The English Premier League 2021-22 season will kick off with Arsenal’s visit to newly-promoted Brentford on Friday late night. There is plenty of excitement among football fans as the clubs have strengthened their squad by signing some of the finest footballers in Europe, and a few familiar names have returned to English football. Meanwhile, VAR is likely to be less controversial after changes to offside, handball, and penalty rules.
We take a look at what’s new in the brand new season of the English Premier League.
VAR
Ever since its launch in the 2019-20 season, the VAR has courted controversy. Players, managers, ex-footballers have been critical about the tight offside calls, slightest contact leading to a penalty, and highlighted a few other inconsistencies in the video review system.
From the new season, Premier League VARs will use thicker lines to determine close offside calls. It will eliminate marginal offside calls and will give the attacking side the benefit of the doubt. An accidental handball in the build-up to a goal is no longer considered a foul. It will only be deemed as an offense if the handball directly creates the goalscoring opportunity.
A record 125 penalties were awarded in the English Premier League last season, and a few of them created huge controversies. The referee has to establish clear contact to award a penalty now. They will check whether the player is trying to win a penalty using the contact made by the defender. Contact alone is not sufficient to win a foul inside the box.
New Signings
Manchester City broke the English transfer record after acquiring midfielder Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100m. The 25-year-old, who penned a six-year deal, attracted interest from many clubs, but it was defending English Premier League champions who triggered the release clause.
After a year-long pursuit, Manchester United splashed out £73m to bring Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. The winger, who played 90 minutes against Ukraine in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals, is key to the Red Devils’ attacking hopes. They have also signed four-time UEFA Champions League winner Raphael Varane to solve issues at the heart of the backline. The Frenchman, who has completed his medical, is expected to be on the bench for the season opener against Leeds United at Old Trafford.
Chelsea has signed Romelu Lukaku for a fee close to £100m from Italian Serie A champions Inter Milan. With Olivier Giroud left to AC Milan and Tammy Abraham’s future in doubt, the UEFA Champions League winners needed a target man. Chelsea had bought the Belgian in 2011 but sold him to Everton three seasons later. The 28-year-old, who also spent two seasons at Manchester United, scored 113 goals in English Premier League.
Among the English Premier League biggies, Liverpool has the quietest transfer window so far. The Reds made only one signing so far as they inked a deal with German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig to bring defender Ibrahima Konate to Anfield. The Merseyside club let Georginio Wijnaldum and Harry Wilson, who represented Wales in Euro 2020, join Paris Saint-Germain and Fulham, respectively.
North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, too, have been busy in the transfer market. Centre-back Cristian Romero and goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini joined Spurs from Atalanta on loan. Highly-rated winger Bryan Gil penned a five-year deal from Sevilla, with Erik Lamela going the other way.
Arsenal forked out £50m to acquire the services of Brighton and Hove Albion defender Ben White, who was part of England’s Euro 2020 squad. He became the club’s third most expensive signing. The Gunners have also added midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga and left-back Nuno Tavares from Anderlecht and Benfica, respectively.
Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare, Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendia, Joachim Andersen, Adam Armstrong, Junior Firpo, etc., are few other exciting players to watch out for in the new season of the English Premier League.
New Managers
Among the teams that finished in the top seven in the English Premier League last season, only Tottenham Hotspur made a managerial change. Nuno Espirito Santo, who did an excellent job at Wolverhampton Wanderers, signed a two-year contract with the London outfit. He managed to steer Wolves to consecutive seventh-place finishes and reached the quarterfinals in the Europa League 2019-20 edition.
Rafael Benitez, who has guided Liverpool to a UEFA Champions League title, has replaced Carlo Ancelotti as the new Everton boss. The Spaniard becomes the only second manager to be at the helm of Liverpool and Everton. He also had stints with Chelsea and Newcastle United in the English Premier League.
Bruno Lage, Thomas Frank, Patrick Vieira, and Xisco Munoz will be making their debut in the English Premier League as managers in the upcoming season.
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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