Transfer Window
City, who are famous for spending a lot but spending well in the transfer window, signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100 million, making him the most expensive British transfer. They parted ways with their long-time goal scorer Sergio Aguero, who went to Barcelona on a free transfer. The window was slightly controversial for City as they were expected to sign a top striker to replace the Argentine, but they did not make any more acquisitions, and left many fans wondering whether Gabriel Jesus, their second striker, would be able to fill the hole left by Aguero. On the other side of Manchester, United let Daniel James leave to Leeds, the club who had tried to sign him two years earlier, for £25 million. In return they spent a huge sum to bring in Jadon Sancho from Dortmund, Raphael Varane from Real Madrid, and most notable of all, Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus. With these signings, they showed their intent to try to make a title run in the 2021-22 season.
Liverpool were quiet in the window, only buying defender Ibrahima Konato from RB Leipzig, with Georginio Wignaldum, Xerdan Shaqiri, and plenty more younger players going the other way. Chelsea had a big clear out as well, letting go of the likes of Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma, and many more, but in return they brought in Romelu Lukaku from Inter, a striker who had an amazing season the previous year. Arsenal was slightly busier, buying players such as Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyashu, Ben White, and more, letting go of some players who had not featured prominently in the previous campaign.
Aston Villa spent big in the window, with the money that they collected from Grealish, buying Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey. Leicester City also showed their intent, signing Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumare.
August through December
On the first day of the season, the top teams all started the campaign strongly with the exception of Manchester City who lost on the opening day to Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. Arsenal had a terrible start to the season, losing first against Brentford, then Chelsea, and then suffered a crushing defeat at City where they lost 5-0 and had their captain sent off. Manager Mikel Arteta was on the verge of being sacked. However, he was not the first major sacking, as Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was struggling to inspire his team, and was sacked in November. At that time, manager Thomas Tuchel had managed to find great form with Chelsea, and they were at the top of the table, ahead of a recuperating Manchester City, and Liverpool who had drawn more times than they would have been expected to at that point of the season. Arsenal had managed to find their winning form and turn around their dismal start to the season, whilst United seemed to be slipping further down towards the middle of the table. At the beginning of December, Chelsea lost to fourth placed West Ham, and Manchester City overtook the London team to put themselves in first place in the league. Liverpool had also won enough games to put themselves ahead of Chelsea, and the three sat at the top of the table with one point between City and Liverpool, and Liverpool and Chelsea.
Chelsea drew more games, and so did Liverpool, allowing City to create an even larger lead and put themselves six points in front of second placed Liverpool. By the end of the year, City were in first, followed by Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, a Manchester United team that had finally found some form, Spurs, and West Ham in seventh place.
Winter Transfer Season
Liverpool spent the most in the winter transfer season, bringing in Luis Diaz from Porto. The player was instantly used in the starting squad and became an extremely important player very quickly. Lucas Digne went to Aston Villa from Everton, Aubameyang went to Barcelona on a free transfer from Arsenal, and Ferrans Torres went to Barcelona as well, from Manchester City.
January through March
Manchester City drew a game against Southampton and lost the following week against Tottenham Hotspur, but continued to be ahead of Liverpool who were in excellent form not dropping any points in the New Year. Chelsea dropped even further back from the leaders and were within closer range of fourth and fifth placed Arsenal and Manchester United, who were fighting for fourth place with Spurs and West Ham. Everton, a team that could usually be expected to finish in the middle of the table if not higher, found themselves falling further towards the relegation zone, after not being able to achieve any consistency in their football.
In April, the leaders Manchester City and second placed Liverpool faced each other in City's home ground, the Etihad. For many fans, this was the decisive match in the season, as a win for Liverpool would finally put them ahead, but a win for City would drastically reduce Liverpool's chances to win the league, especially at such a late stage. The enthralling encounter finished 2-2, though the match was filled with chances on both sides and perhaps City could have felt hard done by after they had a goal cancelled in the 63rd minute. Nevertheless, City remained a single point ahead of Liverpool. This lead remained, and the two teams went all the way to the last game of the season with the single point separating them. Below them, Arsenal had managed to hold onto their fourth place, with Spurs overtaking Manchester United for the fifth place, and West Ham moving up to be within reaching distance of United. The fifth and sixth place finish would guarantee teams a place in the Europa League in the following season, and the seventh place would only give a team a place in the Conference League, the third tier of European football.
At the bottom of the table, Everton had finally dug themselves out of relegation, after beating Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester City, and they were guaranteed to play in the Premier League the following season.
On the final day, Watford and Norwich were already in the relegation zone and did not have enough points to save their chances of playing in the Premier League the following season. Burnley and Leeds were both tied on points and either team could have joined the two clubs already poised for relegation. At the top of the table, City and Liverpool were preparing to play in their final matches, City against an Aston Villa led by former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, and Liverpool facing a tough Wolves team away. Leeds won their final game, whilst Burnley lost; meaning Burnley went into the relegation zone, whilst the two teams at the top had a highly exciting end to the title race. Liverpool initially went behind 1-0, though they managed to equalise before half time, whilst City kept a draw at Villa. In the following 20 minutes, City suddenly found themselves behind 2-0, after Villa made some great counter attacks and broke the scoring. Liverpool meanwhile, had gone ahead in their game, and for a few moments, they were poised to become the new champions. City brought in Ilkay Gundogan as a substitute, who turned the game around and helped City score three goals, putting themselves back into the leading position. The matches finally ended, and City retained the Premier League title.
Conclusion
As always, last year’s Premier League season revealed weaknesses and strengths in all teams, from the top to the bottom. City, whilst not having the same sensational run of form as Liverpool did, proved that they have not lost any of their momentum and that they are definitely strong enough to be champions. Liverpool, who may feel hard done by losing the Premier League, can regard the campaign as yet another successful season in which they chased the title leaders down to the last game and finished the season with 90+ points.
Chelsea had another good year, but questions will be raised as to why they dropped off halfway through the season, and how they can improve consistency going into the next. Arsenal had a remarkable season, in which manager Arteta turned around their initial bad run of form to end with a top four finish. Manchester United dropped off after the first few months and their interim manager Ralf Ragnick did not prove to be their answer; they will have to improve in the following season.