Gyokeres completes Arsenal jigsaw with Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea lining up similar signings

Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal feels like the biggest jigsaw-completing signing in history, but it is a strong summer for clubs sorting their transfer pictures.

GOALKEEPER: Mike Maignan (Chelsea)
It remains impressive that Chelsea have invested about £1.5billion over three years in a playing squad which continues to boast neither an elite goalkeeper nor a world-class centre-forward.

Liam Delap might finally provide an answer to the latter conundrum but there is no sign of their situation between the sticks being solved.

Chelsea took the decision in March to let their ludicrously expensive and bloated goalkeeper’s union sort things out themselves. That was undermined somewhat when the availability of AC Milan shot-stopper Maignan was undoubtedly explored up to the closure of this summer’s first transfer window.

They treated that as an absolute summer deadline and seem content not to resurrect that move, but another season of Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen playing hot potato with the gloves feels like a curious thing to embrace when expectations will be high.

RIGHT-BACK: Tino Livramento (Manchester City)
Pep Guardiola following an absurdly lavish January transfer window with a burst out of the blocks in terms of summer spending has left precious few gaps in his Manchester City squad.

The perennial suggestion is that the Spaniard would rather cut than bulk out of sheer desperation to work with fewer players, even if that exposes them to injury crises as debilitating as last season.

Their options in attack are varied and bountiful, while the midfield is similarly stocked. Ederson, the final piece of an old Etihad jigsaw, should be able to pull through at least one more season. But Manchester City remain vulnerable defensively.

Rayan Ait-Nouri has addressed issues on the left, allowing Josko Gvardiol more freedom to cure ailments in the middle. But the right-back cupboards are almost entirely bare so it is useful that Newcastle ‘plan to accept’ an £80m Livramento bid.

CENTRE-HALF: Bafode Diakite (Bournemouth)
Andoni Iraola conceded that Bournemouth “will not find the same player” as Dean Huijsen, but his predestined departure for Real Madrid handily came “very, very early, even without starting the market”.

Bournemouth sold Milos Kerkez to Liverpool soon after and that is likely conclude their player sales, with the Cherries determined not to lose more than two of their excellent starters in any summer.

Adrien Truffert arrived from Rennes to fill the Kerkez gap even before it had been vacated, but more deliberation is needed over the identification and procurement of Huijsen’s replacement.

Iraola and his recruitment team can afford to be patient and consider multiple avenues, with versatile Lille defender Diakite among the most desirable.

CENTRE-HALF: Ousmane Diomande (Crystal Palace)
Lyon and Nottingham Forest playing particularly silly beggars has thoroughly stunted any plans Crystal Palace might have had heading into this summer.

The Eagles are awaiting confirmation of their European fate to know where they stand in terms of both keeping the players they currently have and attracting a different calibre of targets. Who said The Magic of the FA Cup was dead?

Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi could complete World Cup-winning moves – while Adam Wharton stays precisely where he is – but in any event Oliver Glasner needs at least one new centre-half.

Diomande was earmarked long ago but it turns out £45m talks can be quite protracted even without John Textor sticking his cowboy hat in.

LEFT-BACK: N/A
Roberto Carlos could hawk the image rights of his preposterous thighs for a limited edition 1,000-piece work of boxed art and still no left-back-based jigsaw puzzle worth doing would have ever existed.

RIGHT-WINGER: Anthony Elanga (Newcastle)
A less conventional jigsaw completion, Elanga will represent the first rather than last move of Newcastle’s transfer window but a crucial and necessary step in their next phase of squad-building nonetheless.

Simply by virtue of being their first first-team signing in about 700 days, it will be a significant move for the Magpies.

And with Newcastle’s club motto over the past couple of years basically becoming the Latin translation of ‘they have a starting line-up capable of beating anyone but squad depth is lacking,’ the signing of a younger, better and more versatile alternative to Jacob Murphy raises the floor and ceiling at St James’ without changing the counter-attacking gameplan.

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CENTRAL MIDFIELDER: Josh Brownhill (Burnley)
If Scott Parker is ever going to achieve his defining career goal of managing consecutive seasons in the same division, it might be an idea to keep his top scorer.

That individual being a 29-year-old midfielder who left Burnley upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the season does sum up some of the inevitable issues the Clarets may face in their latest assault on the Premier League.

Brownhill has offers from far, wide and West Ham but Burnley have been sufficiently busy and ambitious in their dealings so far to convince their erstwhile captain he is better off at Turf Moor.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER: Harvey Elliott (Brighton)
Tony Bloom has admitted that Brighton “have already got slightly involved in the transfer window” as one of Europe’s biggest spenders, with doubt that “we will be doing a huge amount more between now and the end of the window”.

Few clubs have signed as many players. The Seagulls have added three defenders, two wingers and a centre-forward to a squad of burgeoning young talent. But if there is an area of potential weakness it is in midfield.

It would require some delicate negotiation with Liverpool and likely the acceptance of a buy-back clause which could leave them vulnerable in the future, but Elliott offers versatility and experience which betrays an age able to fit in with the general squad profile.

LEFT-WINGER: Samuel Mbangula (Fulham)
Until they abandon the pretence and decide to simply phone Willian again as soon as the transfer window closes, there is a clear need for Fulham to reinforce in wide attacking areas soon.

Even if the decision is taken that Harry Wilson and Adama Traore comprise what would be a thrilling, hilarious and uber-effective right wing, the issues on the left could be exacerbated soon.

Alex Iwobi attracting admiring glances from Atletico Madrid is a problem. Fulham have rejected a £21.5m bid but they know from experience how these circumstances can spiral into an unavoidable sale.

Whether Iwobi leaves or not, at least one more player is needed down that side and Juventus forward Mbangula is on the radar.

CENTRE-FORWARD: Alexander Isak (Liverpool)
The volume of monotonous updates has changed nothing: Newcastle will almost certainly not sell Isak and Liverpool are vanishingly unlikely to table the sort of sums which might persuade them otherwise.

It is not even really a transfer Liverpool desperately need to chase. The champions were comfortably the highest scorers in the Premier League last season, with Golden Boot winner Mo Salah also leading the way for assists.

There are three far more likely targets for Liverpool to consider if a centre-forward is deemed an absolute necessity in what is already their most expensive summer transfer window ever. Isak, however, will always be the holy grail.

CENTRE-FORWARD: Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)
Has there ever been a single more Final Piece of the Jigsaw? Even if Gyokeres is ‘prepared for the worst’ of linking up with Jose Mourinho instead.