There may be a few days remaining of the World Cup, but the priority for many now will be players returning to their clubs for pre-season training.
And that means increased speculation of who will move where, who will stay where and what each club needs in their bid to progress.
Notable transfers
This summer marks a decade since the Abu Dhabi revolution began at Manchester City and changed the face of English football. The reigning champions have spent more money than any other club before them to become established players at home and abroad.
There is no doubt the recruitment of Algerian wonder Riyad Mahrez is another sign of the intentions of a club which already has a massive head start on their rivals – if last season’s Premier League title is anything to go by.
Football odds suggest more recruits will surely follow but, even if they didn’t, City will start the campaign in a month’s time as overwhelming favourites to reclaim their crown.
One player they were linked to was Napoli’s Italian midfielder Jorginho, yet they pulled out leaving the way for Chelsea and his former manager Maurizio Sarri.
West Ham have probably been the busiest side so far. New boss Manuel Pellegrini has moved quickly to snap up Jack Wilshere, Lukasz Fabianski, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ryan Fredericks and Issa Diop in what will be a new-look Claret and Blue next season.
Although those recruits will be more than needed with Andy Carroll and Winston Reid due to miss the first few months of the season through injury.
Arsenal, who also have a new man at the helm for the first time in 22 years, have been busy too.
Unai Emery has snapped up veteran Swiss international Stephan Lichtsteiner as a free agent, along with Germany goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, another experienced defender in Sokratis Papastathopoulos and now Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira among others.
The times they are a changing at both these two clubs in the capital.
In the north east, Newcastle United have not spent much, but Rafa Benitez has at least £10 million at his disposal with the departure of midfielder Mikel Merino and has moved to bring back one of the success stories of the end of last season, Kenedy, on a season long-loan from Chelsea.
There’s certainly plenty of time left for more arrivals before the Premier League bursts into life on August 10.
Who’s next?
Well, that is the multi-million dollar question.
Especially as the market may have been blown wide open by the £99-million move of world number one Cristiano Ronaldo from European champions Real Madrid to Juventus.
West Ham seem set to boost their squad further after agreeing a £35-million club-record deal with Lazio to sign midfielder Felipe Anderson, capped once by Brazil. Liverpool have just announced a deal for Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri for what seems a snip at £12 million after Stoke City’s relegation to the Championship.
With Marco Silva now at the helm at Everton, expect him to perhaps be reunited with an old friend or two.
The Toffees have reportedly had a £30-million bid for Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure turned down.
Willian would be an excellent signing for a top club after being out of favour under Conte, But the new Chelsea manager will surely want the Brazilian to stay, even if he had a slightly underwhelming World Cup.
Likewise, the departure of Ronaldo from Madrid means Gareth Bale will likely stay at the Bernabeu – new manager Julen Lopetegui will not want to lose another big name so quickly.
And what of Eden Hazard? He proved his world-class credentials in Russia. Will the Belgian captain stay in west London or could now be the moment he pushes for a move elsewhere in Europe?
Across London, Spurs are being linked once again with Bordeaux forward Malcolm.
Expect some more big moves over the next few weeks – in many ways the transfer merry-go-round is just beginning.
Winners and losers
It’s probably too early to say right now.
You don’t need to be up to speed on football gambling to see it’s clear both Leicester and Man City are winners out of the Mahrez transfer.
Leicester have made a profit of £59 million for a player they signed from Le Harve for £400,000 in 2014, while City have broken their club record but signed a winger at the peak of his powers.
They got someone who scored 48 goals in four seasons for a club deemed unfashionable and scored 12 goals in 36 league games last term to help the Foxes finish in ninth place.
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