The transfer window is still a long way from closing and a close look at the significant signings made already sees that a staggering £352M has been spent by the Premier League big boys.
As with any close season the Premier League is the place to be, at least if you want to earn mega-bucks. OK, that might not be an entirely fair comment, as our league is also widely regarded as one of the most exciting to watch and this season promises to be no different. There will be 5 or 6 teams genuinely pushing hard to have a real say in who is going to win the coveted title come May 2015.
With the World Cup still fresh in many football fans minds, footie guru's will be excited by the fact that many of those who did well will be coming to grace our stadiums when the season kicks off on the 16th August.
If we take a quick look at the big signature signings, the arrival of Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal was no doubt a massive coup for Arsene Wenger. Sanchez will offer a genuine goal threat against Arsenal's opponents and his work rate is second to none. Chelsea have made two fantastic signings in Costa and Fabregas although the World Cup was hardly a memorable experience for them as Spain crashed out in the group stages. What effect this has on these two, if any, will remain to be seen; But Fabregas is a brilliant goal creator and Costa's goal prowess is known around the world - it is a mouth-watering prospect for Chelsea fans.
Liverpool have been very busy in the transfer market, keen to spend the Suarez money they got when the Uruguayan signed for Barcelona. Losing a player of the quality of Suarez will not be easy for Liverpool to absorb, as Tottenham fans will testify when they lost Gareth Bale - their signings appear marginally better than those made by Spurs in the last close season but the problems their newbies will encounter will be the same and I expect Liverpool to struggle to make the same impact they as they did last year.
Man City have been surprisingly quiet this transfer window, but this is hardly surprising given the Financial Fair Play penalty they received recently. However, eyebrows were raised with the indirect way they managed to get Frank Lampard to the Etihad and we may not have heard the last of that story.
This leaves us with LvG and his red devils.
LvG has lost the services of Rio, Evra, Giggs and Vidic and there is no doubt this leaves a huge gap in terms of experience in his side. His failure to lure Fabregas to Old Trafford saw a near £30 bid for Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao accepted. As a defensive midfielder Herrera is not known for his creativity but the early signs are encouraging and Utd fans will be quietly confident of bouncing back in style this season.
One thing is for sure, football fans from around the country will be buzzing at what promises to be another fascinating season and they can't wait for it all to begin at next weekend's Charity Shield encounter between the Gunners and the petrol dollar-backed Sky Blues of Manchester City.
Source: DSG
