Bolton Wanderers



Players In: Gavin McCann (Aston Villa, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Aston Villa, free), Zoltan Harsanyi (FC Senec, undisclosed), Blerim Dzemaili (Zurich, undisclosed), Gerald Cid (Bordeaux, undisclosed), Danny Guthrie (Liverpool, season loan), Heidar Helguson (Fulham, undisclosed), Mikel Alonso (Real Sociedad, loan), Christian Wilhelmsson (Nantes, loan).

Players Out: Ben Haim (Chelsea, free), Idan Tal (Betar Jerusalem, undisclosed), Chris Howarth (Carlisle, free), Henrik Pedersen, Quinton Fortune, David Thompson, Cesar Martin (all released).

I fear for Bolton this season.

Sammy Lee’s signings seem to indicate that he intends to continue in the long ball style that Sam Allardyce used to great effect whilst in charge of the club.

However, without the leadership and organisational skills of Allardyce, I feel that Bolton are going to struggle to get anywhere near their 7th place finish last season.

Along with Allardyce, they have also lost influential defender Tal Ben Haim to Chelsea and I think these two losses may be enough to consign them to a bottom half finish.

Prediction: 14th
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Chelsea



Players In: Florent Malouda (Lyon, £13.5m), Tal Ben Haim (Bolton, free), Steve Sidwell (Reading, free), Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich, free), Jacob Mellis (Sheffield United, £1.3m), Danny Philliskirk (Oldham, undisclosed).

Players Out: Geremi (Newcastle, free) Yves Ma-Kalambay (Hibernian, free), Nuno Morais (Apoel Nicosia, undisclosed), Khalid Boulahrouz (Sevilla, season loan), Jimmy Smith (Norwich, season loan), Michael Mancienne (QPR, season-long loan), James Russell (Stevenage).

Despite not spending as much money as in previous summers, Chelsea have added some excellent free transfer signings to the squad, along with the signing of Florent Malouda, who I think will be a big hit in the Premiership.

Jose Mourinho seems to have realised that they got a bit stale in the offensive third at times last season and they look set to adopt a more attacking philosophy this season.

They have plenty of options defensively and are definitely still the best equipped side to challenge Manchester United for the title.

Mourinho’s men have a point to prove this season and they look to regain the Premiership title from United. I fully expect the title race to go down to the wire, but I can see United just pipping Chelsea to the crown.

Prediction: 2nd
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Derby County



Players In: Robert Earnshaw (Norwich, £3.5m), Tyrone Mears (West Ham, £1m), Claude Davis (£3m), Andy Todd (Blackburn, free), Ben Hinchcliffe (free agent), Andy Griffin (Portsmouth, free), Lewis Price (Ipswich, undisclosed).

Players Out: Seth Johnson, Morten Bisgaard, Lee Grant (all released), Ryan Smith (Millwall, £150,000), Paul Peschisolido (Luton, free), Paul Boertien (Walsall, free), Lee Camp (Derby, £300,000), Steve Cann (Rotherham, released), Richard Jackson (Luton, free).

Derby manager Billy Davies has bought a lot of players from the Championship that he knows will give him 100% commitment over the season.

Unfortunately, commitment itself is not normally enough to keep you in the Premiership.

He is relying heavily on Robert Earnshaw to become a regular Premiership goalscorer and will have to hope that young starlets such as Giles Barnes take to the league quickly if they are to stand any chance of staying up.

In the end I think Premiership survival is beyond them, and I expect to see them back in the Champioship come next season.

Prediction: 20th
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Everton



Players In: Leighton Baines (Everton, undisclosed), Lukas Jutkiewicz (Swindon, undisclosed), Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United, £4m), Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund, loan)

Players Out: Richard Wright (West Ham, free), Alessandro Pistone (released), Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United, £1m), James Beattie (Sheffield United, £4m), Scott Phelan (Bradford, free).

Everton have added some solid midfield cover, but seem intent on adding some more attacking options before the start of the season.

Provided they can get in a couple of attacking players, then their solid defence will allow them to consolidate their position this year.

They finished sixth last season despite a glut of injuries throughout the season, and if they can keep everyone fit then I think they can finish in the same place again.

Prediction: 6th