Clubs cannot afford to stand still as the Premier League talent pool gets deeper and deeper

Preparing for a new football season is like setting off on a long, arduous journey and the first item to pack – if this isn't too abstract – is squad depth.

I can't get enough of those team line-up graphics illustrating a club's options in every position. At centre-forward, for example, you might have 'Disgruntled superstar' then below that 'Promising youngster with dodgy ankles' and finally 'Calamitous signing who scored two goals in 27 games on loan at some Turkish Super Lig club last season'.

Squad depth dominates my waking thoughts at this time of year. Can Liverpool's youthful midfielders Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic step up if the Reds are gazumped by Chelsea in the race to sign Moises Caicedo? 

Is Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta prepared for the diplomatic challenge of having two supposedly number-one goalkeepers, Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya? And how will Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues cope come late September when their only fit defender is 39-year-old Thiago Silva?

But let's widen the focus from the depth of individual Premier League squads to the depth of the division as a whole, which is, well, pretty deep.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the big six has become the big seven, with Newcastle back in the Champions League after losing only five league matches on their way to fourth spot in 2022-23.

Brighton and Aston Villa finished sixth and seventh last term, ahead of big-six founder members Tottenham and Chelsea, and the Seagulls went off as favourites to beat Manchester United in April's FA Cup semi-final on neutral turf at Wembley.

Villa, galvanised by Unai Emery's arrival last autumn, have sold Marvelous Nakamba to Luton but signed even more marvellous Moussa Diaby for a club-record fee from Bayer Leverkusen, also snapping up Spain centre-back Pau Torres and Leicester's Youri Tielemans.

Belgian midfielder Tielemans can testify to the strength in depth of the Premier League, having joined the Foxes in January 2019, when the club was still basking in the glow of their astonishing 2015-16 title triumph under Claudio Ranieri.

In May 2021 Tielemans scored a brilliant winner as Leicester beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final but just two years later he and his teammates were relegated on the final day of last season.

The Foxes' fate is a warning against complacency for any clubs who are standing still or, even more dangerously, slipping backwards. Consolidation is no longer sufficient to retain top-flight status – relentless progress is required.

Bournemouth aren't resting on their laurels after 2022-23's commendable 15th-place finish, investing heavily over the summer and, they hope, upgrading their manager by replacing Gary O'Neil with Andoni Iraola.

Brentford, ninth last term, are missing suspended star striker Ivan Toney until January but they managed to beat West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester City without him in their last three games.

Fulham certainly aren't sitting comfortably despite their top-ten finish, eight points clear of Chelsea, and even 1966 World Cup winners and reigning European champions West Ham – as they style themselves these days – are as short as 6-1 for relegation with some bookmakers.

At this stage of last season, the Manchester City-Arsenal straight forecast was 33-1, Newcastle were 17-2 to finish in the top four, Brighton 8-1 to make the top six, Chelsea 14-1 for a bottom-half finish, and Leicester 16-1 to go down.

So keep an open mind in season-long Premier League markets and, before backing any team to do well, remember the Bee Gees' ante-post football-betting advice: "And it's me you need to show/How deep is your squad?"

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