The 2022/23 football season in Europe is nearing its conclusion. An eventful campaign that saw numerous storylines play out across the football world, including the World Cup sandwiched in between. With the summer transfer window approaching, a handful of teams need to refresh their playing squad following an underwhelming year/approaching the end of a cycle. Below are five football clubs in dire need of a rebuild this summer window.
LEICESTER CITY
Since gaining promotion to the Premier League in 2014, the past nine years have been eventful for Leicester City to put it mildly. They survived relegation in their first season to then go on and win the Premier League in the most remarkable fashion in 2016. They have also had years competing in Europe, including reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2017. Under Brendan Rodgers, Leicester finished fifth in consecutive seasons and won the FA Cup for the first time in their history in 2021. ‘
Finishing eighth last season, thus missing out on European football, the Foxes experienced a car crash of a season, nose-diving to an 18th-place finish- resulting in relegation from the Premier League to the Championship for the first time in a decade. Despite the efforts of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, both contributing 33 goals between them, Leicester had one of the leakiest defences, having the 3rd worst in the Premier League with 68 goals.
Sacking Rodgers late into the season and appointing Dean Smith, the Englishman could not keep the Foxes up and struggled to spring consistent performances from the squad. Irrespective of their season finish this Leicester squad were facing a precarious summer, with seven first-team players set to be out of contract by June 30th, including key figures Youri Tielemans, Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu (whose future is already sealed with a move to Atletico Madrid on July 1st). The following summer would see 8 more players out of contract with the likes of Wilfried Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Maddison, and Jamie Vardy, Leicester’s highest earner facing an unsettled future at the King Power.
Despite getting parachute payments, Leicester will certainly have to cut costs, starting from make a drastic reduction in their wage bill and selling players of a high market value (like Maddison and Barnes). A rebuild in England’s second tier can work, with Burnley successfully gaining promotion after suffering relegation last year. The rebuild will be painful for the fans to witness, and if they start poorly next season, they may be consigned to a longer stay in the Championship than anticipated.
ATLETICO MADRID
Los Rojiblancos have been a constant thorn for Barcelona and Real Madrid under Diego Simeone. Since the Argentine’s appointment in 2011, Atletico has won eight trophies, including two La Liga titles and two Europa League titles. Additionally, he’s taken them to two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016.
Though they will be in the Champions League next season, changes look necessary at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico has the fourth-oldest squad in La Liga, with an average age of 28. Five of their most frequently used players are 29 and over, including Axel Witsel, Yannick Carrasco, Antonine Griezmann and club captain Koke.
Though they had the second-best defence in La Liga this past season, they only had the fifth-best defence in terms of expected goals allowed, suggesting a big over-performance of their defenders and goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Griezmann has been excellent this season, scoring fifteen along with 14 assists. However, the lack of backups, particularly youthful talent, is concerning. Matheus Cunha departed for Wolves in January, while the future of Joao Felix is still uncertain after an underwhelming loan spell at Chelsea after Atletico signed 29-year-old Memphis Depay from Barcelona in the January window.
Simeone’s reluctance to move on from his senior players is something Atletico must think about, with the Argentine’s future in doubt as well, amid speculation he will leave the job at the end of the season. Whether Simeone will be around next season or not, change is needed for Los Rojiblancos.
LIVERPOOL
Since Jurgen Klopp’s appointment in October 2015, Liverpool has experienced their best period in the Premier League era. The Reds have finished fourth or higher in six consecutive seasons and have won six trophies, including the Champions League in 2019 and breaking their 30-year league title drought in 2020.
After narrowly missing out on the title last season, the Reds experienced a slump, finishing fifth, thus missing out on the Champions League for the first time since 2016. A factor was a leaky defence, conceding forty-seven goals-the most since the 2015/16 season. Central midfield has been an issue, with Fabinho out of form for much of the season, Jordan Henderson and Thiago now in the twilight of their careers, and Naby Keita, Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain, James Milner and Arthur Melo all departing from Anfield.
Though Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, and Stefan Bajectic have shown promise, it looks too soon to give much responsibility to them. Fabio Carvalho, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, and Kostas Tsimikas have their Liverpool careers in doubt as Liverpool are looking to refresh their playing squad for next season.
With Klopp and new sporting director Jorg Schmadtke, they need to give the perfect pitch to transfer targets as they have no Champions League football to offer next season, refreshing the midfield and adding depth in defence, with Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister already signed for £35 million. Liverpool’s need for a rebuild is not as drastic as the others aforementioned, but failing this summer window will have a repelling effect for the next few years.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
It has been another disappointing season for Paris Saint-Germain. Though they won their 5th Ligue 1 title in the last 6 years, they amassed a modest eighty-five points and lost seven times since the turn of the calendar year, conceding forty goals in the league. The worst since the 2011/12 season. In Europe, they underachieved yet again, getting knocked out by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.
Other stories have harmed the Parisian club this season from Hakimi’s alleged assault allegation, the club fining Lionel Messi for unauthorised leave, and coach Christophe Gaitier’s alleged racist and Islamophobic remarks during his time at OGC Nice. Messi and Sergio Ramos have announced their departures while speculation surrounds Neymar’s future, with PSG willing to let him go.
Gaitier has been sacked as the club will be looking for a new manager, with Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enquire available. Following years of acquiring superstars, PSG’s transfer policy seems to be changing, looking to sign more young domestic talent, which the club has failed to utilise despite having one of the best talent pools in Europe. Likes of Adrien Rabiot, Christopher Nkunku, and Kingsley Coman being PSG academy graduates.
Discontent with their lack of success in Europe and having more flash than substance, PSG looks to be turning a new page in their recent history under Qatari ownership. The key question is whether they are fully committed to this change in the long run.
INTER MILAN
Following the 2010s being the decade of mediocrity at the Giuseppe Meazza, the past few years have been a success for Inter Milan. Under Antonio Conte, the Nerazzurri won Serie A in 2021-their first league title since 2010. Under current coach Simeone Inzaghi, Inter finished in the top three twice and have won the Coppa Italia in back-to-back seasons.
In Europe, they have regularly qualified for the Champions League since 2018 but have made it to the knockout stages twice. This season, they have made it to the Champions League Final for the first time since 2010 and their second European Final in three years (Europa League Final appearance in 2020). Having lost in a tightly-contested final to Manchester City, this looks to be the last dance for this Inter squad.
They have the oldest squad in Serie A at 28.5, and nine players who have played a thousand minutes or more in Serie A are 29 and over. Various players also have their contracts up within the next 12 months. Romelu Lukaku’s loan spell is ending, while Edin Dzeko, Stefan de Vrij and Milan Skriniar have their contracts up by June 30th. Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alessandro Bastoni have their contracts up by June 2024, while there is interest in key players Andre Onana, Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez.
Inter’s run to the final and their qualification for next season have alleviated their financial struggles. Their Chinese owner Zhang Jindong and his company Suning, have struggled financially in China, taking an emergency loan of €275 million in 2021, and the pandemic also had an effect, losing £211 million that same year.
Inter’s rebuild will be costly, and their financial woes are not going away anytime soon, meaning some painful decisions have to be made in the next few years for the Nerazzurri, Inzaghi has been successful thus far but weathering this storm will prove to be an arduous experience.
