Premier league

Manchester City will begin their title defence in the final match of the opening gameweek when they take on West Ham United at the London Stadium.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Gharbi in the future. The France Under 18 international has only signed a three-year deal and he could be a player that Liverpool look at again if he doesn’t get the game time he hopes for.

Bissouma was available relatively cheaply due to the fact that he had one year remaining on his contract. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea had also been credited with an interest in the player but it was Spurs that decided to stump up the £25m required to sign him.

As Bailey mentions, Raum is being considered as an alternative to Brighton’s Marc Cucurella. Some reports suggest that the Spaniard could cost upwards of £45m so other players are being looked at.

Although Argentina could only manage a fifth place finish, Garnacho was the second highest goalscorer of the competition after netting four.

Brighton are known for being tough negotiators and the fact that Cucurella only moved to the Amex last summer means he also has a fair length of time remaining on his contract.

Chelsea eased into third place last term and their first league game of the Todd Boehly era sees them travel to face Blues great Lampard at Everton, who narrowly avoided relegation to maintain their top-flight status.

Erik ten Hag‘s Manchester United reign begins at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, while Frank Lampard will host his former club on the opening weekend as Everton welcome Chelsea to Goodison Park.

Benzema scored five times in the group stage of the competition, drawing a blank against Inter Milan in the middle of September before registering against Sheriff Tiraspol and Shakhtar Donetsk in four straight games.

Gavi’s contract with the Catalan giants is due to expire next June, though, and there has been widespread speculation surrounding his future at the club.