Jose Mourinho claims there will be five clubs in contention for the title in the new season — and the cost of success has never been higher.Everyone knows about the top flight’s big four — champions Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
But Mourinho predicts Spurs are ready to come to the party as well.
With the Premier League contenders all spending a small fortune on new signings, the pressure to deliver is immense.
And no one will be feeling the heat more than the men whose job it will be to deliver the goals.
Here, SunSportÂ’s MARK IRWIN analyses the striking power of the Famous Five.
MANCHESTER UNITED
WAYNE ROONEY (Goals last season 23, Dream Team value £8m)
LOUIS SAHA (13, £4.5m)
CRISTIANO RONALDO (23, £8m)
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER (11, £3m)
VERDICTIT is not hard to see why boss Alex Ferguson is so determined to sign Carlos Tevez.
Solskjaer and Saha are injury prone and, with the best will in the world, Ronaldo will struggle to score so many goals again from out wide.
That leaves Rooney as UnitedÂ’s only true world-class striker and he spends much of his time outside the penalty area.
Argentinian Tevez would be the perfect addition to the United strikeforce, judging by his superlative efforts in keeping West Ham up last season.
But the red tape shows no sign of being sorted, so Fergie may be left a little short.
CHELSEA
DIDIER DROGBA (Goals last season 32, Dream Team value £8.5m)
ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO (14, £5m)
CLAUDIO PIZARRO (12, £3m)
SALOMON KALOU (9, £3m)
VERDICTIF Jose Mourinho plays with only one up front next season, the prolific Drogba is in for a busy season.
If he plays with two, then Ukrainian hitman Shevchenko is going to have to show a major improvement on his first disappointing campaign in the Premier League.
Despite the arrival of free transfer Pizarro from Italy, Chelsea still look short of attacking options.
LIVERPOOL
FERNANDO TORRES (Goals last season 15, Dream Team Value £5.5m)
DIRK KUYT (14, £5m)
PETER CROUCH (18, £4.5m)
ANDRIY VORONIN (10, £3m)
VERDICTIT’S all change again in the striker department at Anfield where £21.5m new-boy Torres will lead the attack while the rest battle for the right to partner the Spaniard up front.
Yet in spite of his glowing reputation, Torres has never been a 25-goals-a-season marksman and Rafa Benitez could have cause to regret edging Crouch towards the sidelines.
Craig Bellamy has also been moved on — to West Ham — so expect more squad harmony.
ARSENAL
ROBIN VAN PERSIE (Goals last season 13, Dream Team value £5.5m)
EDUARDO DA SILVA (34, £3.5m)
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (12, £5m)
THEO WALCOTT (1, £4m)
VERDICTTHE giant shadow of Thierry Henry still looms over Arsenal and there is huge pressure on Arsene WengerÂ’s young strikers to deliver.
New £10m signing Da Silva will find goals a lot harder to come by in England than they were in Croatia.
So Van Persie will carry a hefty burden after finally recovering from a six-month injury. Adebayor will give a more muscular option.
TOTTENHAM
DIMITAR BERBATOV (Goals last season 22, Dream Team value £7.5m)
DARREN BENT (15, £4.5m)
ROBBIE KEANE (22, £5m)
JERMAIN DEFOE (18, £4m)
VERDICTSPURS have more natural finishers than any other club in the country and the arrival of £17m Darren Bent leaves Martin Jol with an embarrassment of attacking riches.
Bulgarian Berbatov remains his main man but whether Bent can become an effective partner remains to be seen.
Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe are also established internationals so keeping them all happy will be JolÂ’s biggest problem in the months ahead.
