WHY SAY ANYTHING?

There are dark horses in most competitions. They are called dark horses because you don’t see them coming. They slip into the lead or one of the first three places almost unnoticed and, occasionally, go on to win the race.

This season will not see a dark horse slipping into the top six, never mind the top three.

The top three are already nailed on and, coincidentally enough, also happen to be the three who have spent the most money. But does this actually mean anything? Is it possible to buy the Premier League title? The short answer is; No, it isn’t, but it IS possible to buy the players who will win you the Premier League title.

So, of the three biggest spenders, who has bought the players who will make the difference?

Chelsea have bought Antonio Rüdiger and Alvaro Morata, neither of whom have any Premier League experience. Is that really a factor? As long as they are good footballers, which they are, surely the game is the same all over the world. Yes, it can be faster in the EPL and there also may be more games during a season, but that is a question of fitness, not ability.

Antonio Conte still wants more signings to feel confident in mounting a title challenge so, until these new signings are made, we put Chelsea in third position which, coincidentally enough, is where they currently sit in the “money spent” table.

Second in the money table are Manchester United who have spent fortunes without necessarily improving their squad by much. Romelu Lukaku is a young, direct replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimović and probably won’t contribute many more goals than the Swede did.

Victor Lindelof, who has had a shaky start, will replace the even shakier Chris Smalling, so that is a slight improvement. The only real improvement to the squad to date has been the addition of Nemanja Matic who slotted in seamlessly and has looked good from day one.

José Mourinho would also like another signing and, until he gets whoever that may be, he will have to be content with the runners-up spot this season.

Pep Guardiola, who has spent the most so far, has been busy buying full backs. He has added, in quite quick succession, Bernardo Silva, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker. However, it should be remembered that he also released four full backs so his spending on this position, whilst excessive, was not unwarranted. He also brought in ANOTHER new goalkeeper and will hope this is a case of third time lucky having been unimpressed with firstly, Joe Hart, and then Claudio Bravo.

Of the three managers, Guardiola is probably under the most pressure to win the title or the Champion’s League, (or both), having finished last season empty handed. At least the other two brought home the bacon in one form or another for their clubs, although United fans won’t be happy with another sixth place finish in the league this time out.

So the top three places will go to the three clubs who have, thus far, spent the most money and yet we still maintain that, should this prediction prove to be correct, none of them will have bought their position. What they will have done, through good management and massive spending, is bought the right players to finish in that position.

Interestingly, Everton are the fourth highest spenders up to now, so does this mean that they will finish fourth? They may do, but it is unlikely.

No, they are more likely to be the club who prove our point. With no Champion’s League football or history of it and with no Premier League titles won, Everton cannot yet attract the kind of players we see arriving at the other three so, despite spending the money, they are still some way behind them.

They could make it into the top six though at the expense of either Tottenham, who have spent nothing, (which is just how Dastardly Dan likes it), or Arsenal who continue to test the patience of their fans by employing a manager who lives in the past, along with the majority of their trophies.

So normality will return to the Premier League this season. The natural order will be restored and, hopefully, there will not be two London teams in the top three, but two Manchester teams.