Adam Peacock: What your Premier League club needs for Christmas, from transfer targets to returning stars

With Christmas fast approaching and the Premier League entering its own silly season, Stan Sport football host Adam Peacock takes a look at what all 20 clubs would love to discover under the tree.

Arsenal

Sitting top, the wish is obvious. Stay there. To do so they can't put up with what's happened in the last few weeks - a lack of central defenders.

Of William Saliba, Gabriel and Cristhian Mosquera, Mikel Arteta can go without one. At a stretch two. Not three. Not if they are to take the last, big, long-awaited step.

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Aston Villa

Stop the calendar. Or pretend it doesn't exist. Just stay in a vacuum where time is not a factor and continue to play games in the manner that has seen Villa rocket to third.

Why wish for anything but to stay present?

Bournemouth

It's clear Andoni Ireola has developed into a realistic target for the big fish of the Premier League. What isn't so clear is why Bournemouth don't have him locked down beyond this season.

Convincing Ireola to sign a new deal, even a one-year deal, would take stress out of the second half of the campaign.

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Brentford

It's pretty simple for the club that continues punching above - fix the travel sickness.

The home record reads like a Disney fairytale; five wins, one loss.

The away record is a Steven King novel; one win, seven losses.

Yuck.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Carlos Baleba returning to top form would be a win for everyone at Brighton, and the player himself. In an ideal world, he stays at Brighton post January (Manchester United and Bayern Munich are the rumoured suitors), pushes the Seagulls to a return to European competition, then gets sold for a nine-figure sum in the summer, as per the model at Brighton.

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Burnley

Seventeenth is an achievement for the Clarets, who haven't been totally blown apart in a game since the opener away to Tottenham.

Winning three games against mid-table opposition would ease a heap of tension come May.

Won't be pretty, but needs to be effective.

Chelsea

Enzo Maresca's side has shown glimpses of being a title challenger, namely a 3-0 win over Barcelona, but the three games since (draw and two losses) stretches the timeline.

The return of Cole Palmer can't come quick enough. Keeping the creative genius fit is an absolute must.

Crystal Palace

January is coming so the wish for Oliver Glasner would be a dressing room in February that still has Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton sitting in it.

Liverpool are meant to be in for Guehi again soon, and they could have some cash to spend, too.

Everton

A striker to score goals is the ultimate Evertonian wish, and has been for some time. This looks likely to be the fourth straight season where no Everton player scores more than 10 goals. Finding a prolific striker in January is like meeting your life partner at schoolies. Highly unlikely but it can happen.

Fulham

A decision on manager Marco Silva's future is key. Silva has stabilised the West London club in the Premier League, but is out of contract at the end of the season.

Lingering near the relegation zone and an unsettled boss? It's a situation that can't linger much past New Year's Day.

Leeds United

All reports indicate Leeds will go after a striker in January, which is an obvious nod to the durability concerns of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is certainly good enough when free of ailment.

The wish for Leeds is that a coherent plan is agreed by a convoluted ownership model, not just about who to sign, but whether manager Daniel Farke, forever two games away from the guillotine, is actually their guy.

Liverpool

Just in case you may have missed the news after a holiday to Pluto, Mo Salah might not play for Liverpool again. Which is a shame, but given winning back-to-back titles won't be happening, sorting Salah's future in January, which in turn determines what the next two transfer windows may look like, is a priority. To put it mildly.

Manchester City

The perennial contenders have done well to stay so close to Arsenal, so getting Ballon d'Or winner Rodri back somewhere near his best by February would be an absolute dream for Pep Guardiola.

The worry is an ACL injury has been followed by multiple niggles and setbacks, so whether he can get back to even 80% of his best remains a mystery. Anything more, and City are an even bigger threat to Arsenal.

Manchester United

Turning down the noise surrounding Manchester United is impossible, but a transfer window without a saga would be ideal. The most likely issue is that of homegrown Kobbie Mainoo, who can see his World Cup ticket fading by the minute, ala Marty McFly of Back to the Future looking at his face disappearing from photos. Big decision ahead.

Newcastle United

Eddie Howe is certainly managing his squad better than two seasons ago, when merging a Champions League campaign with a Premier League one ended in a squad on its knees by Christmas.

Not this time, though there are key players fraying, namely Joelinton.

The midfield tank is so crucial to the way Newcastle want to play. He has to stay fit if Toon are to return to Champions League football next season.

Nottingham Forest

With enough games to keep a large squad interested, Sean Dyche's wish is that owner Evangelos Marinakis spends winter in the sun of Greece, keeping his distance and thoughts away from the City Ground until well into the new year.

Good luck with that.

Sunderland

The real surprise of the season so far, Sunderland will go into the January market to supplement their squad, to ward off the possibility of an extreme dip post the busy Christmas period and push for a European place.

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Tottenham Hotspur

A happy workplace would be nice. Players storming off the pitch at home is a horrid look, and while Micky van der Ven and Pedro Porro got over it quickly, it just points towards an unsettled environment which only ends one way in the Premier League.

Getting the most out of Xavi Simons is a big task for Thomas Frank, who doesn't seem to totally trust the playmaker. And getting Dejan Kulesevski out of the treatment room would be handy too, though mystery shrouds the Swede's return date.

West Ham United

Involved in a relegation scrap, making sure Lucas Paqueta finds peace with the world is a must for the Hammers.

Paqueta's recent sending off for dissent spoke volumes for his inter turmoil given accusations of spot-fixing (which resulted in a reprimand). The guy can win games by himself.

Wolves

A win. It's that bloody simple. Doesn't matter if it's a 1-0 win with 7 per cent possession and the winning goal comes from a corner that beats the goalkeeper after hitting a paper aeroplane chucked by a bored Molineux fan, anything will do.

The record low for an English first division season is 11 points (Derby County, 2007-08).

Two points from the first 15 games has Wolves right on track to worsen it.