With the Premier League playing host to some of world football’s biggest clubs and managers next season, it is fully expected that ‘silly season’ could bring with it a huge influx of overseas talent. After losing some of their biggest names such as Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo to La Liga in recent years, 2016/2017 could be the season where the EPL fights back with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte all having the pulling power to bring in some world class talent this summer.
As a result, Premier League tickets could be harder to acquire than ever and today at Ticketgum we wax lyrical and make a list of six exciting players who could be lighting up the Premier League next season.
Paul Pogba
With the capture of Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanic, swift talk of Juventus allowing Paul Pogba to leave the Old Lady this summer have inevitably surfaced. After spending his formative years at Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial reign, the Italian midfielder has gone on to become one of the world’s most accomplished box-to-box players. The powerful 23-year-old scored a not too shabby 8 goals and recorded 12 assists in Turin last season and it goes without saying the fee attached to acquiring services could be on the verge of record-breaking.
Most likely club to join: Manchester United
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 50%
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
With his love affair with Paris Saint Germain now officially over, everyone’s favourite enigmatic striker is back on the market this summer and despite his ageing years, there will surely be no shortage of clubs pining for his signature.
Amidst the media frenzy that has surrounded his exit from Ligue 1, Manchester United are a club who are supposedly in the running to sign the 34-year-old this summer. After already enjoying stints in La Liga, Serie A and of course Ligue 1 throughout his decorated career, of course this leaves only the Premier League and Bundesliga as two of the remaining leagues of Europe’s ‘big five’ that he has yet to feature in. Having enjoyed a fruitful working relationship with former boss Mourinho during his time at Inter, the appeal of playing under the ‘Special One’ once more may be what brings him to Old Trafford this summer.
Most likely club to join: Manchester United
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 70%
William Carvalho
This young Portuguese midfielder was first brought to the public’s attention with his stand-out performances in last year’s Under 21 European Championships. Whilst playing in a position slightly different to that of his namesake Ricardo, his defensive discipline and stability in the middle of the park are assets that both these Portugal internationals share in abundance. After putting in some man of the match displays at this year’s European Championships in France, Carvalho who currently plys his trade for Sporting Lisbon, is another player who will be highly sought after this summer with North London club Arsenal who are in search of an accomplished holding midfielder, likely to be at the front of the queue.
Most likely club to join: Arsenal
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 30%
Neymar
Whilst undoubtedly one of the more farfetched names on our list, the rumours surrounding Neymar’s future suggest that he could be on his way out of Barcelona this summer. With a release clause fee close to 200 million Euros, this of course rules out a lot of clubs apart from big hitters Manchester City and perhaps Chelsea. After scoring 55 goals in 93 appearances since joining Barca in 2013, the signing of the Brazilian striker would unquestionably mark one of the highest profile transfer acquisitions in Premier League history.
Most likely club to join: Manchester City
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 10%
Gonzalo Higuain
Argentine international Higuain was allowed to leave Real Madrid 3 years ago and ever since joining Italian outfit Napoli, has become one of Europe’s most formidable strikers. The Serie A frontman netted a staggering 36 goals in a 2015/2016 campaign in which his Napoli side attempted to wrestle yet another Scudetto away from a dominant Juve side. At the age of 28, Higuain is playing undoubtedly his best football at club level and as a result would command a transfer fee in the region of £40-£50 million. With Arsenal erring towards loosening their purse strings in recent times with the pricey acquisitions of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, Arsene Wenger could certainly do worse than bring the in-form striker over to the English capital this summer.
Most likely club to join: Arsenal
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 30%
Koke
The Premier League has had quite the penchant for Atletico players in recent times after seeing the likes of Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao and Diego Costa all make big money moves to Britain. Spain international Koke is another talent that has been hot on the radar of many English clubs and his performances for both club and country in the past 12 months suggest he would be a real handful should he be playing in England next term. Under the guise of being a versatile central midfielder, the 24-year-old would be most suited to a club such as Tottenham Hotspur whose free-flowing style of football would allow him to dictate the tempo in the middle of the park.
Most likely club to join: Spurs
Possibility of moving to the EPL – 30%
