The summer transfer window closes at 6 p.m. ET (11:00 p.m. BST) on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and all of the Premier League's leading teams still have much to do if they are to close the gap on reigning champions Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta's side is a strong favorite to retain its title after adding Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimarães, Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa and Club Brugge winger Christos Tzolis. The Gunners have also turned defender Piero Hincapié's season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen into a permanent transfer.
The Gunners already look formidable and could yet add Atletico Madrid forward Julián Álvarez to their squad before Tuesday's deadline. Can their most realistic title challengers do enough business and make some tough decisions over the coming days to enable them to push Arteta's side all the way this season?
With Arsenal already looking much stronger than the rest, here's what the chasing pack must do to put themselves in a position to wrestle the title away from Arteta & Co.
Manchester City
Despite spending over £280 million on new signings so far, City have had a relatively low-budget summer due to the club raising £235 million by offloading James Trafford, Tijjani Reijnders, Nico González, Sávio, Omar Marmoush and Rodri, on top of the exits of free agents John Stones and Bernardo Silva.
Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi have arrived at the Etihad as part of the midfield rebuild, and City are still attempting to seal a deal for Chelsea's Enzo Fernández before the window closes. But as of now, City have two issues to address.
The first is completing the midfield rebuild, and they need to land Enzo in order to get that job done. But perhaps City's biggest challenge is one that they are unlikely to meet -- finding reliable cover for Erling Haaland. With Marmoush leaving on loan for Spurs after less than two years at the club, City's goal-scoring options have been further diminished, and coach Enzo Maresca has no obvious replacement if Haaland is sidelined due to injury. Only Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, a January signing from Bournemouth, hit double figures for City last season, with Phil Foden (seven) next best in the Premier League.
While Haaland is fit and available, City have nothing to worry about. But they have a very limited insurance policy right now with only Semenyo to fall back on if the Norway striker is unavailable.
Erling Haaland is as reliable a goal scorer as they come, but a lack of striker depth could come back to punish Manchester City. Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images Chelsea The obvious area in need of reinforcement at Chelsea is in goal, and the club have struck a £7.5 million deal with Aston Villa for Argentina No. 1 Emiliano Martínez. The veteran goalkeeper has come close to leaving Villa on several occasions in recent years -- Manchester United and Juventus have both been put off by the wages and fee involved for the 33-year-old -- but it looks as if Chelsea will sign the former Arsenal keeper before the deadline.