Mauricio Pochettino conceded Chelsea may be forced back into the transfer market for attacking reinforcements following the injury to Christopher Nkunku.
The France international, signed in the summer from RB Leipzig, was one of the standout successes of the team’s pre-season tour of the United States with three goals in his five games, but sustained a meniscus injury to his knee against Borussia Dortmund in Chicago and is unlikely to play again before December.
The 25-year-old underwent surgery this week and has begun his rehabilitation but it is understood that the club expect a 16-week recovery period, rendering the need for added attacking options suddenly more urgent.
Chelsea registered their lowest goalscoring return in almost a hundred years last season with just 38 Premier League goals, and there had been optimism that in Nkunku and fellow new signing Nicolas Jackson a solution had been found.
It is understood there is no update on the future of out-of-favour striker Romelu Lukaku, who was pictured at Cobham in a Chelsea tracksuit this week despite having made clear his desire to return to Italy where he spent last season on loan at Inter.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having departed and Armando Broja recovering from injury, it leaves Jackson as the club’s only recognised striker available for Sunday’s Premier League opener against Liverpool.
“We feel sorry about (Nkunku) because he was doing well,” said Pochettino. “He was an important player for us, his quality is there, one of the best offensive players, can play in different positions.
“It’s a big issue for us. But now it’s about not thinking too much about the injuries, and being positive.
“We’re working on the market also because we’re going to miss one player like this, offensive. The club is working to try to find a solution, maybe short-term, maybe long-term, to add the right profile.”
Pochettino would not comment on Chelsea’s pursuit of Moises Caicedo, insisting on the need to be respectful of Brighton whilst the clubs remain locked in a standoff over their valuations of the player.
Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Friday that Liverpool have agreed a deal with Brighton for the midfielder, believed to be a British-record £111m, but Caicedo is understood to favour a move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s third and most recent offer was £80million, well short of what owner Tony Bloom believes the player to be worth.
Liverpool and Chelsea endured hugely disappointing campaigns last season and started the summer in significant need of squad renovation, though success so far in the transfer market has been mixed.
The Reds have made just two first-team signings, with Caicedo’s former team-mate Alexis Mac Allister having joined alongside Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, whilst Chelsea have undergone a more comprehensive overhaul with over £180m spent on six signings.
Pochettino said he believed the rebuild his club faces is more challenging than the one Klopp is dealing with at Anfield, made tougher in part by the recent high turnover in personnel.
However, he added that he would not allow his players to use it as an excuse on Sunday.
“I think we are more in transition than Liverpool,” he said. “Because I am new here, and Klopp is for seven years at Liverpool. In seven years you can anticipate the transition, you can see what is going to come, you can be ahead of the problems.
“Of course, we are Chelsea, the history of the club is to win, even if we are in transition, people know we cannot give the message that we are in transition. We need to win and we need to be ready to win. And we are going to be ready win against Liverpool.
“The mentality for the players and the whole club is about how to compete in the best way to be strong and to really believe in us. I’m not going to accept a different way to think.
“Excuse? OK, for other people, but no excuse for us, because we need to be strong.”
Liverpool have agreed a British record transfer fee in the region of £110million for Moises Caicedo as Jurgen Klopp attempts to reinforce his midfield on the eve of the new Premier League season. The PA news agency understands Liverpool have swooped in and had a substantial offer accepted for the 21-year-old Ecuador international, who was attracting significant interest from Chelsea this summer.
Brighton held firm on their valuation of a player who joined them for just £4m from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in 2021, and it remains to be seen whether Chelsea will match Liverpool’s bid. The fee is upwards of the previous British record of £107m that Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez in January and dwarfs Liverpool’s own highest transfer payment of £75m for Virgil van Dijk in 2018.
Klopp has seen Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Naby Keita and James Milner depart the club this summer but Liverpool have signed Caicedo’s former Brighton team-mate Alexis Mac Allister for £35m in June.
The Reds have also brought in Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig but, after missing out on Jude Bellingham – who joined Real Madrid in June in a deal that could rise to £115m with add-ons – Klopp is keen to get the Caicedo transfer over the line.
Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea for both sides’ Premier League opener, Klopp said: “I can confirm the deal with (Brighton) is agreed, whatever that means because we want the player and not any kind of agreement, we will see.
“We are club that doesn’t have endless resources, we didn’t expect a couple of things happening in the summer, like Henderson and Fabinho (leaving), stuff like this.
“We didn’t think about that before the summer, to be honest, and then it happened. We gave (attempting to sign Bellingham) a go and the club was really stretched. We will see (what happens with Caicedo).”
As for whether Caicedo will undergo a medical in Merseyside on Friday or if signing the youngster would be Liverpool’s final business of the summer window, Klopp was tight-lipped.
“I’ve said what I know,” he added. “Let’s do it step by step, let’s see what happens in the next hours or days.”
What the papers say
Chelsea are hoping to finally secure the signature of Brighton star Moises Caicedo, the Guardian reports. The club are hoping to finalise the deal as soon as possible so he can be available to play in their opening match against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Manchester United are keen to sign Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, who the Daily Mail says is worth around £30million.
Dutch left-back Ian Maatsen is being chased by Burnley and now West Ham, according to the Daily Mail. The 21-year-old impressed in his pre-season fixtures for Chelsea with West Ham hoping to gain his services on a loan deal.
Italian champions Napoli are interested in Brighton’s 19-year-old forward Julio Enciso, the Telegraph reports.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Benjamin Pavard: Manchester United are hoping to bring the Bayern Munich defender to the club to reunite with former France international team-mate Raphael Varane, French news outlet L’Equipe says.
Max Aarons: The Athletic reports the Norwich City right-back was set for a move to Leeds United, but Bournemouth look set to move in on the deal.
Chief executive Richard Masters has confirmed the Premier League is investigating Chelsea regarding “historic” financial issues that the club reported.
It was reported on Tuesday the Blues are the subject of a Premier League investigation for alleged breaches of financial regulations during Roman Abramovich’s time at the club.
Current owners Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital Consortium, who took over last summer after Abramovich was forced to sell following sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reportedly flagged the potential issue to the Premier League and Football Association themselves.
That now appears to have been confirmed by Masters, who said: “We don’t comment on investigations unless they are out in the public domain. You obviously know who has been charged, that much is clear.
“We have been pretty open about the historic issues with regard to Chelsea because they self-reported to the Premier League and to the FA so it is obvious we are looking into that.”
UEFA announced last month it had been approached “proactively” by the club, who agreed to pay 10million euros (£8.57million) to Europe’s governing body after owning up to “incomplete financial reporting” between 2012 and 2019.
Chelsea said in a statement at the time their new owners became aware of potential impropriety when carrying out a “thorough due diligence process” prior to the purchase.
According to reports, no charges have yet been brought by the Premier League, but, even though the allegations relate to a previous ownership, possible sanctions could include a fine or points deduction if the club are found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Chelsea have been contacted for comment.
Luton have signed former Chelsea and Everton midfielder Ross Barkley on a free transfer.
Former England international Barkley, 29, spent last season at Ligue 1 club Nice following his departure from Chelsea by mutual consent.
Barkley – who played for England at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and also had a loan spell at Aston Villa – could make his debut for the Hatters in their opening Premier League match at Brighton on Saturday.
“Why Luton? Going from the Conference to the Premier League is a great story and for me personally to be back in the Premier League, it’s great motivation,” Barkley said on the Luton club website.
“I’m still relatively young and over the last couple of years I’ve not played as much as I’d have liked.
“But I’ve reserved a lot of energy and looked after myself, so it’s great to be here now as I’ve got a lot to show but I’m ready and feeling motivated.”
Luton manager Rob Edwards is confident Barkley can bring something different to his squad as their embark on a first Premier League campaign after winning the Sky Bet Championship play-off final.
“Ross brings loads of experience at the top level, has international experience and brings an X-factor,” Edwards said.
“He gives us something different, he has that ability to make something out of nothing and we need that in the Premier League. He’s got all the tools required to make a difference for us.
“It’s really exciting for the football club. We want the fans to be excited and they should be about Ross’ arrival.”
Chelsea are reportedly the subject of a Premier League investigation for alleged breaches of financial regulations during Roman Abramovich’s time at the club.
It has been reported current owners Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital Consortium, who took over last summer after Abramovich was forced to sell following sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, flagged the potential issue to the Premier League and Football Association themselves.
UEFA announced last month it had been approached “proactively” by the club, who agreed to pay 10million euros (£8.57million) to Europe’s governing body after owning up to “incomplete financial reporting” between 2012 and 2019.
Chelsea said in a statement at the time their new owners became aware of potential impropriety when carrying out a “thorough due diligence process” prior to the purchase.
According to reports, no charges have yet been brought by the Premier League but, even though the allegations relate to a previous ownership, possible sanctions could include a fine or points deduction if the club are found guilty of any wrongdoing.
The PA news agency has contacted Chelsea and the Premier League for comment.
Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku is set for an “extended period” on the sidelines after the Blues confirmed their summer signing has undergone knee surgery.
The 25-year-old France international moved to Stamford Bridge from RB Leipzig for a reported £52million but suffered an injury in Chelsea’s pre-season draw against Borussia Dortmund in Chicago.
“Nkunku has sustained a knee injury which will rule the forward out for an extended period,” Chelsea said in a short statement confirming the attacker had gone under the knife.
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“The 25-year-old has undergone an operation and will now begin a rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical department.”
While the club have offered no official timeframe for recovery, some reports have suggested the former Paris St Germain forward could be out until December.
Nkunku is one of seven summer additions at Chelsea and looked set for a big role under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino before his injury setback.
Chelsea have completed the signing of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from Brighton on a seven-year deal.
The Blues agreed a £25million deal with Brighton to sign the 25-year-old Spaniard on Thursday and have now finalised the move.
The transfer involves an up-front £25m payment, with an additional sell-on clause included, the PA news agency understands.
Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart said on the club website: “We’re very pleased to welcome Robert to Chelsea and he adds further quality to our goalkeeping unit.
“Robert has repeatedly proved himself in the Premier League and been capped by his country. We are excited to watch him work with (head coach) Mauricio (Pochettino) and his coaching team during the season ahead.”
Sanchez, who made 23 Premier League appearances for Brighton last season, will challenge Kepa Arrizabalaga for a starting place at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have now made seven summer signings under Pochettino, who is rebuilding the squad following his appointment in May as a permanent replacement for Graham Potter.
France defender Axel Disasi and 19-year-old midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu arrived at Stamford Bridge earlier this week from Monaco and Rennes respectively.
Wingers Diego Moreira (Benfica B) and Angelo (Santos) plus forwards Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal) and Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) have also been signed this summer.
Sanchez, who has made two senior appearances for Spain and was included in both their Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022 squads, made 91 appearances for Brighton in all competitions after progressing through their academy.
He had loan spells at Forest Green and Rochdale before becoming a regular starter for Brighton during the 2020-21 season.
Chelsea have signed France defender Axel Disasi from Monaco.
The 25-year-old has signed a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge as the Blues moved quickly to cover the injury to Wesley Fofana.
Disasi has played 130 times in Ligue 1 and was part of the France squad that were runners-up in last year’s World Cup.
The centre-back told the club’s official website: “I am so happy to be here, at this big club. I am really proud to be able to be a part of this great family, and I hope to achieve very big things here. To win titles.
“I will do everything I can to achieve those objectives. I am very ambitious.
“It’s a club that has been very popular for French players because they have all done well here – (Frank) Leboeuf, (Marcel) Desailly, (Nicolas) Anelka, (N’Golo) Kante, (Olivier) Giroud. And the colour is blue like the national team! It’s good.
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“It’s a familiar club for French people, and I hope all the French players here now can join that line of great players.”
Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley added: “Axel has showcased his quality over several seasons in France and that has deservedly led to recognition on the international stage.
“He is ready to take the next step in his career and we are delighted that will be with Chelsea. We welcome him to the club and look forward to him joining up with Mauricio Pochettino and his new team-mates in the days ahead.”
Chelsea have agreed a £25million deal with Brighton for goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, the PA news agency understands.
Sanchez – who saw Jason Steele come in as Brighton’s number one during the latter half of last season – is set to join the Blues to offer competition for Kepa Arrizabalaga following the departure of Edouard Mendy to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.
It is understood the transfer involves an up-front £25million payment, with an additional sell-on clause included.
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Spain international Sanchez, 25, worked with Chelsea goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts when he was at Brighton. Roberts left for Stamford Bridge in September 2022.
New Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino is in the process of overhauling his squad following the club’s worst season in almost 30 years.
Chelsea have also been linked with a move for Seagulls midfielder Moises Caicedo, with Brighton said to be looking for a £100m fee.
France forward Christopher Nkunku, who arrived from RB Leipzig in a £63million switch, continues to be assessed on a knee problem which forced him off during the final game of Chelsea’s pre-season tour in the United States against Borussia Dortmund.
“The doctors are checking him and I hope it is not a big issue,” Pochettino told reporters following the 1-1 draw at Soldier Field in Chicago.
“He fell in the action which was maybe a penalty and he feels something in his knee, but we hope it is nothing big.
“We hope he can be back quickly with the team. We need a few days to assess him.”
Chelsea open the new Premier League campaign at home to Liverpool on August 13.
Chelsea have agreed a fee with Monaco to sign France defender Axel Disasi, the PA news agency understands.
A deal worth £38.5million is believed to have been struck, which will see the 25-year-old make the move to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues dipped into the market for a centre-back after Wesley Fofana suffered a serious knee injury.
Disasi moved to Monaco from Reims in 2020 and has made 118 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, and has impressed suitably in the principality to have made his senior France debut.
Having previously been capped at Under-20 level, he became the first Frenchman to make his debut at a World Cup since 1966 when he featured in the 1-0 group-stage loss to Tunisia in Qatar.
Disasi is set to become Chelsea’s third major signing of the summer with forwards Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkuku having joined from Villarreal and RB Leipzig respectively.
Chelsea, under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, begin their Premier League campaign away to Liverpool on August 13.
Chelsea have agreed a resolution with UEFA that will see them hand over 10million euros (£8.57million) after owning up to “incomplete financial reporting” under the Roman Abramovich regime.
A new ownership group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover of the club in May last year from Abramovich, who was sanctioned over his links to Russia president Vladimir Putin.
UEFA, which has also banned Juventus from competing in the Europa Conference League this season due to financial irregularities, confirmed it was approached “proactively” by the Boehly-led consortium.
They detected instances of partial financial information being submitted in historical transactions occurring between 2012 and 2019, breaching UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations.
A UEFA statement said: “Following its assessment, including the applicable statute of limitations, the CFCB (Club Financial Control Body) First Chamber entered into a settlement agreement with the club which has agreed to pay a financial contribution of 10million euros to fully resolve the reported matters.”
Chelsea gave the most playing time of any Premier League club to players developed in their own academy last season, research from the PA news agency has revealed.
Despite the focus on their extraordinary spending in both the summer and winter transfer windows under new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, the Blues fielded seven players developed in-house for a combined 9,473 minutes.
That was one more player and nearly 2,000 minutes more than any other Premier League academy and here, PA looks at the figures in detail.
Cobham producing the goods
Five Chelsea academy products have been a regular feature of the club’s line-up in recent years and played over 1,000 minutes apiece last season, with Conor Gallagher leading the way at 1,812, narrowly ahead of Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
While the latter pair have left the club this summer, Reece James’ playing time is likely to increase from the 1,381 minutes he managed in an injury-hit season. Lewis Hall played 700 minutes and Armando Broja also featured before a long-term injury of his own.
Levi Colwill could also return from his loan at Brighton to help keep up the club’s homegrown quota, after starring for England’s Under-21 European champions.
Chelsea’s targets for their academy under their ‘Vision 2030’ banner include having Cobham graduates make up 25 per cent of their first-team squad and 15 per cent of playing time, and to have more in the professional game than any other academy.
Seven of last season’s 32 players were developed in-house and accounted for almost 23 per cent of their playing time, while leading the field for Premier League players indicates they are on track for the latter aim as well.
Three other clubs – Tottenham, Southampton and Liverpool – used six each of their own graduates but the closest club to Chelsea in terms of playing time were Nottingham Forest, with 7,619 minutes from four players.
Brennan Johnson played over 3,000 minutes, captain Joe Worrall almost 2,500 and Ryan Yates just short of 2,000, while Alex Mighten made one brief appearance before going out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday.
Crystal Palace were just 38 minutes behind in third, with Leicester and Brighton completing the top five ahead of Spurs.
Bees no-show
At the other end of the scale, Brentford were the only Premier League club not to give any playing time to graduates of their own academy.
The Bees have benefitted from their innovative link-up with Danish club Midtjylland, importing a number of talented players from Scandinavia and finishing 13th and ninth in their two seasons since promotion to the top flight.
They have barely developed any homegrown talent, though, with Ryan Trevitt and Nathan Young-Coombes making matchday squads but yet to take to the pitch in the Premier League.
Leeds fared little better last season in terms of player development, their 73 minutes coming in a solitary early-season appearance for Cody Drameh before his successful loan at Luton.
Fulham managed just 339 minutes, mostly from Marek Rodak and Jay Stansfield, while Hugo Bueno accounted for the vast majority of Wolves’ 1,742 minutes.
One extreme or the other
There were 83 players in last season’s top flight tagged as academy graduates of the same club they played for.
While those included several club captains such as James Ward-Prowse, Declan Rice and Lewis Dunk and stalwart players like Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, many others were on the periphery.
Thirty played less than 90 minutes while 23 made just one appearance each, ranging from one minute and 40 seconds for West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry against Manchester City to a full 90 minutes plus nine of stoppage time for Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher in the 4-4 draw with Southampton.
Nine players cleared the 3,000-minute mark and a further eight played over 2,000 minutes, with 34 in all playing 1,000 minutes or more for the club that developed them.
Chelsea and Arsenal were the leading producers of Premier League players in the 2022-23 season, research by the PA news agency has found.
The two clubs’ academy products each racked up just over 21,000 minutes of playing time but remarkably were separated by just 37 seconds, with Chelsea edging top spot.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the main stories to come out of the data.
Small margins
On August 6, 2022, Chelsea sent on Conor Gallagher to replace Jorginho in the ninth added minute of their season-opening 1-0 win over Everton.
It may have been a mere game management move by then-manager Thomas Tuchel but Gallagher’s two-and-a-half-minute appearance – Chelsea’s shortest all season – ended up deciding top spot in the academy study.
PA’s data includes minutes and seconds played by each player in every match, including stoppage time, and the total of 21,031 minutes and 44 seconds for Chelsea graduates put them fractionally ahead of their Arsenal counterparts’ 21,031 minutes, seven seconds.
The other headline news is that Manchester United – leaders in every previous edition of the academy study, most recently after the 2018-19 season – drop to fourth place and have been overtaken by rivals Manchester City, whose total of almost 19,458 minutes is over 1,500 behind the leading pair.
United graduates managed just under 18,533 minutes and they gave playing time to five products of their own academy – Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Elanga and Kobbie Mainoo.
Relegated Southampton completed the top five with almost 16,570 minutes.
What they said
Former AFC Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson is now Chelsea’s development squad head coach.
He recently told The Athletic: “If the (youth-team) trophies come, that’s great. But it’s more about ‘who is the next one we can produce for the first team?’.
“It’s also given the other lads an incentive — the ones who have trained with the first team but haven’t played yet, plus the ones who haven’t had the opportunity. It drives them on, thinking ‘am I going to be next?’.”
Arsenal’s habit of handing key roles to their recent players, with manager Mikel Arteta working alongside technical director Edu, extends to the youth set-up with Per Mertesacker and Jack Wilshere as academy manager and under-18 coach respectively.
Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah lead the homegrown contingent in the first team and Mertesacker told the club’s website: “It feels really positive. It sends a message that we need to be developing strong, young individuals who can cope with pressure. I like that, setting standards at the highest level.
“We have always been at the forefront of giving young players a chance. This is something that has been part of Arsenal DNA forever.
“You have to look at a 10-year cycle in the academy. I’m looking at the next three years thinking ‘this is when the real work starts’.”
Global giants
It is not just Premier League clubs represented in the study, with many players’ English Football League beginnings and the top flight’s global reach also captured.
In fact Dutch club Ajax rank sixth, just ahead of domestic heavyweights Liverpool and Tottenham.
Sven Botman, Kenny Tete, Pascal Struijk, Joel Veltman and Christian Eriksen each played over 2,000 minutes as Donny van de Beek and Jairo Riedewald rounded out a group of seven Ajax graduates.
Benfica were 10th behind Nottingham Forest and produced as many players in Manchester City’s treble-winning squad – four – as City’s own academy.
Fellow Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon are 11th with Anderlecht, Genk, Nice and St Etienne also in the top 20.
Sheffield United were the top EFL side in 17th as they secured their return to the Premier League, while League One Charlton were 20th.
Far and wide
There were 277 academies represented in the study, with playing time ranging from Chelsea and Arsenal’s totals all the way down to Lagans AIK’s three minutes and 22 seconds in a solitary appearance for Newcastle full-back Emil Krafth.
Lagan were one of 190 academies represented by just a single player each, Blackburn ranking highest among them thanks to David Raya’s 3,765 minutes for Brentford.
The Bees themselves produced only Bournemouth defender Chris Mepham, whose 2,408 minutes placed them 132nd in the rankings and last among the 20 top-flight clubs.
Only seven clubs hit double figures for players – Chelsea in front again with 16, one more than Manchester United. City produced 14, Arsenal and Southampton 13 apiece, Liverpool 11 and Tottenham 10.
John Barnes backed Liverpool for a top-three Premier League finish next season, although the Reds great believes the title race will be between Arsenal and Manchester City again.
Pep Guardiola's City overcame Arsenal in a two-horse title tussle last campaign, with Mikel Arteta's Gunners already strengthening for next term by signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
Jurgen Klopp's side were far from their best in the 2021-22 season but battled to a fifth-place finish to secure Europa League football for the upcoming campaign.
Liverpool have bolstered their midfield options by bringing in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, with Barnes expecting the Reds to return to the top four this time round.
"As I've mentioned in the last year the injury situation really worked against us last season," Barnes, a two-time First Division winner with Liverpool, told Stats Perform.
"And of course, from that perspective, in terms of the age of the players we have to reduce the age and we did that in terms of the young players we had.
"So, it's a bit of a transitional period, not just in terms of the injuries and not having all the players available, but also in terms of having younger players coming into the squad.
"We have to give them time to develop and to grow to show their consistency. So, I have no doubt that we will be back, I'm not going to say we're going to win the league, but we'll be much closer to the top and I fully expect us to be in the top three next season."
Experienced midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, two staples of Liverpool's title-winning side under Klopp in the 2019-20 term, are expected to depart for Saudi Arabia.
The additions of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai will aid Klopp's cause but former England international Barnes believes Guardiola's City will again have too much quality to be overthrown at the top.
He added: "City are favourites, I think Arsenal have strengthened very well in terms of the players they've got with Declan Rice and Havertz, therefore they will be strong once again.
"There was a little bit of inconsistency towards the end of last season, but that will stand them in good stead. So I'll make those two, alongside ourselves, those two will be the main targets.
"Manchester United will also be stronger as well because of the harmony that they have within that squad and the lack of uncertainty in terms of the manager and the players and who's in charge.
"Chelsea will be interesting, to see how [Mauricio] Pochettino handles that situation. And Tottenham, with a new manager [Ange Postecoglou] from Australia, are they going to take that if all of a sudden they don't win matches?
"Are they then going to be negative because he's not a European? So yeah, I think that probably leaves ourselves, Arsenal and Manchester United [for the top four]."
Former Reds midfielder Lucas Leiva echoed Barnes' sentiment, suggesting Liverpool are strong enough to compete alongside the likes of City, Arsenal and United for the title.
"The top six, normally you expect all of them to challenge," the Brazilian said. "City is in a great moment, Arsenal are improving every year as well.
"I think Chelsea are playing only in the league this year. I think that could be better for them. I would say they could concentrate only on the league.
"And Liverpool like every season will be stronger. United as well. So the teams that we expect to challenge. City today are the team to beat but Liverpool are strong enough to compete for sure."
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