Of World Cup hangovers and transfer disasters – League football is back!

France swept the Russian and world imagination, easing to a superb victory over a gutsy Croatian side to win their second only FIFA World Cup. Parisians lined up the streets to get the party started. The players weren’t to be left behind. As Paul Pogba, Antione Greizmann and Co. revelled and partied in the wake of their exploits, the runners-up, Croatia, had a subdued celebration. But for the tiny country’s first ever final at the World Cup, it was a remarkable achievement. For the rest of the world, it signalled the end of the showpiece global event. What’s next? Seeing the likes of Messi and Neymar back in their club colours! But what about their fellow football superstar?  Cristiano Ronaldo finally left Real Madrid after a decade, joining fellow European and Italian powerhouse, Juventus in a $110m deal.

Cristiano Ronaldo. Living legend. After 10 very successful and golden years, Ronaldo finally decided to try pastures new. He’s 33. For an attacker, those are twilight years. Yet, the determination that Ronaldo possesses, there’s surely a few good years left in him and he feels the time is right to make the switch to another strong league – Serie A.  The Italian league’s performances have slightly improved in the last few years in comparison to the other big European leagues. But Juventus’ 6th consecutive title win shows that the league is still weak and Juventus are completely dominating it. By adding Ronaldo to their ranks, there’s a danger that dominance could increase further. Napoli, who finished runners up have lost their charismatic manager Maurizio Sarri to English side Chelsea, alongwith midfield lynchpin, Jorginho, who followed suit. With the team’s core broken Napoli could risk losing further ground to Juventus.

Then there’s AS Roma. Oh Roma! After a dazzling season, where they beat Barcelona in a famous comeback victory in the quarters of the Champions League, you’d expect them to get going in the transfer market. They almost did. But guess who played spoil sport? Barcelona! The Catalan giants got their own sweet revenge when they hijacked Roma’s deal to bring Malcolm by submitting a last-minute bid for him to Bordeaux. A furious Roma have threatened legal action!  But besides that, they have witnessed a flurry of transfer activity, triggered by the huge $75m departure of their Brazilian goalkeeper Allison to Premier League giants Liverpool. The arrivals of likes of the promising Justin Kluivert from Ajax Amsterdam, Steven Nzonzi from Sevilla and Javier Pastore from PSG, among others, signal a new era at the club, who will most likely be the main challengers to Juventus’ continued dominance this season. Inter Milan though can’t be counted out. The Milan club are returning to the Champions League after a 6 year hiatus, and they seem like they already mean business with the shrewd captures of Radja Naingolan from Roma, Stefan De Vrij from Lazio and Sime Vrsalijko from Atletico Madrid. But the most audacious move seems to be happening with their increasing interest in Real Madrid’s star midfielder Luka Modric. No mention of Serie A is complete without Inter’s fierce city rivals – AC Milan. The sorry state of affairs at the club have already seen it fall foul of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations. Having finished 6th last season it doesn’t look like getting any better for the Milanese club.

 

The Premier League decided to close its transfer window 2 weeks prior to the European window. Until last season English clubs too were allowed to do business till the night of 31st August. But with the majority of clubs voting for a premature close, this season, incomings were only allowed till 8th August.

Of the best business done by Premier League clubs, Liverpool and Manchester City seemed to have strengthened further and will most likely be vying for the title come May. Naby Keita, Alisson Becker and Xherdan Shaqiri add much needed quality and depth to the Liverpool squad, whose thin composition was exposed against Real Madrid in the Champions League final in May, while Riyad Mahrez would bolster any team’s attacking options with his pace and trickiness.

Players to watch out for

• Alisson Becker
• Denis Cheryshev
• Mateo Kovacic
• Daniel Arzani