The Weekly Take, Issue 372: The Final Piece of The Next Superteam

The biggest transfer of the ongoing off-season transfer window recently wrapped up when Arsenal landed Viktor Gyökeres for just under €66 million. The Swedish striker, who has signed a five-year contract with the Gunners, is Arsenal’s biggest signing since bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the Emirates Stadium in January 2018.

However, by the time the transfer window wraps up, Arsenal’s pursuit and signing of Gyökeres might not even end up being the standout transfer involving a Swedish striker signing for a Premier League club. Newcastle United centre-forward Alexander Isak has indicated that he has intentions to leave St James’ Park; as of right now it appears most likely that Isak will eventually sign for Liverpool.

Two seasons ago, Isak had his breakout campaign at Newcastle, scoring 21 goals and establishing himself as a genuine superstar around whom an elite attack could be built, thus fulfilling the immense potential he showed in his younger days which led Borussia Dortmund to sign him at just the age of 17. However, the reality is that the Magpies simply don’t have the kind of pull which would attract other top players despite their immense wealth bankrolled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. As such, if Isak is to be on a team which will seriously contend for titles on a perennial basis, he’ll almost certainly have to leave Tyneside.

If Isak does indeed join the reigning Premier League champions, he might just be the final piece to what would be undeniably the most formidable attacking line in world football. Having already added Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike to play alongside club legend Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s potential addition of Isak would not only make the Reds the overwhelming favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons; it would also place them as arguably the favorites to win the Champions League for the seventh time in club history.

Over the past few years, Liverpool haven’t spent all that much on new signings; however, the Merseysiders’ heavy spending in this transfer window has shown that all along they were waiting for just the right opportunity to step in and pour out the big money to bring their dream signings to Anfield. In this transfer window, Liverpool have already spent over €300 million on five players (as well as one free transfer) including Wirtz, Ekitike, and Jeremie Frimpong. As such, even though Newcastle are currently insisting on £150 million - a fee which would be the third-most expensive ever and frankly a significant overpay - Liverpool might nonetheless make the move if for no other reason that players of Isak’s calibre don’t often emerge as prime transfer candidates like this.

At the end of the 2023-24 season, Jürgen Klopp left the Anfield dugout having unquestionably solidified his position as one of the greatest coaches of all time after a legendary nine-year stint at Liverpool. Following Klopp’s departure and the arrival of his replacement Arne Slot, most Liverpool fans anticipated what seemed to be an inevitable step backwards in the upcoming season.

Instead, Liverpool’s first season of the Slot era turned out to be far more successful than anything which the vast majority of their fans could have imagined, at least as far as the league was concerned. Liverpool won the league without much serious competition, finishing ahead of second-placed Arsenal by a 10-point margin. On top of that, Salah finished the season as the league’s leading goalscorer for the fourth time in his career.

The major blemish on their season, however, came in the Champions League. Liverpool were knocked out in the round of 16, losing to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shootout. Based on everything they’ve been doing in this transfer window, it’s obvious that this is something which Liverpool are taking very seriously. Liverpool have only advanced beyond the Champions League quarterfinals once over the past six seasons; however, with what they’ve already done transfer-wise, this statistic is more likely to change this upcoming season than not.

The signing of Alexander Isak by Liverpool, if it does happen, would not only be the highlight of this off-season; it might just be the final piece to complete what would, at least on paper, be a team for the ages.

The Weekly Take, Issue 371: Another Botched Transfer Window?

Not long after returning from the United States with the Club World Cup in possession after destroying Paris Saint-Germain in the final, Chelsea soon picked up another W - this time off the field; specifically, after flat-out scamming Arsenal in their sale of winger Noni Madueke to their London rivals for a transfer fee of £48.5 million.

In the two seasons and a half that Madueke spent at Chelsea, he showed absolutely nothing even remotely resembling the level of play that would’ve merited his hefty transfer fee. While Madueke is no scrub by any means, based on what we’ve seen from him so far, his ceiling isn’t anywhere near as high as his transfer fee - almost one and a half times his projected transfer value - might indicate.

As for Arsenal, they appear to be once again fumbling the transfer window - the main reason why the Gunners haven’t won a title of any sort since their FA Cup victory in the 2019-20 season. This can clearly be seen not only by the fact that they significantly overpaid for Madueke, but also in how they’re struggling to close out a huge transfer deal that seemed to be a lock not too long ago: the signing of Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres.

After looking so close to landing by far their biggest signing since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018, progress on Gyökeres’ move to Arsenal has stalled and even more gallingly, might be beaten to the punch by Manchester United - a team which finished just 15th in the Premier League last season in what was their worst league campaign in 51 years and realistically should have no business landing a player on Gyökeres’ level.

If Arsenal are to seriously challenge Liverpool and Manchester City on the domestic front next season, they absolutely have to get things right in the transfer window. Instead, what they’ve been doing so far has been the exact opposite. Going back to the signing of Madueke, it was an obvious panic move which showed absolutely no forethought whatsoever; on top of the excessive transfer fee, it remains to be seen just how he will slot into Arsenal’s starting 11 - if he even can. There’s a possibility that Arsenal just spent all that money to bring in an expensive benchwarmer.

The argument that Arsenal don’t have the financial might that City do isn’t a viable one either; Liverpool just won the league by a landslide last season and they too aren’t working with that kind of budget. For years now Arsenal have been playing catch-up in the transfer window; if not for that, it’s very possible that Arsenal’s trophy drought wouldn’t have stretched to five years by now.

To put into perspective how pessimistic Arsenal fans are about the Madueke signing, after it was confirmed that it was likely that Madueke would be signing for Arsenal, many Arsenal fans took the the internet with the hashtag #NoToMadueke. While it’s of course not out of the question that Madueke defies the critics and has a career-best year in his first season at the Emirates Stadium, everything around the move is really not looking good as of right now.

There’s no good reason why a club of Arsenal’s level should have failed to bring in a total of one bona fide superstar over the last decade. Although there’s still more than a month left of the transfer window remaining, Arsenal’s track record in this area over preceding years speaks for itself - it would be almost unprecedented if Arsenal were to somehow make things work. At this point it wouldn’t even be surprising if Arsenal were to lose Gyökeres to United.

Every off-season it appears as though Arsenal enter the transfer window without a coherent plan and as a result start the new season several steps behind their direct league rivals. As of right now, it seems as though this will once again be the case in the 2025-26 season. Once again, Arsenal don’t seem likely to have the personnel to be taken seriously as a genuine league title contender as the new season approaches.

If Arsenal are to win the Premier League title for the first time since 2004, it’s all but necessary that they must sign not only Gyökeres, but also several other key additions - and not questionable signings like Noni Madueke. 

The Weekly Take, Issue 370: Mr. Clutch Does It Again

The final of the Club World Cup had been expected to be one-sided. With the exception of an unexpected group stage loss against Botafogo, Paris Saint-Germain had been taking apart every team that stood in their path. It looked almost certain that PSG, fresh off a historic first-ever Champions League victory, could not be stopped on their imperious charge to the Club World Cup title.

PSG would be playing against Chelsea in the final. The Blues didn’t even top their group after having lost to Flamengo and prior to the final, the only opponent that they faced who had been expected to give the London club any trouble was Benfica, who took Chelsea to extra time before eventually succumbing. Even against these lesser opponents, Chelsea were unimpressive but nonetheless managed to get over the line.

With all this in mind, almost no one gave the London club any chance whatsoever to even slightly trouble the reigning European champions. As things turned out, however, it was indeed a one-sided result - but in a way opposite of what most were expecting. Chelsea beat PSG 3-0 to clinch the title in the first iteration of the revamped Club World Cup.

Chelsea scored all three goals in the first half. Cole Palmer opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, placing his shot from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner of the net after having been set up by Malo Gusto. Eight minutes later, Palmer made it 2-0 with a goal that appeared to be remarkably similar to his first - only this time around, he was assisted by Levi Colwill.

Two minutes before the half-time break, Chelsea scored their third with Palmer setting up Brazilian striker João Pedro, Chelsea’s new signing from Brighton & Hove Albion. Capping off PSG’s crushing loss was a red card issued to midfielder João Neves with just five minutes of regulation time remaining following a VAR check.

In any case, the main point following the match was obvious: Cole Palmer has done it again. With two goals and an assist, Palmer has now racked up six goal contributions over his last three finals for both club and country. The Manchester-born winger isn’t just unfazed by the pressure of the big occasion - he thrives under it.

Slightly less than two months ago, Palmer had two assists in another outstanding display in the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis; he was at the heart of just about everything meaningful that Chelsea did and was then, as he was in the Club World Cup final, named man of the match.

Ever since arriving at Stamford Bridge two years ago after signing from Manchester City, Palmer has time and again put Chelsea on his back and dragged what has often been a very mediocre team to results far beyond what one would ordinarily expect of them. Now, it finally seems as though after years of underwhelming rosters, Chelsea have finally put together a reasonably competitive roster that might just be enough to give Palmer the support he needs.

Of course, Chelsea aren’t going to be the favourites to win the Premier League - those would, as usual, be City and reigning champions Liverpool - but based on what we saw in the final, for the first time since the 2018-19 season, Chelsea will have at least a puncher’s chance of winning the league for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Adding another layer to this is the World Cup which will take place at the conclusion of the upcoming season. There’s a case to be made that Palmer is already England’s best player right now. At just the age of 23 (24 by the time the World Cup begins), Palmer might already be the player around whom England’s first World Cup-winning team in 60 years could be built. It’s often the case that the Three Lions have wilted under the highest pressure - but Palmer has done the opposite time and again.

Chelsea will enter the 2025-26 season having fired the first salvo - they’ve now shown what they’re truly capable of. And, with Cole Palmer in this form, still several years from his apex, and now surrounded by the team he always should’ve been, for the first time in ages Chelsea are a bona fide force again.

The Weekly Take, Issue 369: Rallying to Honor a Legacy

Earlier this week, the global football community was brought to a standstill following the tragic news that Liverpool striker Diogo Jota had, alongside his brother, Penafiel midfielder André Silva, died in a car crash in Spain. Jota was just 28.

Of course, this could not go unmentioned at the ongoing Club World Cup. Before all four quarterfinals, a minute’s silence was observed; in addition, before the match between Palmeiras and Chelsea, Pedro Neto, the Chelsea winger who had played alongside Jota as part of Portugal’s Euro 2024 team, entered the field holding a customized jersey with Jota and Silva’s first names on it.

There were also two further tributes by way of goal celebrations. Real Madrid’s match against Borussia Dortmund culminated in a frantic stoppage-time period featuring three goals including a spectacular bicycle kick scored by Kylian Mbappé. Following the goal, Mbappé flashed the number 20—Jota’s jersey number—with his hands in front of the pitchside camera. Real would go on to win 3-2.

In the earlier quarterfinal, Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to advance to the semifinals despite having both Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernández sent off late in the match. Ballon d’Or candidate Ousmane Dembélé scored PSG’s second goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time before mimicking Jota’s signature goal celebration - a reference to Jota’s love of the FIFA video games.

Now certainly, before we get into the discussion of the PSG vs Bayern match itself, it should go without saying that given this shocking turn of events, the actual on-field result as well as much of what I’ll be going into isn’t even close to the most important thing right now. RIP Diogo Jota and André Silva.

As for the actual match, the quarterfinal held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was relatively balanced; no team was able to gain a clear advantage and the match remained goalless at half-time. There was, however, an ugly moment when Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala suffered a major injury after a collision with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. It would later be found that Musiala had fractured his fibula and will be out for approximately four to five months.

It wouldn’t be until the 78th minute when PSG would break the deadlock. Désiré Doué sent his shot from just outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of the net to put PSG a goal ahead. However, things would soon turn for the worse for PSG; just four minutes later, Ecuadorian centre-back Pacho would receive a red card following a reckless challenge on Leon Goretzka.

PSG were able to hang on to their lead heading into stoppage time; however, early into the additional minutes, the Parisian club would lose yet another player. Left-back Hernández would be PSG’s second player to receive his marching orders after elbowing Bayern substitute Raphaël Guerreiro, forcing PSG to finish the match two players down.

In one final twist, though, PSG were undeterred by this and went on to score a second goal to seal the victory - the aforementioned goal which Dembélé scored. It was a first-time shot after the Frenchman was set up by Achraf Hakimi. This would mean that PSG would go on to play against Real in the semifinal to be played at MetLife Stadium.

Going back to the earlier points made, it has to be noted that PSG have four Portuguese players on their team including three who are regular starters: Nuno Mendes, João Neves, and Vitinha. It could absolutely have been the case - in fact, it was more than likely - that the three of them were spurred on by the thought of “winning it for Diogo”.

With Liverpool not in the Club World Cup, PSG now find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being the sentimental favorites because of the new narrative that has so tragically arisen. There couldn’t be a more apt way to cap off this tournament than, being led by their Portuguese trio, PSG following up their historic Champions League title with a Club World Cup triumph in memory of Diogo Jota.

As cliché as it may sound, sometimes “playing for a cause bigger than oneself” unlocks a level of play that might previously not have seemed attainable - and for all we know, that might soon be what Paris Saint-Germain will experience