Football Daily's round-up looks at how Premier League clubs are shaping up for the new season during pre-season tours, with heavy summer spending contrasting against Chelsea's continuing financial losses and Liverpool losing key players under new management. The piece, written in a wry, satirical tone typical of the Guardian's daily football email, highlights the scale of transfer activity across the top clubs and the contradictions between clubs' spending and their financial positions.

Manchester City have spent £116m on Elliot Anderson, while Chelsea have paid a club-record £117m for Morgan Rogers despite posting a £355m loss for 2024-25; Tottenham have spent £230m rebuilding their squad, and Manchester United have bought Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans for £85m combined. At Liverpool, new head coach Andoni Iraola is focused on retaining key players such as Alexis Mac Allister, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson after Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté departed, while the club plays pre-season friendlies against Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds in the US. Chelsea have also sold Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid and issued a pointed statement blaming last season's struggles on the "disruption" caused by Enzo Maresca's January resignation, while Manchester City auctioned off items from Pep Guardiola's old office for charity.