Premier League status.
Mee’s departure follows that of former defensive partner James Tarkowski who has completed a move to Everton on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract until the end of June 2026. The 29-year-old, who has two England caps, started more than 30 top-flight matches in each of the five seasons prior to his switch to Merseyside.
By contrast, Premier League status is certainly helping another club try and keep hold of one of its prized assets and Brighton have rejected Manchester City’s opening offer of £30 million for Marc Cucurella.
The champions want to sign a left-back after agreeing to sell Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, but Brighton have set an asking price of £50 million. I still expect it to happen but it may take a week or two with the Seagulls in a stronger financial position after the sale of Yves Bissouma to Spurs.
Amid the wheeling n’ dealing, the SBOTOP Premier League 2022 betting odds predict that last season’s top two will be the next season’s top two and it is hard to argue – although my feeling is that City need to replace Raheem Sterling, whose sale to Chelsea robs them of a genuine talent and a player who has won more Premier League titles than most – a number of Man Utd players, John Terry and former team-mate Fernandinho are the exceptions.
The final word for now still involves Manchester and the most protracted deal of the entire summer.
Manchester United and Barcelona have already reached an agreement over a fixed fee for Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
It is said De Jong’s priority has always been to stay at seemingly cash-strapped Barcelona but it’s understood the idea he’ll take a salary cut – as suggested by Barcelona president Joan Laporta – to do so is highly unlikely.
The news that Laporta has now activated a financial lever, selling 15 per cent of the club’s TV rights to a company for the next 25 years and immediately ploughing 400 million euros into the coffers, could yet prove decisive, although new Utd boss Erik Ten Hag is determined to get his priority summer signing.
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