The summer transfer window in England is usually syncopated by splashy arrivals at Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and/or either of the Manchester powerhouses. But with lucrative TV deals in place, clubs a little further down the Premier League table now have the resources to woo the most talented footballers to England.
Liverpool have a very exciting year set out before them with new players, new attitudes, and a high chance of succeeding in Europe. Roberto Firmino is one of many new additions to the Liverpool squad that has excited fans to watch the link-ups between him and his Brazilian compatriot Philippe Coutinho.
Angel Di Maria has written an open letter to Manchester United after having completed his big money move to Paris Saint-Germain, ostensibly in order to smooth things over with a fan base that holds him in just slightly higher regard than Radamel Falcao, which is to say it doesn’t like him.
The letter is professional, and makes it clear that he is really sorry for failing to live up to expectations.
To Manchester United:
Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid was without a doubt one of the greatest and most drawn-out transfer sagas in football history, and it all began shortly after Manchester United rise to the top of the world as newly crowned 2008 European Champions.
American international Aron Johannsson is reportedly moving to Werder Bremen for the 2015/16 Bundesliga season. AZ Alkmaar, the club Johannsson departs, announced the transfer on Twitter.
AZ in hoofdlijnen akkoord over transfer Jóhannsson naar Werder Bremen. http://t.co/hL8OHDQLM3 pic.twitter.com/k8yLV3yqAC
— AZ (@AZAlkmaar) August 4, 2015
Borussia Dortmund have announced the extension of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s contract with the club until 2020, according to the club's website. The Gabonese forward has been sought out by many European clubs, including Arsenal and Bayern Munich. His pace makes him an attractive player to many managers, but his talents will remain with Dortmund.
Former Liverpool and Southampton striker Rickie Lambert is off to an auspicious start with new club West Bromwich Albion.
Lambert, a lifelong Liverpool fan who spent just one year with the club, was signed away by West Brom after a disappointing 2014-2015 season.
A few hours later, Lambert bagged a brace against Bristol Rovers (another former Lambert team) in 56 minutes of work with his new club, which led to great jokes on Twitter.
Drogba lands in Montreal
Everyone's likely already heard that Didier Drogba has signed with the Montreal Impact, a team that recently put up a second place result in the CONCACAF Champion's League. While the rumors were originally for Chicago, Montreal was able to steal him away with a combination of targeted allocation money — they backed the Brink's truck up to Drogba's front door — and location — Montreal being a French speaking town.
Louis van Gaal has been having immense fun with the world’s media this off-season. Last week he told a throng of salivating journalists that he had a “surprise” signing in the pipeline, leading all and sundry to waste copious amounts of ink/cloud space pontificating about said surprise's identity.
There’s been no action on the pitch since mid-May in the English Premier League. However, us enthusiasts out there have been able to keep our sanity in large part due to a plethora of transfer rumors, 90% of which never actually come through – your Bale-to-United’s and Benzema-to-Arsenal’s of the world. However, the 10% that do materialize make you question everything you once knew about the game.