When Beckham and Co came of age to retain the title

The 1996-97 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United, holding off a trio of challengers in the form of Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool, to collect the trophy with games to spare.

Despite a shaky mid-season spell, United were deserved champions, ending on 75 points for their fourth league in the space of five years.

CHANGES

One transfer ruled them all in this close season – Newcastle United breaking the world transfer record to capture Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers for a massive £15m. It was a statement of intent from a team that had come so close to winning the title the previous year.

Manchester United had also been chasing Shearer but a move to his boyhood club proved too much of a draw for Shearer, fresh from finishing top scorer at Euro 96.

Arsenal welcomed the relatively unknown Arsene Wenger to English football, and the Frenchman brought with him Patrick Vieira and, during the campaign, a 17-year-old by the name of Nicolas Anelka.

Stan Collymore’s big move to Liverpool hadn’t materialised as the Reds would have hoped, and they had offloaded him to Aston Villa by the end of the season, while Lee Sharpe moved to Leeds for £4.5m from Manchester United.

Chelsea, under Ruud Gullit, were slowly building a team of distinction and they raided Italian football for some eye-catching catching signings. Midfielder Roberto Di Matteo joined from Lazio, while Champions League winner Gianluca Vialli moved from Juventus.

But arguably the most impactful signing of the season was Gianfranco Zola; he only joined the Blues in November but ended the campaign as player of the year after a series of spellbinding performances.

Middlesbrough also spent big on attacking players, attracting Emerson and the silver fox, Fabrizio Ravanelli, who arrived for a £7m fee.

United, meanwhile, raided Norway for the duo of Ronny Johnsen and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while the performances of Karel Poborsky and Jordi Cruyff at Euro 96 saw United bring in both men to…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/when-beckham-and-co-came-of-age-to-retain-the-title-the-1996-97-premier-league/62

Author : [email protected] (Abel Meszaros)

Publish date : 2024-07-23 10:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.