Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle areas to target in transfer window

Many are unsure whether Arsenal can hold on given the recent history and quality of Manchester City, who are eight points behind but play Leeds United on Wednesday.

At this rate, the battle for the top four will likely see at least two of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea miss out on Champions League football next season.

Agreements are already in place for some of those teams to strengthen their squad, while a raft of negotiations are ongoing as we speak.

What will the Premier League’s top sides be looking to improve?

Arsenal

League-leaders Arsenal will look to strengthen their forward options once again, especially with Gabriel Jesus’ knee injury which has put him out until at least late-February.

Mikel Arteta says any players that join the Gunners need to “add something” to the team.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani would be a good fit, but Barcelona’s Ferran Torres would be a more realistic signing given the La Liga side’s continuing financial problems.

Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk has been linked with a move to the Premier League over the last few weeks and Arsenal have been increasingly rumoured to be the club where the Ukrainian lands.

“We are going to be active and active means we are looking to strengthen the team,” said Arteta.

“This squad still doesn’t have the luxury of not maximising every single window. We have to do that because it’s really important. But then we have to get the right profile, it has to be the right player to take us to the next level.”

Manchester City

Can you really strengthen the Manchester City squad more? Any other manager would bite your arm off to have a team like City, but there is always room for improvement.

Left-back possibly is the position to target when Joao Cancelo is unavailable, although City only signed Sergio Gomez from Anderlecht in the summer. Mitchel Bakker from Bayer Leverkusen springs to mind as a possibility.

Lewis is only 18 years old though so more experience in full-back positions, when Kyle Walker and Cancelo are out, seem to be the most logical answers.

Pep Guardiola is expecting a quiet month after meetings with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and director of football Txiki Begiristain.

“I think we’re going to finish [January] in this way,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but since I arrived in Abu Dhabi with the sporting director, with Txiki and everyone, there wasn’t any name on the table.”

Newcastle United

Depth in defence and a top winger will be on Newcastle’s list as Eddie Howe’s side look to continue their sensational season where “anything is possible”, according to their manager.

Miguel Almiron’s excellent form has helped the Magpies but they could do with someone like Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen or Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

However, Kvaratskhelia is set to be offered a new contract from Napoli that will increase his current salary of £1 million.

One of the keys to Newcastle’s success hasn’t been signing huge names from around the world, but having a team that are together and that gets the fans on board.

“We would love another transfer like [Bruno] Guimaraes because I thought it was transformational for the team and for the group,” said Howe.

“They are difficult players to find but that’s our job to try and find them and we will endeavour to do that.

“I am not pretending to watch players, I am watching them, with a view to signing them. I am not acting that out when I am alone at home!”

Tottenham Hotspur

In September, Antonio Conte said Spurs need three more transfer windows to challenge for the Premier League. Well, here comes the first of them.

Having spent £172m in the summer, Spurs will be looking to improve their squad again after a rollercoaster campaign.

A central midfielder such as Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot has been linked to the club while they may try again to get their hands on Atletico Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco.

Right-back is another position Tottenham need to prioritise with Denzel Dumfries grabbing the interest of many English sides including Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs themselves.

Another complication is whether Conte himself stays in London as his contract expires at the end of the season.

Asked whether he wants to sign a centre-back, Conte said: “No, about the defenders, I think now we have recovered also Japhet Tanganga. It was his first game this season.

“He struggled a lot with his knee. You know now that he needs a bit of time to grow into the game, but I’m pleased for him to play a game today.

“Then at central defender I think we are good. We have to continue to work, to work. Cuti Romero comes back to training. I repeat in one side I am a bit disappointed this season because we have conceded many goals.

“In the other side I think that we are scoring many goals, creating chances and to attack with many players.”

Manchester United

Filling in the hole left by Ronaldo has been helped by the form of Marcus Rashford, but maybe United could look to the man who made his mark up front for Portugal at the World Cup, Goncalo Ramos.

Outside of Diego Dalot at right-back, United need a back-up as Aaron Wan-Bissaka – despite a recent resurgence – does not seem a core part of Erik ten Hag’s plans.

“We are always in the market but it has to match the sporting criteria but also the financial criteria and we will do what we can to bring that player in that we need,” said Ten Hag.

“I don’t talk about any individual cases [Gakpo]. I am not looking at other teams, I am looking at our team. I am convinced in the players we have, individual and as a team, that we can compete with those other teams.”

Liverpool

From nowhere, Liverpool agreed a deal with PSV to sign Gakpo, who can play in any of the forward positions.

With Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino all out of action, it will be a major lift for the Reds and their hopes to get into the top four.

Midfield has been a problem area for Liverpool with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho perhaps past their peak.

Sofyan Amrabat’s breakthrough at the World Cup for Morocco has made him a target and he would fit the bill for Liverpool.

Enzo Fernandez has been linked with Liverpool too in recent days following his part in Argentina’s World Cup win.

“If there is something possible, we will do it,” said Klopp back in November. “If a door opens, we are open as well.

“It is not about wanting or whatever. Of course, we want to improve the team all the time, we just believe in the training ground as well and that we can do it there. We will see what happens.”

Chelsea

Chelsea were the highest spenders in the Premier League in the summer but it didn’t pay off as they sit eighth following a disappointing run under first Thomas Tuchel and then Graham Potter prior to the World Cup.

They badly need goals as the Blues have found the back of the net just 19 times in the league, so a new striker such as Napoli’s Victor Osimhen would be a big signing to rescue their season.

Owner Todd Boehly is keen to buy young talent, which is why Benoit Badiashile from Monaco is in advanced talks to join the club.

Enzo Fernandez has long been linked to Chelsea, but, just like they did with Gakpo, Liverpool could sweep in and sign the Argentine central midfielder.

“What I would say is that historically the January window isn’t so straightforward to find solutions,” said Potter.

“From my perspective, there was an extreme period and I would not want to make too many drastic assessments based on that extreme period.

“I think the team, as I see it, has not functioned as maximally as I would like it to and I think it can do. The job of a head coach is to focus on the ones that are here and make them better. There is room for improvement there, for sure.”