Premier League Notebook Heading into Week 22
Wilfried Bony will not be available to Manchester City when they face Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, but his presence will loom large over the contest.
It is a mark of Manchester City's continued ambition, not to mention their renowned financial muscle, that they can suffer Financial Fair Play sanctions at the start of the season and then, barely six months later, find both the justification and the ability to spend almost £30 million on a new striker, in a bid to plug one of the few obvious weaknesses in their current squad.
It is that economic muscle that has been so significant—vital, even—in City's recent successes and perhaps underlines once again the differences between themselves and Arsenal.
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Arsenal have also made moves in the transfer window this month, with the club on the verge of a £2.4 million deal for Legia Warsaw's Krystian Bielik, per the BBC. Bielik is a defensive midfielder, and Arsenal need a defensive midfielder.
But he is also 17 and will do nothing to strengthen the first team in the short term. It is a deal the exact opposite of Bony, who has been bought for the here and now, regardless of the cost.
Arsenal have not been afraid to splash the cash in recent times, spending huge sums on Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the past 18 months. Now, they arguably need at least one new defender, after another long-term injury suffered by Mathieu Debuchy depleted an already thin back line.
Manager Arsene Wenger said, via the Daily Mail:
"Yes, we are more [in the market now]. We have [Calum] Chambers and we have [Hector] Bellerin, who is coming on well, and I want to give them a chance as well, but of course we are in the market like many other clubs.
We work really hard, morning until late night, to try to get one or two players in.
We are out in the market and we are working very hard everyday. All our scouts and our people are working very hard to find a defender.
"
Arsenal's need for a defender is not a new one, however, even if Debuchy's injury perhaps hastened the demand. City long knew they needed a striker, identified one and signed him all in the opening few days of the transfer window—why are Arsenal seemingly so incapable of doing the same?
It is a familiar complaint with Arsenal. If Wenger's scouts really are out there every day, then perhaps it is a problem of execution. Wenger seems willing to sanction spending £2.4 million on potential—a projection of what Bielik could become—yet more reluctant to spend a fee five or 10 times bigger on a player who would immediately go into first-team consideration.
Yes, there will always be risk attached to such moves. Is Winston Reid really good enough to improve the team? Is Celtic's Virgil van Dijk? These are questions that can only really be answered after they sign, but if scouts are monitoring those players for weeks or months before the window opens, the gamble becomes a more educated one.
Even so, they cannot give an unequivocal assessment, and perhaps that is why Wenger—whose eye for talent has become far less sure in recent years—is reluctant to pull the trigger.
In the current climate, that reticence is akin to taking a step back. Manchester City remind teams at the top that they always need to be adding talent in order to remain competitive, but it seems to be yet another area where Arsenal are lagging behind.
Now Bony is at the Etihad Stadium, City will soon have an attack that is more physical and more clinical. They will be able to physically bully teams. It makes them better, more flexible and more dangerous.
Pellegrini said of Bony, per the Guardian.
"He is very difficult to mark because he is so strong. He is an intelligent footballer who has skill and power. His goals record has been excellent since he came to England. He adapted very quickly to the game here and I think he will settle in at City quickly.
He will be a very good addition to our squad. We now have four top-class strikers and I am looking forward to seeing them work together.
"
City won't have Bony on Sunday, but his signing will no doubt lift the team. Already 11 points clear of the Gunners in the table, it could be another three after this week—with points not the only difference between the two sides.
Week 22 Fixtures
All games 3 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. ET) unless otherwise stated.
Saturday
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
Burnley vs. Crystal Palace
Leicester City vs. Stoke City
Queens Park Rangers vs. Manchester United
Swansea City vs. Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland
Newcastle United vs. Southampton (5:30 p.m.)
Sunday
West Ham United vs. Hull City (1:30 p.m.)
Man City vs. Arsenal (4 p.m.)
Monday
Everton vs. West Bromwich Albion (8 p.m.)
1. What to Watch out for This Week
Can Defoe Really Make a Difference?
Jermain Defoe has a remarkable record of scoring on debut for his new clubs, something that might well be cause for concern for Sunderland's opponents this weekend, Tottenham Hotspur. A deal to take the 32-year-old to the Stadium of Light has now been finalised, per Sunderland's official website.
Presuming he is deemed fit enough to start straight away, he could begin his Black Cats career against the team for whom he made two debuts and scored 137 goals in total.
With reports indicating that Sunderland are paying Defoe £70,000 a week on a three-and-a-half year deal, per the Guardian, it would seem the club are confident that the ex-England striker can score a similar volume of goals during his time at the Stadium of Light.
More accurately, however, they probably want him to front-load those goals: If he scores eight this season and keeps Gus Poyet's side up, for example, the remaining years of his contract will be effectively paid for by continued Premier League television revenue and the like.
Defoe leaves Toronto with suggestions in the Toronto Globe and Mail that he never took the MLS experience seriously, that he never wanted to be there and never really tried to integrate himself with the local culture.
It is worth remembering that he left England with his rate of goal return on severe decline—it will be interesting to see if Sunderland have signed a player past his peak or successfully gambled on that rare and valuable commodity, a striker with a proven ability to score at this level.
Pressure on Young Kramaric to Hit the Ground Running
Defoe is not the only striker who enters the weekend with plenty of attention. It is safe to say that Andrej Kramaric will not make his Leicester City debut (which could come against Stoke City, if the paperwork is filed in time) with the element of surprise on his side; courted by Chelsea and described by the Foxes as a player who will "enhance the Premier League" in their work permit application, according to the Guardian, the Croatian youngster arrives with plenty of hype.
Nigel Pearson said on Thursday, per Sky Sports.
"We're still waiting for the official confirmation on Kramaric and hopefully that will come before Saturday. As to whether he plays, that depends on whether we get the official clearance, but he is in contention.
I'm no legal beagle, I don't know the ins and outs, but we have the backing of the [Football Association] and hopefully we will get the official work permit.
...
Hopefully, when available, he will have a big impact for us.
He is a player we have been looking at for more than two years, it is not as if it is something that has just come out of the blue.
"
The fact Chelsea wanted the striker, even if only to loan him out initially as reported by the Daily Mail, underlines how Kramaric is perceived among scouts. With a prolific goalscoring record domestically and in the Europa League this season, it will be interesting to see if Kramaric can take that form into the Premier League. If he does, considering those difficulties and pressure on him, he really will mark himself down as an exceptional talent in the making.
Can Ol' Gil Get Aston Villa a Goal?
Aston Villa are one club who have already made a move in the transfer window, bringing in Carles Gil from Valencia for just over £3 million. Seeing his side score just one goal in their last six games (and a league low 11 overall), it is crystal clear which part of the side Paul Lambert is looking to improve.
"We've been on the lookout for a creative player and he will certainly bring that extra element to the side," the Scot said this week. "He's only 22 years of age but he will come here and give us something I don't think we have at the moment."
That might be optimistic, although the youngster does have a grace and poise on the ball that so many of the current Villa team conspicuously lack. Nevertheless, the attacker has just six goals and four assists in 77 career club appearances to date, suggesting he will have to take to the Premier League like a duck to water if he is to make a real difference over the next five months.
A homegrown prospect, it remains self-evident that Valencia—a club on the rise—would not be selling one of their own for such a comparatively meagre sum if they thought he was going to turn into a player capable of enhancing their own team in either the short or long term.
2. Video of the Week
3. Player to Watch
Remy Cabella
Newcastle United's defeat to Chelsea last weekend was predictable in its clinical ease, with the Blues able to access the higher gear that so famously eluded them at St James' Park earlier in the season. One bright spot in that defeat, however, was the performance of Remy Cabella, who finally started to look like the creative dynamo the club signed him to be.
Freed from too many defensive responsibilities, Cabella caused the Chelsea backbone noticeable difficulties throughout, with his dribbling, passing and skill creating a number of dangerous openings for his team.
After looking lightweight and work-shy for large parts of the season to date, it felt like a significant turning point.
"I want to repeat this every week," Cabella told the Newcastle Chronicle. "The only way I can do it is by working hard.
"We have been working hard to win against Southampton."
It is a small sample size, of course, but it seems like Cabella has been released by Alan Pardew's departure, with caretaker boss John Carver willing to give him more freedom to express himself than Pardew was perhaps willing or able to do.
"If he performs like that then he can get our fans on the edge of their seat," Carver said. It will be interesting to see if Cabella can maintain the momentum against Southampton, and if the decision to give him more attacking licence is vindicated by results under Carver—or the next manager.
4. Game of the Weekend
Burnley vs. Crystal Palace
After struggling through large parts of the first half of the campaign, both Burnley and Crystal Palace move into January with renewed optimism. Palace won new manager Alan Pardew's first game in charge and, already adding Yaya Sanogo on loan, look set to address one of their biggest problems of recent weeks—a lack of goalscoring.
Pardew told Sky Sports:
"Strikers in the Premier League don't always have to contribute with goals. I think Sanogo offers a bit of chaos factor: you're not quite sure what he's going to do.
He's got technical ability that sometimes surprises you, and I think he can score goals. His main job here is to grow as a player, and goals will make him grow quicker. So if he could get a goal quickly that would be good for him.
I've been lucky in my career when it comes to strikers. Most of my strikers have hit the ground running, and fingers crossed Yaya does the same.
"
Burnley, similarly, have seen results improve noticeably in recent weeks—while the return to fitness of Sam Vokes, one of the cornerstones of their promotion campaign, will (to fall back on the old cliche) feel like a new signing.
"It was a massive positive to see Sam play 90 minutes [in the midweek FA Cup defeat to Spurs] after what he has gone through, and he will get sharper, fitter and more mentally more alert," Sean Dyche said, per the Daily Star.
"He's not back yet fully and there is still room for improvement. He has got time to get it right but it was fantastic to have him back out there."
All that optimism is great, but it remains the case that both sides are firmly embroiled in things at the wrong end of the table. This game is a key chance to make a statement for both of them: Palace, after drawing with Burnley earlier in the season, cannot afford to concede more points to their rivals down in the relegation battle, while Burnley know that home games like this are almost must-wins.
Neither side will start the game in the relegation zone, but the loser could be right back in it come 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. More of a goalscoring threat is great, but it is victory that remains the most important thing.
