Bonanza review
FFO clubs were slightly less active in the traditional pre-season transfer bonanza than last season, with 469 transactions in total including permanent deals, loans, the non-FFO auction and free list releases and acquisitions. Plenty of money moved hands, but none more so in a single deal than the £125m newly-promoted Norwich City parted with for the services of Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush from Arsenal.
Nomadic manager Sam Bradwell is now at the helm of Sporting Lisbon, and they were predictably active in the window with some bumper cash deals, including a nine figure fee for Liverpool's Leandro Trossard and over £90m for Pedro Neto from Atletico Madrid. Atalanta also found themselves cash rich with some shrewd deals, with four separate £50m+ moves including Allan Saint-Maximin from Millwall (£70m) and Zeno Debast from Manchester United. The Belgian would end the bonanza with Chelsea, who separately paid PSG £120m for Tom Bischof after a successful loan spell last season. He would also be on the move before the season started though, heading to Italy as part of a swap deal for Oscar Gloukh with Lazio.
There were many more stories woven into the bonanza cloth, with managers trying to not only get the best value for their sides, but strike the balance between youth and experience to set them up for this season and seasons to come. Whether they've got it right of course, will be found out in time.
Auction review
The pre-season non-FFO auction returned, and smashed the £2bn mark comfortably to exceed last season's auction amount by £700m. Seven teams splashed out nine figure sums across the two auction rounds, in contrary to last season's three, with six of those high enough to beat Leandro Trossard's bid by Liverpool in Season 6 which was the high watermark. Manchester United fought off both their City rivals and three other sides to land the exciting prospect Endrick, with their £140m bid the highest of this season's auction. Arsenal spent out £125m for the young Spanish defender Alvaro Carreras, and were one of three teams with Burnley and Roma who spent out over £100m as the only bidders on their player.
There's usually always a bargain to be found in an auction, and this season it was found by Crystal Palace, who successfully bid just £31.5m to secure the services of Italian full back Alessandro Buongiorno. Benoit Badiashile was a value pick up for Inter Milan at just £35m, whilst West Ham astutely added the best defensive midfielder available - Joao Palhinha - for a reasonable £59m.
Round 1 preview
The days are slowly dwindling in number until we reach Round 1, with managers at the ready to turn their words into meaningful blows. Premier League champions Manchester United will start their defence at home to Blackburn Rovers, a game which will be Tony Ayre's first in the dugout since his move from Juventus to Lancashire. There's a blockbuster fixture to start as Talbot and Lovell go head to head with Chelsea hosting Man City, whilst two other Champions League sides face off as Liverpool travel to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth. Championship champions Norwich City host Barnsley, with fellow promoted sides Nottingham Forest and Wrexham also having home games against Leeds United and Millwall respectively.
Round 1 in EFL 1 does not disappoint either. Atletico Madrid's search for back to back domestic titles sees them host Inter Milan, who herald a new era with Dan Thompson filling the vacant post left by John Read, with plenty of playing personnel changes since the end of last season. Bayern Munich versus Real Madrid is a fixture we expect fireworks from, whilst PSG have a tricky start at Fiorentina - the French side undoubtedly keen to show that they belong back at the top. Big things are expected from Borussia Dortmund in their return to the top flight, with Chris Mason's men squaring up against Juventus in what will be Neil Kirby's first game in charge for The Old Lady. Celtic entertain RC Lens in a match that could have survival ramifications even this early in the season, while Andy Babbs' Lazio go to the Nou Camp to mark their return to the top flight against Barcelona.