The End of the Transfer Window

Club football has been away for three months and now that the summer is over, all the European leagues are underway. The clubs haven't sat idle all summer, bringing in new players, new staff and settling into new playing styles. Let's take a look at how all the top European clubs look coming into the new season.

Many of the English clubs have gone through vigorous remodelling this season, with new management and players settling in and important players leaving. Manchester United have been through it all. New manager Louis van Gaal is trying to rubberstamp his credentials onto this team, by implementing a new philosophy, the transition into which will be difficult. They had lackings out wide, and in midfield and defence, and the purchases of Di Maria, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind are all efforts to correct that. An exciting late haul for Radamel Falcao gives them considerable edge that was missing in attack but uncertainty remains if even that will be enough to solve all their problems.

Across town, Manchester City were top last season and this season they look just as good. French defenders Eliaquim Mangala and Bacary Sagna have made their move to the Eastlands club, strengthening an already strong defence. They look well set for a successful title defence, maybe even for a challenge in Europe. They have reinforced the midfield, bringing in talented Brazilian midfielder Fernando, and a loan deal has been finalized for Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have been quite busy this transfer window. Torres, Ba, Eto'o and Lukaku have left them, replaced by Loic Remy, in-form striker Diego Costa and returning club legend Didier Drogba. Their presence along with Andre Schurrle means Chelsea's attack is now as good as it ever was.  Filipe Luis adds stability in the left back position and with the acquisition of proven midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea look a formidable force challenging for the league as well as the Champions League.

You can still see the shadow of the 7-1 defeat in his eyes.

Liverpool are back in the Champions League after a good many seasons but they have lost strength with the departure of Luis Suarez. They were looking to replace Suarez this window and in a way they have done that by signing Mario Balotelli, a player quite similar in all the wrong ways. Adam Lallana, Ricky Lambert and Dejan Lovren from Southampton, Emre Can from Bayer Leverusen, Moreno from Sevilla, and Markovic from Benfica have joined them too. Lallana and Balotelli do add quality to the squad, but looking at the other teams in the league, a title chase could be too much to ask this season, making top 4 the main target.

Arsenal have never been out of the top four since 1996 and they want to keep it that way. Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez arrives from Barcelona, fitting right into the Arsenal system; a fast runner with quick feet and intelligent movement. Danny Welbeck's signing will give them more options up front, which was needed. They have also signed young English right-back Calum Chambers, who, along Mathieu Debuchy strengthens that area following Bacary Sagna's move to regular customers Manchester City.

As usual, the two Spanish giants have spent big in this transfer window. Barcelona needed centrebacks and they've made two good buys in Vermaelen and Mathieu. Their ever strong midfield will be further strengthened by the arrival of Croatian star Ivan Rakitic. But their main challenge will be accommodating Luis Suarez in his correct position, something they have failed to do in the past with forwards like Ibrahimovic and Villa.

The shock of this transfer window.

The mighty Real Madrid have shown their mettle in transfer business once again and spent big bucks to bring in Toni Kroos, arguably the best midfielder in the world along with Colombia's world cup hero, James Rodriguez. Javier Hernandez joins them from Manchester United, giving them options other than Benzema up front. Carlo Ancelotti now needs to settle this star packed line up into a suitable system, and this side will then be good enough to achieve an unprecedented successful Champions League title defence.

Across town, league champions Atletico Madrid have once again sold more players than they can replace. But an effort has been made, bringing in a host of young talented players, along with Mario Mandzukic, a proven striker who'll lead the attack. A big miss this season will be Thibaut Courtois' imposing figure between the sticks.
In Germany, Bayern Munich have finalised a previously agreed deal with Robert Lewandowski, and also bought highly rated Roma centreback Mehdi Benatia. They have let Toni Kroos leave but signed Xabi Alonso and with a squad full of amazing talent, this season, they will once again be one of the top favourites to win the Champions League.

It has been a successful window for Borussia Dortmund as they've been able to hold on to much sought after players like Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, and brought back the services of Shinji Kagawa and Nuri Sahin. They could turn up as tough competition for Bayern's Bundesliga defence this season.

In neighbouring France, Paris Saint-Germain look to defend their title with pretty much the same team, with the purchase of the most expensive defender(!) of all time, David Luiz and Serge Aurier from Toulouse. Under Zlatan's leadership, PSG look like clear favourites for the Ligue 1 title.

All the clubs have done what they can to improve their squad from last season but in football, nothing is for granted. The winners in the transfer market won't necessarily be the winners on the field. This intriguing suspense only sets us up for an exciting next 9 months of football.