BOLTON WANDERERS
Budget: Unlikely to exceed even £15m.
What's Being Said: "I have promised the players as soon as we definitely know what's happening to us, we'll look at what's going to happen in the future" - Gary Megson.
There will be comings and goings at the Reebok this summer. Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the goings are likely to be more noticeable. Ivan Campo has already gone, El-Hadji Diouf has made his intention to depart public and the out-of-contract Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ricardo Gardner may follow. In summary, any newcomers will be replacements rather than additions.
Gary Megson has spent more of his managerial career outside of the Premier League than in it, so, given the tendency of managers to buy from the market they know best, it's logical to assume that his recruits will be bought from below. Nor would it be a surprise if he settles on a half-way house of picking from the carcass of the Championship-bound Birmingham and Reading. Sebastian Larsson, in particular, is a player who proved he is capable of performing in the top tier and would be a useful resource at the Reebok.
The unfortunate reality of Bolton's situation is that they are one of the least attractive sides in the Premier League and arguably the least enticing destination. Unlike Wigan, for whom even Steve Bruce compares favourably alongside Megson, they will not even be able to tempt prospective signings with the carrot of bumper wages.
Staying with that gloomy prognosis, it is noticeable that, mindful of the budgets available elsewhere, the bookies make Bolton the favourites to be relegated from the Premier League next season along with the latest batch of Championship trespassers. It's a grim way to start what is likely to be an equally grim summer at the Reebok.
CHELSEA
Budget: Essentially unlimited. If, as Grant claims, Abramovich is personally involved in the composition of Chelsea's shopping-list then the Israeli will have a blank cheque to spend.
What's Being Said: "Nobody except me and the owner knows the players for next season" - Avram Grant.
Chelsea have hit the ground running, recruiting Porto right-back Jose Bosingwa for £16m within 48 hours of Manchester United being crowned champions. The timing of the deal was significant in another respect: it occurred on the same week that Roman Abramovich made his first appearance in west London in over three months. Their benefactor's interest apparently rekindled, the Blues are reported to have then tabled a £40m bid for Fernando Torres. It's clear they mean business this summer; better still, they apparently mean to entertain next term.
A right-back had to be the club's first priority. Second must be a left-winger following the inadequacy of Florent Malouda as a replacement for the much-missed Arjen Robben. As Roman is apparently ready to bankroll a spending spree with his spare change, Chelsea should be aiming high and putting Franck Ribery in their sights. Only a player of his calibre would provide the type of improvement that Chelsea seek. Another Steven Sidwell-style purchase would be a waste of time for both parties.
Yet the cost of recruitment must be weighed against the club's plan of breaking even by 2010. Already hugely dependent on Abramovich's loans, this summer's transfer outlay will once again be funded by the Russian's personal largesse. Further investment would not only increase the size of Chelsea's risk but also their pay-roll burden. The compromise solution will be to remove some of the overpaid deadwood and the list of speculated possible departures from Stamford Bridge is lengthy: Juliano Belletti, Wayne Bridge, Tal Ben Haim, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Nicolas Anelka, Carlo Cudicini, Andriy Shevchenko, Steven Sidwell, Claudio Pizarro, Malouda and Claude Makelele.
The Chelsea squad does not lack depth and it could cope with as many as ten departures being met by as few as four major arrivals.
Depending on who can actually be persuaded to leave the Chelsea pay-roll in pursuit of football - it is a depressing insight into the mentality of modern-day footballers that Sidwell's agent claimed earlier this month that his client "is very happy at Chelsea" considering the midfielder hasn't played in the league since January - then Grant could require cover at centre-half, full-back and goalkeeper. Yet Grant, or whoever finishes the summer at the helm, shouldn't require a new central midfielder so long as Frank Lampard validates reports of a u-turn and does indeed sign a new contract rather than move abroad.
Which leaves the small matter of Didier Drogba's future determining the focus of Chelsea's summer.
The Ivorian has pointedly refuse to silence claims that he wants to leave (most probably to Milan, where he owns a house), while Chelsea are not thought to be particularly perturbed by the prospect of his exit. On one level, that nonchalance is a response to his attitude, both on and off the pitch, and a reputed demand for a hefty increase on his £90,000-a-week pay packet. On another, there must be acceptance that that Drogba is a formidable obstacle to introducing of the entertaining football Abramovich apparently craves. The Ivorian is a battering-ram centre-forward, neither suited nor accustomed to a refined playing style. The arrival of Dimitar Berbatov, who Grant has supposedly placed at the top of his shopping list, could signal not just a change in style but also the introduction of a 4-4-2 formation. Drogba could prosper with a partner, but would he relish a passing game? It's doubtful - and Chelsea's refusal to offer Drogba a new deal suggests that the club's hierarchy share those doubts.
A note of caution, however: Drogba is the exception to the rule that all strikers who have joined Chelsea courtesy of Abramovich's largesse have, to a various extent, flopped: Shevchenko, Pizarro, Crespo, Mutu and Kalou. Even Anelka could be added to that list having scored just twice since his move to west London in January.
Shevchenko and Pizarro are bound to make quiet exits so Chelsea's response in the market should not end with a replacement for Drogba. Kalou is adequate for the role of fourth striker, and Anelka is a proven goalscorer who will flourish sooner or later, but the work that awaits the club is considerable. No wonder they made a start even before their season had finished.
EVERTON
Budget: Still unknown, but unlikely to stretch beyond £25m.
What's Being Said: "I need to find out how I can keep our challenge going a bit longer - it is probably needing a few more players and better quality. I need to make sure we get that. We have the foundations, we have built a good model without spending fortunes. There are a lot of clubs who would like to be in the situation we are in. But I want to be in the position that the four teams above us are in" - David Moyes.
It is an indication of the flimsy finances at Goodison Park that David Moyes, even at the third time of asking, can only afford Manuel Fernandes on a loan deal. Granted, the aborted transfer is complicated by third-party ownership, but if Everton were able to spend £12m on a player then Fernandes would have already completed a permanent move to the club.
In that context, hopes that Moyes will acquire a superstar performer, capable of transforming the Toffees from Champions League hopefuls into the real thing, are bound to be on the unrealistic side of optimistic. Moyes has the ambition to make Everton a top-four club; he just doesn't possess the finances that most observers deem necessary for the task.
Tellingly, the Scot is one of the few Premier League practitioners outside of the elite to argue in public that success does not have to be bought. "We may have expected the likes of Newcastle and Spurs to be where we are, but it is not always about spending money. It does not guarantee you are higher position, you need a good team and spirit plus a good balance of players," he says. True enough, but it is one thing finishing fifth on a small budget and quite another to defy those restrictions to break into the top four.
The probability is that Everton will have a relatively quiet summer - when Moyes recently bemoaned the delay in discovering his budget it was only to warn, "The better Bosmans move very quickly. I'd like to get a couple in and then you feel a bit happier."
The matter of his own future needs addressing too, with his current contract due to expire in a year. The Scot can use the threat of walking as leverage towards gaining substantial funds but the bottom line is that Everton are simply not a rich club and now have the issue of funding a stadium move to consider. In his six years at Goodison Park, Moyes has spent a total of £72.5m - which isn't much more than what Manchester United spent last summer even after being crowned champions.
The general expectation is that Moyes will sign a new deal even in the knowledge that substantial funds - i.e. in excess of £25m - will not be forthcoming. Rumours that Moyes would like to sign the £5m-rated Sidwell make sense then, and that is the sort of second-tier acquisition that the Everton fans should expect. If Moyes also pursues Bordeaux's Alou Diarra - and there's room for both him and Sidwell after Lee Carsley's exit - then the bulk of Everton's summer spending may be concluded far in advance of the new term. Further forays into the transfer market would probably be dependent on Moyes' securing his own funds, possibly by offloading the disappointing Andy Johnson.
PG