Ten KEY questions for 2025/26 pre-season

From transfers to tiredness to title challenges and more, look at the standout talking points

With pre-season now in full swing, Alex Keble looks at what lessons we might learn from the summer tours, asking 10 key questions that might be answered in the upcoming warm-up matches.

How many deals will get done during pre-season – and just how much will change?

As much as managers will look to build fitness and integrate new tactical ideas over the next month weeks of friendlies, an awful lot of pre-season is outside the control of Premier League head coaches.

The transfer window is about explode into life over the next few days with a chain reaction of deals.

Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze are just some of the high-profile players who could be on the move, and should a few of these big-money deals go through, it would free up funds to get the ball rolling on numerous other transfers.

There are huge open questions about all 20 clubs. Not one of them has the squad they would like to have come 1 September, and frankly anything could happen between now and the start of the season.

More than anything else, it’s the transfer merry-go-round that will take up our attention during pre-season.

Can Man Utd build momentum for the much-needed Amorim reboot?

There are two new managerial tenures starting this season (more on that below), but there is no manager under more scrutiny – or more desperate for a strong pre-season to get their ducks in a row – than Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim.

He won 27 points from 27 league matches in 2024/25, by far the worst points-per-game average in the club’s Premier League history. Amorim's win percentage in all competitions stands at 38.1 per cent, the lowest of any permanent Man Utd manager since Frank O'Farrell was in charge between 1971 and 1972.

Needless to say he needs to hit the ground running in August with a tactical blueprint and squad cohesion befitting of Man Utd.

That won’t happen unless their pre-season goes to plan, from transfers to strong showings in friendly matches against top flight opposition in the Premier League Summer Series.

The Summer Series features four Premier League clubs - AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Man Utd and West Ham United - who play each other at three sporting venues in the United States.

Ordinarily, pre-season results matter far less than building fitness, but for a club and manager under such a powerful spotlight, a string of poor performances this month could ramp up the pressure on Amorim and his players.

On the other hand, if Matheus Cunha settles nicely and Amorim’s formation looks more certain after a few weeks of pre-season preparation, then the mood music around the club will be considerably lighter, clearing a path for the club’s revival.

Will Man City and Chelsea be rusty, in full flow, or tired?

“Maybe in November, December or January it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and the [Club] World Cup has destroyed us,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said before his team were knocked out in the quarter-final.

“I don't know. It's the first time in our lives that this has happened.”

One of the great unknowns is how the FIFA Club World Cup could affect the campaigns of Chelsea and Man City.

The Club World Cup featured 32 of the world's leading teams in a tournament that ran from 14 June to 13 July, barely two weeks after Chelsea's UEFA Conference League final triumph, and the end of the domestic season for Man City.

For Chelsea, being crowned champions of the world could be a big boost to morale, giving them the winning feeling needed to go up a level.

“Winning this trophy against such good opposition sends a big statement,” captain Reece James said after the final. “I hope next season we’re competing in the Premier League to win the title.”

But playing competitive football deep into July could indeed be a “disaster”, as Guardiola suggests.

Only time will tell if the Club World Cup leaves Man City and Chelsea jaded and prone to injury throughout 2025/26, or indeed if it will impact the first few weeks in August.

The scheduling of the Club World Cup saw a number of players from both Chelsea and Man City coming into the competition after representing their national sides just a week earlier.

Maybe they will be rustier than their rivals, having taken a holiday so late in the summer, or maybe they will be in full flow, having maintained match sharpness until just six weeks before the Premier League begins.

Hopefully we will get some answers in pre-season, when, in early August, Chelsea play Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan while Man City take on Palermo.

How will Slot's changing of the guard shape up?

Liverpool’s Premier League title last season was all the more impressive for their lack of transfer activity in the summer. Arne Slot had to use Jurgen Klopp’s squad, making tactical changes without any help from new players.

That’s why this summer feels like such a big moment for the club. Finally Slot is getting the chance to sculpt the club in his image – and he’s decided to make major changes.

It’s the end of an era for an iconic Liverpool full-back duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, with Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong the new first-choice pair.

Elsewhere, reported record signing Florian Wirtz will give the attack a whole new dimension, as will a new No 9, whoever that turns out to be.

Pre-season provides us with a first look at how Frimpong, Kerkez, and Wirtz could completely rewrite Slot’s attacking dynamics. Games against AC Milan and Athletic Club in particular will be intriguing early tests.

Will big additions make Newcastle title challengers?

Judging by their ambitious recruitment strategy Newcastle United are the ones to watch.

A second Champions League campaign in three years appears to have unlocked some funds, with Anthony Elanga already through the door and, quite possibly, a striker to follow.

The new step for Eddie Howe is to challenge for the Premier League title, so it will be interesting to see how Newcastle fare against Arsenal on 27 July and Tottenham Hotspur on 3 August.

Certainly pre-season will give us a good sense of whether Elanga is a good fit on the right wing, and how well he can link with Alexander Isak.

But Isak has reportedly been the subject of a bid from Liverpool, and although Newcastle have made it clear he is not for sale, it’s a story that could hang over their friendly matches.

As for preparing for a title challenge, it’s worth noting Newcastle only just made the top five – beating Aston Villa to the final spot on goal difference – despite not playing any European matches in 2024/25.

The addition of at least eight Champions League matches could take its toll.

Can mid-tier teams cope after major sales?

Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth, Brentford, and Nottingham Forest have all lost key players this summer, taking the wind out of their sails.

Forest, boosted by a return to Europe, are preparing for the season without Elanga and possibly Morgan Gibbs-White, who remains the subject of transfer speculation, significantly weakening their attack.

Their bigger friendlies against Monaco, Fulham, and Fiorentina will reveal how Nuno Espirito Santo intends to adapt without them.

Similarly Wolves have lost Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri; Bournemouth have lost Kerkez and Dean Huijsen; and Brentford sold Christian Norgaard, while Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who provided 50 goal involvements between them last season, remain heavily linked with a move away.

That’s four of the Premier League’s most ambitious mid-tier clubs all facing rebuilds after losing two key players.

For Brentford, the summer has also seen the departure of manager Thomas Frank to Spurs after seven years with the west London club.

Keep an eye on their respective friendlies this summer. We can learn a lot about how each club chooses to adapt – and how big an impact those losses will have.

Does Zubimendi - and perhaps Gyokeres - take Arsenal to a new level?

AC Milan, Newcastle, Spurs, Villarreal, and Athletic; Arsenal haven’t given themselves any easy fixtures this pre-season.

Perhaps it’s a ploy by Mikel Arteta to get his team competitive and cohesive at double speed, in the hope Arsenal will start 2025/26 with better performances and results than the laboured, red-card-heavy first months of 2024/25.

Those summer matches also provide Martin Zubimendi with a chance to integrate into the first team, and a chance for the rest of us to see just how transformative that signing will prove to be.

Zubimendi is an elite No 6 in the Rodri role. Certainly Arteta will be hoping his impact is as big as his compatriot’s.

Should media speculation prove correct and Viktor Gyokeres does join the Gunners this summer, these friendlies could see the Sweden international - and another potential game-changer – get his first run-outs in an Arsenal shirt.

Will Everton hit the ground running in their new stadium?

Everton’s new 53,000-seater stadium is finally open, four years after ground was first broken on the project.

The Hill Dickinson Stadium has so far only hosted a couple of academy matches as test games, with the seniors set to play there for the first time next month, when Everton host AS Roma on 9 August in their final pre-season friendly.

It will be a special occasion for Everton fans, and a pre-season fixture with all the pomp and ceremony of a competitive match.

Victory against Roma would mean a lot to the club, laying the groundwork for David Moyes’ side to hit the ground running at their new home.

Long-term there is no doubt moving to a considerably bigger ground will be good for Everton. But in the short-term, it’s possible that Everton will have effectively lost their home advantage, needing some time to make the Hill Dickinson feel like their own.

Moyes, then, would be delighted if Everton make a winning start against Roma.

Will promoted trio be ready for the opening weekend?

After successive Premier League campaigns in which the three promoted clubs all went straight back down, we ought to pay particularly close attention to Burnley, Leeds United and Sunderland this summer.

All three have friendlies against top-quality opponents, providing an early test of whether their respective summer plans have prepared them effectively for the top flight.

Sunderland play Sevilla, Sporting, and Real Betis, Leeds face Man Utd, Villarreal, and AC Milan, and Burnley end their pre-season with a match against Lazio.

All of those games will provide us with important information.

Will Burnley’s record-breaking defensive record in the Championship be transferable to playing teams from the ‘‘Big Five’’ leagues? Can Daniel Farke take Leeds up a notch despite his future appearing uncertain until mid-May? And will Sunderland’s reported £100million spree be enough to make Regis Le Bris’ young side competitive?

Thanks to the calibre of their friendlies, we will have a better working knowledge of those questions before the Premier League campaign has even begun.

What will Andrews' Brentford actually look like?

There is no team in the Premier League more shrouded in uncertainty than Brentford.

Losing their manager Frank to Spurs was difficult enough, but to see Norgaard leave, and Mbeumo and Wissa possibly following, Brentford could need a full-scale rebuild.

They have decided to turn to their set-piece coach Keith Andrews, a man with no previous managerial experience but who is respected as a motivator and coach.

That’s not to say he won’t be a success – Frank, after all, was another promotion from within – but there’s no doubt Brentford have taken a risk.

As a managerial novice, we don’t yet have any idea how Andrews will look to play. Friendlies against Queens Park Rangers and Borussia Monchengladbach offer a first glimpse.

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