EPL 2017/18: 5 clubs who have had an awful summer thus far

 

Mark Hughes has had a summer to forget

Ahoy – here it is, the transfer window. The one stop shop for all your club's problems. A bad centre half? No worries, buy a new one. A striker who can't find his scoring boots? Check out this guy, he scored 15 goals last season. Unsuitable tactics? Incompetent manager? Misguided owners? Don't worry, the transfer market has a solution to all your problems!

The summer transfer window 2017 is unlike any other – you know that the moment a £40 million bid for Sigurdsson is rejected. You know that when Kyle Walker becomes the most expensive defender of all time. You know that when Ronaldo gets linked with a return to Manchester United (oh wait, that happens every summer!).

EPL has been at the forefront. Not that any one expected anything different. It sounds only natural to us when Bonucci, linked to Man City for £50m, goes to Serie A rivals AC Milan for just £35.2m. The interest of a Premier League club instantly adds a few zeroes to a player's transfer value.

Even with endless reserves of cash, it hasn't been plain sailing for all the Premier League clubs. Sometimes, money is a curse in itself; leading to unrealistic valuations. Sometimes your targets are not for sale. Sometimes your most valuable players kick up a fuss and put in a transfer request.

For varying reasons, here are five EPL clubs who have had an awful summer so far:

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#5 Stoke City

Embroiled in a transfer tussle for Porto defender Bruno Martins Indi, Stoke City must have thought they had enough on their plate to deal with. Then star player Marko Arnautovic handed in a transfer request – and seems inevitably poised to join rivals, West Ham.

Having finished 9th in each of his first three seasons at the club, Mark Hughes' Stoke City finished 13th last season, just foir points off 17th position. In a league where newly promoted Huddersfield town have made nine signings already, Stoke can't afford to rest on their laurels. Darren Fletcher's free transfer from West Brom needs to be complemented now with further solid additions.