With the summer transfer window not even a week old, three Premier League clubs have already broken their transfer records. The three teams include newly promoted sides Huddersfield and Brighton and the other being Bournemouth.
The big question is will any other club break their transfer record. I’ll look at four clubs who could well break their transfer record this summer.
Arsenal:
The first of these teams is Arsenal. The Gunners are being linked very heavily with Alexandre Lacazette. The 26-year-old French striker has been at Lyon since 2010, in that time making 203 appearances with a return of 100 goals for the Ligue 1 side. He has also represented France 11 times, scoring once.
Arsenal are reported to be keen to add Lacazette to their front line in order to boost their title challenge for next season, but looking at his scoring record he will not be cheap. There are reports that Lyon are willing to part with the Frenchmen after seven years, for a fee of £58 million.
This would smash Arsenal’s current transfer record of £42.5 million which they spent to capture Mesut Özil from Real Madrid on deadline day in 2013. In my opinion, Lacazette would be well worth breaking the transfer record for as he is a potent striker, who is pacey and a has a good eye for goal, which Arsenal have been looking for since Thierry Henry left the club in 2007.
Chelsea:
The Premier League Champions are the next side that could be splashing the cash and breaking their transfer record. The player in question is Alex Sandro from Juventus.
The 26-year-old Brazilian full-back has played an important role for Juventus being part of a solid back four which equalled the Serie A record for the most clean sheets in a row with nine and helped them to keep 26 clean sheets last season in all competitions.
Chelsea are looking to solidify their defence further for the upcoming season but to prize Sandro away from Juventus they may well have to spend £60 million pounds which would break their £50 million transfer record on Fernando Torres from Liverpool in 2011.
I think the Brazilian would be a great addition to the Chelsea squad but I’m not sure if I think he is worth shelling £60 million pounds out on.
Manchester City:
This is the least surprising of the clubs I will mention. Manchester City are spending plenty of money having already brought in Bernardo Silva from Monaco for £40 million.
But they may well break their transfer record on Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez. The 28-year-old Chilean winger has been at Arsenal since 2014 and has scored 53 goals in 103 games for The Gunners, but with just one year left of his deal Arsenal could well lose the winger to the Manchester giants.
Although Sanchez only has one year left on his deal, Arsenal would only be willing to sell him for at least £50 million but may be looking to get more in order to buy a replacement for the Chilean. If the transfer was to happen and say cost near to £60 million with add-ons then Manchester City would break their transfer record.
Their record is £55 million which they spent on Kevin De Bruyne in 2015. Sanchez, in my opinion, would be a good addition to the City squad but he would certainly have more competition at City for a wide berth in the starting lineup.
West Ham United:
This is probably the most surprising to most people. West Ham are trying to purchase some real quality in order to improve on last season’s disappointing finish in the Premier League. There are reports that they have had club record transfer bids rejected for strikers Anthony Modeste and Cedric Bakambu.
They are also believed to be tracking Javier Hernandez. With so many names being mentioned, West Ham look destined to break their transfer record. Whoever West Ham bring in out the three, they would all be terrific signings as they would all provide a potent goalscorer up top which is what West Ham are looking for.
There is no doubt that the 2017 summer transfer window will be interesting and given that transfer prices are rising fast, it is likely that it is going to be an another record transfer window for Premier League clubs.
