Five Premier League teams that need transfers before deadline: Manchester United still have work to do

After a summer of record spending by Premier League clubs, the closure of the transfer window is rapidly approaching. And yet it is hard to shake the sense that an awful lot of top sides have business to do. Towards the bottom of the table, a sobering start to the Premier League season will have Manchester United wondering how much more they have to spend to get themselves back to the sort of positions they once occupied. Equally, at the other of the division, Tottenham are riding high almost in spite of summer business that has seen them make loans into permanent deals and add two more bodies to Thomas Frank's squad.

Meanwhile there is mutiny at West Ham and a need for some advanced mathematics to work out exactly where Chelsea stand with UEFA after their settlement agreement. We're breaking down all of those topics below.

There's no need to belabor the point here. We all know what Manchester United have got wrong this summer. They've taken an awful lot of money their owner insisted they didn't really have and spent it all on their forward line. Now the second lowest scoring Premier League ever presents since the start of 2023-24 couldn't leave their attack entirely unaddressed but there really is an awful lot of critical investment required in United just want to tread water this season.

Top priority should be a midfielder, in particular one who can control the game from deep in a way that an ever more immobile Casemiro can only do fleetingly. There is a case to be made that few of the center backs in Amorim's squad offer the ball progression that is a must in a back three system. A goalkeeper should arrive though as United are closing in on a deal for Senne Lammens of Antwerp. His statistics alone make you sit up and take notice, the 23-year-old conceding one goal fewer every two games less than the post-shot xG value of the shots he faced in last year's Pro League. At just over $23 million he is not a marquee addition but given that United ought to be in rebuilding mode, there is a pretty compelling argument to be made that they should be going for players on low wages who could be sold on for good money.

Man United shocked by fourth-tier Grimsby Town in penalty kicks, bounced from League Cup in second round

After all, as of Friday, United, a club with a sizeable bomb squad, were yet to make a single sale for a transfer fee. Marcus Rashford is out on loan at Barcelona and both Antony and Rasmus Hojlund should follow him too, but that would leave the club with several players not in Amorim's plans. Still, after Wednesday's disastrous EFL Cup exit at Grimsby's hands, United will have to ask themselves how certain they are that Amorim is in their plans. If they are not categorically convinced that he will be their manager for years to come then there is a strong case to be made for pulling the plug on Alejandro Garnacho's move to Chelsea, no matter that his heart is set on it, and expanding Kobbie Mainoo's role at a time when he is considering his future.

It's already getting rather testy in east London. A humbling at the hands of Chelsea was followed by an EFL Cup exit in which Jarrod Bowen ended the game arguing with West Ham supporters, a worrying trend given the pockets of fan anger at the London Stadium on Friday. Captain Bowen might have borne the brunt of fan rage but he will surely know that it is not he who has to win over the fanbase but those who employ him.

The sense is of a club that wasted the gold mine they got for Declan Rice and who now have a host of problem positions to deal with if Graham Potter is to keep this team in the Premier League. They haven't found a replacement for Rice -- how could they -- but their midfield is lacking in even one of their former captain's qualities. James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek lack mobility, control and defensive strength, but they were the best West Ham had. Whether the acquisitions of Monaco's Soungoutou Magassa and Mateus Fernandes of Southampton change that is an open question.

Even if they do this is a squad that has been crying out for a high quality center forward ever since Michail Antonio slipped back from his peak three or four seasons ago. Mohamed Kudus was sold to fund business elsewhere but an attack that once seemed overloaded with technical inside forwards now looks light on creativity bar Lucas Paqueta. Potter's back three seems to lack a crucial focal point in its middle. That is a lot of money that needs spending in very little time, but David Sullivan may have little choice but to sanction it given the financial impact of a relegation that cannot be discounted.

Here's a more curious one. There is certainly an argument to be made that the thing Chelsea most need at the end of the window is some peace and quiet, to clear out a few of those who are particularly unwanted, the Raheem Sterlings and Ben Chilwells of Enzo Maresca's engorged squad. However, there is one factor that must weigh over Stamford Bridge, the settlement agreement reached with UEFA for breaching the governing body's squad cost and football earnings rules.

Aside from the fine -- $23 million unconditional with a further $70 million in potential fines -- a significant aspect of the agreement was that their "List A transfer balance" must be positive. In short, they cannot spend more on the players they register for the Champions League than they recoup from those who have left from their Conference League winning squad. Chelsea have sold quite a few of these for good money, most notably Noni Madueke, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and the imminent departure of Christopher Nkunku. They have trimmed back further by cutting costs associated with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marc Guiu, but not every big money sale counts. Joao Felix, for instance, was left out of Maresca's List A last season, so his sale to Al-Nassr counts for nothing.

Chelsea have brought in an impressive sum in recent weeks but they've spent quite heavily as well, and with the impending arrival of Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United. A sale such as that of Nicolas Jackson or perhaps Benoit Badiashile would go some way to making room for some of their summer signings to play Champions League football this season. If not, Chelsea might need to get creative again.

For all that Tottenham's transfer window seems to have been defined by the players they didn't get -- most of all Eberechi Eze --there has been some quite neat business around the squad in the likes of Kevin Danso, Kota Takai and Mathys Tel. Kudus too likes like a strong addition for Thomas Frank. It is just that what is missing is real strengthening in midfield, where Spurs were rocked by a knee injury to James Maddison at a time when there are still doubts over the fitness of Dejan Kulusevski. Hence Xavi Simons, long linked with Chelsea, but a target Spurs are closing in on now. He may not be Premier League ready in the way that Eze or Morgan Gibbs-White was, but the best version of the Dutch international, the version that entranced the Bundesliga in 2023-24, would be a star for any team.

Would that be the end of Spurs' business? Yves Bissouma's potential exit to Galatasaray would open up a spot in deeper midfield that Tottenham would be wise to fill even after the signing of Joao Palhinha. The Portuguese international looks strong in a destructive role but when Tottenham are coming up against three high grade opponents in a week, they are going to need someone who dictates the tempo of a match better than Rodrigo Bentancur. Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray are very impressive options for the future but for the here and now, when there's a favorable run of Champions League games ahead of them, a more steadying hand would improve the engine room.

A winger wouldn't go amiss either but given Daniel Levy's proclivity for brinksmanship, it is hard to believe that everything that needs to be done will be.

Take your pick of a fair few teams. Everton still need bodies, Burnley need quality, even Liverpool could probably do with adding to both their frontline and their backline. Few, however, have managers who are quite as vocal in their desire for new signings as Fulham. Speaking before Wednesday's EFL Cup win over Bristol City, Marco Silva said: "We have to [sign players]. This is the situation. I'm answering this way to you, and it's not to put any more type of pressure at all. It's because we don't have other solutions."

The Cottagers have been active, chasing deals for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin and Samu Chukwueze of AC Milan. Reiss Nelson, who spent last season on loan, is keen to return, with Arsenal looking for a permanent sale. Raheem Sterling is also believed to be open to a move should Fulham target him. The options are there to strengthen in wide areas, while they will be hoping that academy graduate Josh King can step up in midfield with Andreas Pereira expected to return to Brazil with Flamengo.