Mo Salah should be knocked off his superstar perch this summer

It’s an inexact science but a glance down the highest-rated Premier League players according to the WhoScored algorithms sees exactly zero new signings feature until No. 33, when we arrive at Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson.

In truth, his teammate Nikola Milenkovic is probably the correct answer to any question about the best signings of the Premier League season – he topped our own top 10 in March – with a nod to Bournemouth, who will likely quadruple their money on Dean Huijsen this summer.

But you could not make a case for any signing by a club with Premier League title ambitions – or even those without reasonable ambitions but with the heritage to still belong to the Big Six – to even make a revised, season-ending top 10.

Manchester United made three of the most expensive signings of last summer, with Chelsea adding Pedro Neto to the most laughable of all Chelsea signings, while Dominic Solanke would only truly justify his monstrous Spurs transfer fee if he scored the winner in the Europa League final.

Was there a single signing made last summer – outside of Nottingham – who has made a season-defining difference to their club this season? Liverpool spent almost nothing to win the title, Arsenal spent more to fail once again (though Mikel Arteta has his own theories about that), Brighton spent a metric f***-tonne of money to stand still, and Ipswich made an inspired striker signing but went down anyway.

There could still be trophy-claiming moments for summer arrivals at Crystal Palace, United, Tottenham and Chelsea, but in terms of the Premier League, there has been an embarrassing lack of impact by new signings.

When Jorgen Strand Larsen is the new arrival who has scored the most Premier League goals, excuse us for feeling a little underwhelmed.

The good news is that this summer can only reap greater rewards, with almost every major Premier League club competing for strikers and Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen and Benjamin Sesko among those likely to arrive. After the phoney war of this frankly dull season, surely battle is about to commence.

Mo Salah should not have another absolutely free run at every individual award. As wonderful as he is, every other ambitious Premier League club – barring perhaps Manchester City – should be signing somebody who wants to knock him off his f***ing perch. And that includes Liverpool.

A summer without a major tournament can feel like a long one, but it does at least offer the potential for transfers not squeezed by football or born of desperation. Two years ago Arsenal signed Declan Rice and nearly won the title, while Chelsea and Liverpool engaged in a Moises Caicedo battle which left the Blues as only short-term winners. Compared to the underwhelming machinations of last summer, 2023 provided halcyon days.

While it’s true that transfers are not the answer to every question and Arne Slot has proved that continuity and coaching can still be the twin towers of a title victory, there are such obvious gaps in such obvious places, that there will surely be money spent.

Brighton will definitely not retain their biggest spenders crown and Nottingham Forest really should not be pulling off the very best deals.