Alex Keble looks at what Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham need to do in the remaining days.
Burnley
Major deals so far
Ins: Zeki Amdouni (Basel), Sander Berge (Sheff Utd), Jordan Beyer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jacob Bruun Larsen (loan from Hoffenheim), Hannes Delcroix (Anderlecht), Luca Koleosho (Espanyol), Wilson Odobert (Troyes), Dara O’Shea (West Brom), Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa), Nathan Redmond (Besiktas), James Trafford (Man City), Lawrence Vigouroux (Leyton Orient).
Outs: Bailey Peacock-Farrell (loan to Aarhus), Scott Twine (loan to Hull), Wout Weghorst (loan to Hoffenheim).
Two defeats from two leaves Burnley in need of surgery. Nathan Tella, last season’s top scorer with 17 goals, has not been replaced – and it shows. Burnley have averaged 7.5 shots per match this season, the second fewest in the division, while their total Expected Goals (xG) of 0.55 is the league’s worst.
A very small sample size and an opener against Manchester City skews the data, of course, yet Burnley looked light creatively against Aston Villa in particular.
As well as a striker, Vincent Kompany could do with a direct winger to take advantage of counter-attacking opportunities, which will become more valuable this season as possession-centric Burnley are pushed back. So far, the Clarets have completed 5.5 take-ons per match, the fourth-fewest in the Premier League.
Finally, Ian Maatsen was a star player at left-back in the Championship and Burnley are yet to replace him, which helps explain how Villa's Moussa Diaby (one goal) and Matty Cash (two goals) were able to dominate that flank last weekend.
See: Transfer Deadline Day: Follow our live blog
Chelsea
Major deals so far
Ins: Moises Caicedo (Brighton), Axel Disasi (Monaco), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal), Romeo Lavia (Southampton), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Djordje Petrovic (New England Revolution), Robert Sanchez (Brighton), Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes).
Outs: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Kepa Arrizabalaga (loan to Real Madrid), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Marseille), Cesar Azpilicueta (Atletico Madrid), Tiemoue Bakayoko (released), Cesare Casadei (loan to Leicester), David Datro Fofana (loan to Union Berlin), Lewis Hall (loan to Newcastle), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), N’Golo Kante (Al-Ittihad), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al-Hilal), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Mason Mount (Man Utd), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Baba Rahman (PAOK), Andrey Santos (loan to Nott'm Forest), Hakim Ziyech (loan to Galatasaray).
Chelsea’s focus over the next few days is to find buyers for some of their fringe players, and yet Mauricio Pochettino has suggested he would like another creative player.
Carney Chukwuemeka’s injury makes that desirable. His complex role as an inside forward and No 8 gave Chelsea their positional fluidity in the first two Premier League matches of the season, and in his absence against Luton Town, everything went through Raheem Sterling.
Since losing Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, Chelsea are short of playmakers comfortable receiving the ball between the lines. Three of their top four players for ‘key passes’ made last season – Mount, Havertz, and Mateo Kovacic – have left the club.
No wonder Chelsea rank 10th so far in 2023/24 for shots (45) and key passes (34).
Crystal Palace
Major deals so far
Ins: Matheus Franca (Flamengo), Jefferson Lerma (AFC Bournemouth).
Outs: Jack Butland, James McArthur, Luka Milivojevic (all released), Wilfried Zaha (Galatasaray).
The first three matches of the season indicate that Roy Hodgson is continuing with an expressive, loose-reined approach on his return to Crystal Palace. Comparing Hodgson’s 10 matches last season to the first three of 2023/24, Palace are attempting more shots (17.7, up from 14.8) and scoring a higher xG (1.2 per match, up from 0.9).
That means they need attacking reinforcements to replace Wilfried Zaha. His influence shrank a little last season as Michael Olise and later Eberechi Eze (once moved into a central position by Hodgson) grew in prominence. However, Zaha still led the Palace charts – and by a significant distance – for touches in the attacking penalty area (143) and carries into the penalty area (59).
Palace need someone with Zaha’s carrying ability and laser-focus on getting on the ball in dangerous positions. They could also do with more reinforcements in central midfield to provide competition for Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucoure.
Everton
Major deals so far
Ins: Beto (Udinese), Youssef Chermiti (Sporting Lisbon), Arnaut Danjuma (loan from Villarreal), Jack Harrison (loan from Leeds), Ashley Young (free agent).
Outs: Asmir Begovic, Tom Davies, Yerry Mina, Andros Townsend (all released), Mason Holgate (loan to Southampton), Niels Nkounkou (Saint-Etienne), Ellis Simms (Coventry).
It’s pretty obvious what goalless Everton need. Last season they underperformed against their xG by 13.2 goals, the most in the division, and they are already bottom of the charts in 2023/24 with a score of -4.7.
Everton have just signed Beto from Udinese, a powerful and quick centre-forward who scored 10 Serie A goals last season, but they need at least one more striker.
See: Everton sign Beto from Udinese
It’s noteworthy that Sean Dyche consistently deployed a front two at Burnley, where Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes scored 76 goals (48 per cent of Burnley’s total) in their four years together between 2017 and 2021. Everton, then, will need another player to form a partnership with Beto.
Defence is also a problem. Everton have conceded 35 goals in 21 matches under Dyche and have looked too slow at the back when Michael Keane partners James Tarkowski. Adding speed and agility at centre-back would help, although Everton’s financial limitations make reinforcements unlikely.
Fulham
Major deals so far
Ins: Calvin Bassey (Ajax), Timothy Castagne (Leicester), Raul Jimenez (Wolves), Adama Traore (free agent).
Outs: Joe Bryan (released), Ivan Cavaleiro (Lille), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al-Hilal).
Fulham need to replace Aleksandar Mitrovic – and they cannot rely on Raul Jimenez, who has scored six league goals in the last two years, to do the job.
Their 2.5 xG this season, the fourth lowest in the Premier League, is hardly surprising - Fulham averaged 1.5 points per match in the 24 contests in which Mitrovic featured last season, and 1.1 points per match in the 14 he missed.
Fulham need goals, but they could do with tightening up at the back, too. Their 9.5 xG against is the most in the competition and no team has conceded more shots on target than the 25 of Fulham.
Marco Silva reportedly wants as many as four or five new players over the next couple of days, including a new full-back, which can be explained by the fact Fulham have conceded the second-most crosses (73) in 2023/24.
Finally, a new creative winger would help Jimenez. Last year Fulham attempted the second-most crosses in the league (769) but this year they rank 16th (38), while only two clubs have attempted fewer than their 31 take-ons so far.
Also in this series
Part 1: Arsenal to Brighton
Part 3: Liverpool to Newcastle
Part 4: Forest to Wolves
