Premier League January Needs
It’s January, and the transfer window is open. Teams now have the rest of this month to strengthen their teams as the races for honours, European qualification, or simply survival, begin in earnest.
We’re going through all 20 Premier League teams and highlighting one area where each team needs to strengthen. In part one, found here, we looked at Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Brentford and now in part two it’s time for Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea and Crystal Palace. We’re working alphabetically through the league so let’s start on the south coast.
Brighton
I would imagine the biggest thing Roberto De Zerbi could ask for is better luck with injuries. The Seagulls have really struggled to keep their best players on the pitch this season with Estupinan, Enciso, March and many others missing considerable game time.
Looking at the Brighton team there are two areas that jump out as being in need of an addition, right back and central midfield. The midfield issue is not as glaring now that Jakob Moder has returned after 20 months out with a knee injury, given that Mo Dahoud should settle in more in the second half of the season and Carlos Baleba should find more consistency to his game.
Brighton do also have some exciting young midfielders out on loan that are viewed as part of their future so they might not want to clog their path.
Right back does need to be addressed though. Joel Veltman has lost a step and become more prone to injuries. His conservative, defence first, approach to playing fullback offers the perfect counter balance to Pervis Estupinan’s rampaging style down the left. Ronnie Edwards of Peterborough profiles well to fit into this role. Like Veltman he is a natural central defender but he does lack ideal height for a Premier League CB.
He could be very easily repurposed as a defensive right back who is very comfortable on the ball, happy to step into midfield when necessary and very solid out of possession. At just 20 years of age, Edwards ticks every box for Brighton.
Burnley
In the summer transfer window Burnley signed lots of wingers. Lots and lots of them. But they forgot to sign someone to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis. The lack of goals have been an issue for them, especially with Lyle Foster having been absent due to personal issues.
But Burnley have an even bigger issue at the other end of the pitch. They did recruit central defenders in the summer, talented ones, but no leader. No organiser. Nobody who can grab hold of others and get their heads focused, nobody to call a defensive line.
In an ideal world, Vincent Kompany would find a machine to de-age himself and step into the back-line but since that’s not an option Burnley need to find someone to come in during this transfer window and take control of that back-line.
Conor Coady might not be the fanciest name on the market, he’s certainly not a defender of Kompany’s calibre, but he is a leader and an organiser. He has made only four league starts for Leicester since joining them in the summer and might well be available on loan in January.
It could be a clever, no-risk move for Burnley to bring in the vastly experienced England defender to help them attempt to climb out of the relegation spots this summer. They could add an obligation to buy, pending survival, to tempt Leicester into doing a loan deal for a player they spent £7mil on in the summer.
Chelsea
The obvious answer here is striker.
But the real answer here is patience and continuity.
Chelsea should do nothing in this transfer window. They should allow Mauricio Pochettino to work with the players he has and try to find a settled team that can be Chelsea’s future.
Use this season as a proving ground for the 23524 players they have signed since Todd Boehly’s Circus became a thing.
Let’s see which defenders step up and make themselves a nailed on long term starter. Let’s see which midfield unit makes the most sense. Let’s see which attackers make the strongest case. Could Palmer as a 10 behind Nkunku as a false 9 be the answer? We won’t ever find out if a new striker is signed.
There’s also the financial side. As things stand, Chelsea are going to shatter the Premier League profit and sustainability rules and will face fines and points deductions. They are already in a position of needing sales to make it look like they even tried to comply with the rules. Spending more money will make it impossible.
More signings will need more sales, and if rumours are to be believed one sale that they are currently having to consider is Conor Gallagher. It’s unlikely Gallagher will be a long term starter for Chelsea, but for this season he absolutely is. And a vital one at that. Selling him to fund a player who might take six months to settle in could completely torpedo what is already a disappointing season.
Chelsea’s biggest need to is to sit on their hands, let Pochettino work, and hope that Todd Boehly forgets he owns the club for the next month.
Crystal Palace
What Palace need most is a new manager. The second iteration of Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park has not worked and it’s time for a change.
But that’s not a January move, that’s a do it whenever you can convince Graham Potter or similar to take the job move.
In January the biggest need is a right back.
Palace have good goalkeepers, good central defenders, a good left back, good options in midfield and good attacking options – if the right manager was in place to make the most of them, but they do not have a good right back at the club.
Joel Ward and Nathaniel Clyne are passable as back-up players but neither are good enough to be starting in the Premier League at this stage in their careers.
Ideally Palace want an all-rounder to mirror Tyrick Mitchell. Someone who is strong defensively, comfortable going forward and quick. They will also be looking at someone under the age of 24 in order to potentially resell the player for substantial profit in 2-3 years.
Sacha Boey of Galatasaray is someone they have previously been credited with having interest in and he does stand out as an ideal fit for the Eagles.
