Why Liverpool and Man City transfers show they're in a league of their own

David Lynch argues that the signings of Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez mean the Premier League title is likely to be won by either Liverpool or Man City again.

Two huge signings

You could forgive the clubs aiming to break Manchester City and Liverpool’s stranglehold on the Premier League for losing hope in the aftermath of their signings of Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez.

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s teams have dominated English football in recent years, and it is difficult to imagine that signing two of the world’s most promising young strikers will make them worse.

But then football has a tendency for making fools of us all, and so there are at least some reasons for the chasing pack to harbour a degree of optimism going into the new season.

Nunez is unproven

Take, for example, the fact that Nunez arrives as far from the finished article, and surely won’t find goals quite as easy to come by in the more testing environs of the Premier League.

A period of adaptation is likely to follow his move, which isn’t particularly helpful for a team aiming to secure the 90+ point totals required to finish first these days.

What’s more, he comes in as a direct replacement for the ludicrously reliable Sadio Mane, who never failed to hit double figures in the league during his time at Liverpool. The Senegalese won’t be an easy act to follow.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has plenty of options up front alongside new signing Darwin Nunez

Haaland needs to step up

As for Haaland, while his reputation may precede him, he is making a step up from the Bundesliga that has proven tricky in recent years, as Timo Werner and Kai Havertz can attest.

There is also the small possibility that the Norwegian disrupts City’s carefully crafted tactical plan, which for so long has seen them thrive without an out-and-out striker.

Will Guardiola’s side be able to control games as easily without an extra body clogging up the midfield? And, if not, will Haaland be able to take the physical toll of providing that first pressure without succumbing to injury?

Unfortunately for those aiming to topple City and Liverpool, while these small question marks do exist, there is a mountain of evidence that they can be overcome.

An abundance of options

And that is because neither side is, in fact, reliant on their new additions hitting the ground running in order to get off to a flying start.

Should Liverpool wish to give Nunez time to settle in, they can simply choose from the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota instead.

As for City, even in the event Raheem Sterling is sold, they will still have Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish to call upon.

And in the case of both clubs, this combination of quality and experience is allied to a world-class manager who knows exactly what it takes to collect the ludicrous amount of points required to win the Premier League these days.

Unshakeable strength 

Of course, the teams below City and Liverpool plan to do everything they can this summer to ensure the top two don’t continue to have things all their own way.

Now freed from sanctions, Chelsea will hope they can finish a little closer than 18 points behind second place this time around, while Tottenham have already done some impressive business as they look to build something special under Antonio Conte.

And surely Manchester United cannot be quite as bad as they were last season once Erik ten Hag’s revolution gets under way.

Still, it would be silly to ignore the unshakeable strength of the City-Liverpool duopoly, which is likely to limit the ambitions of their would-be challengers to simply reducing the chasm in the season ahead.