There’s over a month until the daily soap opera that is the Premier League returns in earnest for the 2023-24 campaign.
That leaves you with plenty of time to assess the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds on who will win the title (no surprise on who are overwhelming favourites) and who are going to be facing an uphill battle to beat the drop (again, some, if not all, of the new boys may well be up against it).
Yet despite the hecticness of the world’s most watched football league, as far as ins and outs are concerned, it’s been a case of little and often at most clubs during the first month of the transfer window.
Liverpool are the exception to the rule, forking out almost £100 million on two midfielders, Alexis Mac Allister and the Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai.
They will soon be joined by a host of others, though, one suspects.
Any day now Arsenal are expected to spend a record transfer fee for an English player in West Ham skipper Declan Rice, who will join Kai Havertz in red and white next term following his £65 million move from Chelsea.
With Jurrien Timber said to be on the verge of a move to North London from Ajax, the Gunners may well have far more substance next term and are more likely to embark on a sustained title challenge.
Their arch rivals Spurs have also strengthened by bringing in James Maddison from relegated Leicester, a player who has clear talent but, to me, went missing too often last season when the Foxes needed him.
Newcastle, preparing for their first Champions League campaign in 20 years. have also opted for dynamic midfield talent by bringing in Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
The 23 year-old has described the decision to leave San Siro in favour of St. James’ Park as the ‘most difficult’ of his career to date and noted that, one day, he wishes to return to Milan to ‘see the fans smiling.’
And then there’s Manchester United who refused to cave to knockbacks and held firm in recruiting Mason Mount from Stamford Bridge.
Of course, all of those clubs just mentioned are bound to strengthen further during the close season but it is Chelsea where the main activity has been played out – just not as you’d expect.
Because, as well as selling Havertz and Mount, five other players have headed out the door in recent weeks with the new-found attraction of the Saudi Arabian Pro league proving a welcome option for a club with a bloated squad which needs slimming down.
Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, César Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Édouard Mendy and N’Golo Kanté have all departed – the latter three to the Middle East – and they would have been joined there by Hakim Ziyech had his £8m move to Al-Nassr not collapsed after a knee problem was flagged up during the winger’s medical.
In addition, Christian Pulisic is poised to leave for Milan, with final details being discussed about an £18.8 million transfer for the winger.
Subject to a medical, the American will follow Loftus-Cheek in moving from Stamford Bridge to the Serie A club this summer.
The player has reportedly been pushing to join Milan amid interest from other clubs. Chelsea actually received a £21.5m bid from Lyon and will be due a percentage of any sell-on fee under the terms of their arrangement with Milan.
While some Chelsea supporters will be, quite rightly, disappointed and angered that some young home-grown talent, tipped to be long-term fixtures in the west end of London, has been allowed to depart, they can console themselves with arrivals of others with the potential to bring Premier League highlights.
France forward Christopher Nkunku, the Bundesliga player of the season 12 months ago, has arrived from RB Leipzig, as has the 20 year-old right-back, Malo Gusto, from Lyon and Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal.
The striker has joined for around £32m and signed an eight-year deal.
Their new manager Mauricio Pochettino knows there has been a sea change at the club over the last 12 months since the consortium of American Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali arrived on the scene.
Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last term, missing out on European qualification for the first time since 2016 and, were Pochettino so inclined, he could make the case for needing time and patience, although would be unlikely to receive it.
After the mass exodus in recent weeks, he can also count on only a handful of players over the age of 24. The identity of the group – or the lack of one – is among the many issues he faces.
It can end in glorious success or glorious failure – or perhaps not so glorious – and that story will be fascinating as it develops; just one of many as the Premier League edges ever closer to a return.
It’s Britain’s biggest soap opera with so many strands.
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