No Cantona in our first season title winners …



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Gary Neville sensibly suggested Manchester United need five signings to fight for the title, we agree, but former coach Rene Meulensteen claims they only need one – Harry Kane. To play central presumably.

Anyway, here’s a summer transfer squad that led their team to the title in their first season. As you can imagine, it is quite lateral …

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech – 2004/05
Carlo Cudicini could have been forgiven for being a bit stumped when Chelsea signed Petr Cech for £ 12 million in the summer of 2004. The Italian stopper was at the time considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and had conceded just 30 goals in the previous season. the Blues finished second behind Arsenal. The bewilderment must have quickly turned to insight as he watched from the bench: Cech kept a clean sheet 24 and conceded a staggering 15 goals as Chelsea broke into their first Premier League title. The records are still held today and may never be broken.

Endorsement: Ederson – 2017/18

Right-back: Kyle Walker – 2017/18
Manchester City spent £ 126 million on wingers in the summer of 2017: £ 52 million on Benjamin Mendy; 47 million pounds in Walker; £ 27 million in Danilo. Walker has turned out to be the only real success story of the three with Mendy initially battling injury and then struggling to regain his form, while Danilo played very little before Juventus inexplicably paid £ 33 million for him last summer. Walker’s role in City’s success is too often taken for granted – he’s always very good.

Support for: Paulo Ferreira – 2004/05

Central defender: Jaap Stam – 1998/99
“Jaap Stam was the one. Without a doubt, I made a mistake there. “Sir Alex Ferguson’s confession when asked about his Manchester United regrets. He accepted the £ 16.5 million that Lazio offered him for the imposing Dutchman in 2001, to interrupt what was a brief but brilliant spell at Old Trafford. United lost just four games in Stam’s entire first season at the club – they didn’t play in two of those losses. Oh, and The Treble won.

Support: Rio Ferdinand – 2002/03

Central defender: Ricardo Carvalho – 2004/05
We’ll leave this to Pat Nevin …

“Ricardo had those deadly dark arts at his disposal, we all knew it. He was an asset to the team in an almost Jason Bourne way. If Ricardo hit you, you tended to get hit. He was not just a soccer killer, his true world-class ability above all his other attributes was his uncanny ability to read the play and see where the danger was likely to unfold. “

Cheers, Pat.

Endorsement: Sol Campbell – 2001/02

Left back: Marcos Alonso – 2016/17
Gael Clichy and Giovanni van Bronkhorst may have been safer options, but Alonso steals the left-back spot for his unexpectedly triumphant return to the Premier League. After forgettable spells with Bolton and SunderlandAntonio Conte spent £ 20 million to bring the Spaniard back to England from Fiorentina. He scored six goals and provided three assists playing predominantly as a left back to prove the skeptics wrong.

Endorsement: Benjamin Mendy – 2017/18

Left midfield: Marc Overmars – 1997/98
The medical department advised Arsene Wenger not to sign Overmars from Ajax as the winger was recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, but the French manager said he “blew it away.” Overmars finished the season as Arsenal’s second top scorer behind Dennis Bergkamp to lead the Gunners to their first Premier League title. Well done, guts.

Support: Bernardo Silva – 2017/18

Midfield: Roy Keane – 1993/94
Of Roy Keane’s 13 Premier League seasons with United, his first, having signed from Nottingham Forest, was the most productive. He scored five goals and gave six assists as a genuine area-to-area midfielder, starting 34 of United’s Premier League games, also the best comeback of his career at Old Trafford.

Support: Cesc Fabregas – 2014/15

Central midfield: N’Golo Kante – 2015/16 and 2016/17
Buy N’Golo Kante; wins the title. Antonio Conte knew it and still knows it, while trying sell half of its Inter Milan squad to raise funds to reunite with the French midfielder. the Kante, a man on Leicester’s notable title-winning team, was hired by Conte and then became the driving force for Chelsea to collect back-to-back Premier League winners with two different clubs. Kante made the mistake of not joining a new team the following season, so he did not claim a third, but fixed the situation by winning the World Cup. Not bad.

Support: Emmanuel Petit – 1997/98

Right Midfield: Arjen Robben – 2004/05
Arjen Robben only started 14 Premier League games in his debut season at Stamford Bridge – suffering an injury. Of the 18 games in which he participated, he only failed to score or assist in four of them, ending the season with seven goals and nine assists. He, and Damien Duff on the opposite wing, were electric in Chelsea’s first title-winning campaign in 50 years.

Endorsement: Riyad Mahrez – 2018/19

Forward: Robin van Persie – 2012/13
Essential in this team. “We never thought we could get Van Persie, I thought Arsenal wouldn’t let him go,” said Sir Alex Ferguson after signing the player of the year from football players and writers from the previous season for just £ 24 million. It would turn out to be the perfect signing in the great manager’s triumphant final season at Old Trafford as Van Persie scored 26 goals and provided 15 assists as United advanced to the title.

Endorsement: Eric Cantona – 1992/93

Forward: Sergio Agüero – 2011/12
He would have made this team if he had scored just one goal. But it turns out that Agüero scored another 22 before the last-minute win against QPR. He also claimed his highest number of assists in the Premier League in his first season, with ten.

Support: Diego Costa – 2014/15

Will ford is on twitter



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