This summer, Premier League clubs will overhaul their squads in an attempt to improve on their efforts in the previous campaign.
Twelve months ago the impact of the coronavirus was hitting home as clubs were forced to tighten their belts, raise funds, and to make sure that they didn't go overboard when it came to their finances.
This year, nobody is quite out of the woods yet but with the vaccine programme kicking in, another wave of the virus appearing to calm down, and loosening of restrictions to allow fans into grounds, this summer could see some more ambition in the market.
There's already been a few huge deals. The first came in the form of Jadon Sancho, who finally completed a year-long plan to join Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool have already struck to sign Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig. Meanwhile Manchester City have added Jack Grealish and may yet work something out for Harry Kane.
Below, we give our take on the biggest moves so far, along with a rating of how well we think the transfer will turn out for player and club.
- ***** (5/5): A stroke of genius; almost certain to improve the team and raise the player's profile
- **** (4/5): An element of risk involved, but still very likely to be a great piece of business
- *** (3/5): A move that makes a lot of sense in some ways but time will tell if it was ultimately the right move
- ** (2/5): Maybe these ones will surprise us, like Mahrez and N'Kante arriving in England. For now, however, pretty mild reactions
- * (1/5): Just another everyday roster change, nothing to really get excited about here
Jack Grealish (Man City from Aston Villa, £100 million) ****
Grealish is perhaps the man who prevented City from getting their hands on Lionel Messi, but that shouldn't matter for the long run. The 25-year-old playmaker looks set to be converted to a number eight under Pep Guardiola, and if he has the talent to pull it off it will be a masterstroke.
Jadon Sancho (Man United from Borussia Dortmund, £73m) ****
Sancho has had to wait a year for this move, as has Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Strengthening the right-hand side gives United an attacking balance they have lacked for a few seasons now.
Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool from RB Leipzig, £36m) ***
Liverpool's biggest weakness last season was caused by serious injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. If all three stay fit this campaign, there's no problem, but it would take a brave manager to rely upon that happening. Konate gives them depth and a serious prospect for the future.
Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa from Norwich, £30m) ***
Villa were perhaps anticipating that Grealish would be on his way, and they did not hang around. They picked up Buendia, who did well the year before with Norwich. He will provide plenty of creativty that Grealish would otherwise have provided.
Danny Ings (Aston Villa from Southampton, £30m) ***
Ings, too, could provide the goals that Grealish would have offered. He has continued to do well in a middling Southampton team so Villa will represent a step up. Ings is not a complicated player to use, nor does he appear to be anything other than a hardworking striker. If he doesn't provide a decent return, it will be a surprise.
Patso Daka (Leicester from RB Salzburg, £23m) **
When Salzburg lost Erling Haaland to Borussia Dortmund, they needed goals. Up stepped Patso Daka, who has 27 and then 34 club goals in the last two seasons. Aged just 22, if he is able to continue to improve while seeing the standards jump from Austria to England, then Leicester may have their long-term replacement for Jamie Vardy.
Albert Sambi Lokonga (Arsenal from Anderlecht, £17.2m) ***
Arsenal lost Dani Ceballos in the summer when he returned to Real Madrid. Mohamed Elneny, Thomas Partey and others remain at the club, as does Granit Xhaka, but they could do with bringing the age down in the middle of the pitch, and Lokonga is both younger than most of his peers at the Emirates, with plenty of potential.
Bryan Gil (Tottenham from Sevilla, £21.6m + Erik Lamela) **
Erik Lamela had his time at Spurs, and due to both inconsistency and injuries, he could not translate his talent into a real claim to a first team place. Sending him to Sevilla in part-exchange for Bryan Gil will give Nuno Espirito Santo a new option on the flanks.
Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford from Celtic, £13.5m) **
Celtic could not stand in the way of giving Ajer his chance in the Premier League, and he gives Brentford's statistical analysis the chance to be tested.
Junior Firpo (Leeds from Barcelona, £13m) **
As has been demonstrated with Lionel Messi, Barcelona are an absolute economic disaster. Junior Firpo was always unlikely to become a regular first-teamer at the Camp Nou, but Leeds have got a potential bargain — if he hits the ground running.
Jack Harrison (Leeds from Man City, £11m) **
And Leeds could also benefit from the Premier League champions' hectic admin, as big recruitment at the Etihad leads to young prospects needing to head elsewhere for game time. Harrison is already familiar with his new employers via a loan spell, which admittedly renders this move even more low-key.
Rui Patricio (Roma from Wolves, £10m) ***
Patricio has been a reliable goalkeeper for a decade, and it is perhaps an anomaly that he ended up at Wolves. They appear to be less able to invest in their team for now, so a move to Roma and Jose Mourinho followed.
Nuno Tavares (Arsenal from Benfica, £6.8m) **
In a friendly against Rangers, Tavares showed plenty of attacking verve. Maybe Mikel Arteta believes there is a way to play either the Portuguese youngster or Kieran Tierney further forward on the left in order to get them both on the pitch.
Olivier Giroud (Milan from Chelsea, £1.7m) ****
Giroud signed a new deal with Chelsea only a few months ago, but the veteran French striker moved to Milan to extend his career, with no end in sight for the clever target man.
Demarai Gray (Everton from Bayer Leverkusen, £1.7m) **
Gray appeared to be a bargain when he arrived at Leicester City but lost his way, and moved to Bayer Leverkusen in an attempt to spark life into his career. That has failed and he now needs to see if Rafael Benitez can inspire him with a passionate love of the game.
Georginio Wijnaldum (PSG from Liverpool, free) ****
Liverpool — and most of the rest of us — expected to see Wijnaldum switching Liverpool for Barcelona, but not for the last time this summer, PSG have got the better of their Spanish rivals in the free transfer market once again.
Sergio Aguero to Barcelona from Manchester City (free) ***
Aguero moved to Barcelona to play with international teammate Lionel Messi. Then, Messi went to PSG, and now there is a chance Barcelona can't even afford to register the 32-year-old forward. Still, if the whole thing doesn't fall apart the move is nonetheless fairly big news.
Eric Garcia to Barcelona from Manchester City (free) ***
At the other end of the age spectrum, the 20-year-old defender will potentially be the long-term replacement for Gerard Pique. If he can be registered.
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We'll be back in early September to rate the Premier League's later and deadline-day deals. With Romelu Lukaku poised to join Chelsea, Xherdan Shaqiri set to depart Liverpool and a host of promising English youngsters linked with various moves, it's set to be a very busy month!