After another close season of thrilling transfer activity, the bosses of the top six Premier League clubs will bring their attentions back to on-field matters with a vengeance this week.
Arsenal have already begun their pre-season preparations with a 5-3 victory against Nuremberg last week, with new signing Gabriel Jesus netting a brace as Mikel Arteta’s side came from two goals down to win.
But now their Premier League rivals will kickstart their preparations, including a fascinating clash between two of the top six, as Liverpool take on Man United in Bangkok in what will be the first game in charge for Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag.
Arsenal (pictured) kicked off their pre-season with a 5-3 victory against Nuremberg last week
Manchester City will put the likes of Erling Haaland and hopefully Kalvin Phillips through their paces this week before they fly out to America to play a pair of pre-season fixtures.
Chelsea will hope to have departing City star Raheem Sterling in their squad when they fly stateside to begin a jam-packed pre-season fixture schedule, while Tottenham have been the busiest of the lot and will look to bed their players in while in South Korea.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at all the reasons for fans to be excited as pre-season preparation intensifies this week for the so-called ‘Big Six’.
Liverpool
A ruthlessly efficient machine in the transfer market, the Reds look stronger than last season despite losing Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. And if that is not enough reason for Reds fans to get excited, well, then there are a few things that will.
New £85million signing Darwin Nunez has taken part in his first training session but sat out part of an open session due to blisters ahead of a clash in Bangkok against Manchester United and a subsequent fixture against Crystal Palace in Singapore.
It takes quite something to grab Jurgen Klopp’s attention but that is exactly what Nunez did when playing for Benfica against the Anfield side last season.
And if he impressed one of the best managers on the planet, he is already on his way to becoming a superstar.
New £85m signing Darwin Nunez has already taken part in his first Liverpool training session
Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay were the other additions brought in last month, and they represent yet more talent that Klopp will look to develop over the next few years, while Mohamed Salah’s new deal has made Liverpool fans more confident than ever of further success.
Klopp is never…