Positions top five Premier League clubs could strengthen in the January transfer window

Bengaluru, Nov. 18: There is around one and a half months left for the winter transfer window to open however most of the Premier League sides have already started their preparations.

It is not too early to be thinking about signings with some teams in greater need than others, mostly with the race for a top-four spot and table-topping getting hotter and twisted every day.

Like every season the spotlight will be on the Premier League's top six sides. Although with Chelsea facing a transfer ban, they may have to wait only for the Summer to upgrade their existing side. Here is our prediction on how the rest of the top five sides could react in winter window:

Liverpool

Liverpool's only signing of the Summer was 17-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg alongside fellow teenager Harvey Elliott from Fulham and the free transfer of goalkeeper Adrian.

However, the current PL leaders have not shown any weakness so far. The Reds although had intent to sign a wide player in Summer but Klopp chose to live with his current line-up.

Given the quality of their current forward options, Klopp is unlikely to spend big but could look to sign an attacker for a cut-price to strengthen the bench. Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser has been linked with a move to Anfield recently who only has six months remaining in his current contract.

Manchester City

Manchester City's injury woes have hit them hard this season after the ACL injury to star ace Leroy Sane and big injury to Aymeric Laporte which has ruled them out for a couple of months. City were already lack of options at the back ahead of the season and Guardiola intended to sign a defender after Kompany's exit.

They were closing a deal for Maguire but could not reach a financial agreement. They went into the season with three defenders but with a long term injury to Laporte and frequent injuries to Stones as well, the Citizens look vulnerable at the back.

The defending Premier League winners already have a bunch of options at the front and the absence of Sane may not be crucial right now. But with a long season to go and they are gearing up for another intense title chase with Liverpool, they may look to acquire a defender in January primarily. Bournemouth defender Nathan ake and Leicester's Jonny Evans have recently been linked with Pep Guardiola's side.

Manchester United

A big rebuild is needed at Manchester United and it has already started this Summer. After Solskjaer taking charge of the side, he has started shipping out the deadwood from the side but potential new comings have resulted in only three signings. Solskjaer has completed only three signings so far with Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James but their search for new recruits is certainly far from over. The current United squad has not looked strong enough to compete on a whole host of fronts and the most notable two areas have been in the front-line and midfield.

After letting go Sanchez, Lukaku from the attacking third Solskjaer only chose to sign one attacker and looking at the overall squad strength, it is clear that at least a striker is definitely needed at the side. Midfield is another area Solskjaer has shown his interest to upgrade.

United during the Summer was linked with several options like Bruno Fernandes, Sean Longstaff but failed to acquire anyone. The deficiency of Herrera and Fellaini is still very much present in the squad and they could look at January to add some name there.

So far Juventus forward Mandzukic and Lyon attacker Dembele has been strongly linked over a January arrival while from the midfield the Red Devils have been linked with Juventus's Emre Can and Aston Villa's John McGinn to name a few.

Tottenham Hotspurs

Spurs although have had a relatively successful Summer transfer window but it is yet to be expressed in the field. One of their major issues so far has been the right-back slot. Spurs let Kieran Tripper move to Atletico Madrid without a proper replacement this summer. In his absence, Aurier has cut in the slot but has been far too error-prone with a glimpse of inconsistent showings while on the other hand, other two options Juan Foyth and Kyle Walker-Peters have proved to be still unprepared for such huge promotion. Right now, the North London side should be in desperate need of a transition and signing of a solid right-back could be a first big step in that direction.

Arsenal

Arsenals' main concern area of last season was their fragile defence and in Summer window they somehow managed it with the two defensive recruitments, Luiz and Tierney. However, despite the inclusion, lack of quality and leadership at centre-back has still been a major issue and during the Winter window, Emery may look at further addition at the back. The Gunners recently have been linked with Villareal's Paul Torres over a January acquisition and surely getting someone like him who can command the backline would be a big factor in the long campaign.