Arsenal have been named the ‘Kings of Europe’ by Goal for their transfer window exploits this summer which left many people amazed at what they managed to do.
Going into the transfer window, most Arsenal fans were expecting more of the same – little action, poor recruitment and no discernible strategy.
Instead, what they got was Raul Sanllehi and go hoovering up top players while also clearing out the deadwood.
Well, most of it.
“After a quiet opening to the transfer window, the Gunners made up for lost time with a stunning end to their summer business,” Goal wrote.
So let’s take a look at the top 20, as per Goal’s ranking, this summer.
Goal’s top 20 clubs in the transfer window this summer
20Shakhtar Donetsk
Key signings: N/A
Key departures: Ivan Petriak (€1.6m to Fehervar), Ivan Ordets (free to Dynamo Moscow), Oleg Danchenko (free to Rubin Kazan)
19Roma
Key signings: Leonardo Spinazzola (€29.5m from Juventus), Pau Lopez (€23.5m from Real Betis), Bryan Cristante (€21m from Atalanta), Amadou Diawara (€21m from Napoli), Gianluca Mancini (loan from Atalanta), Jordan Veretout (loan from Fiorentina), Ruben Providence (undisclosed from PSG)
Key departures: Kostas Manolas (€36m to Napoli), Luca Pellegrini (€22m to Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (€16m to Shanghai Shenhua), Gerson (€11.8m to Flamengo), Ivan Marcano (€3m to Porto), Ezequiel Ponce (€3m to Spartak Moscow), Daniele De Rossi (free to Boca Juniors)
18Chelsea
Key signings: Mateo Kovacic (€45m from Real Madrid), Christian Pulisic (loan return from Dortmund)
Key departures: Eden Hazard (€100m to Real Madrid), Ola Aina (€10m to Torino), Tomas Kalas (€9m to Bristol City), David Luiz (€8.5m to Arsenal) Ethan Ampadu (loan to RB Leipzig), Danny Drinkwater (loan to Burnley), Eduardo (free to Braga), Gary Cahill (free to Crystal Palace), Rob Green (retired)
17Porto
Key signings: Shoya Nakajima (€12m from Al Duhail), Mateus Uribe (€9m from Club America), Ze Luis (€8.5m from Spartak Moscow), Luis Diaz (€8.5m from Junior FC), Mamadou Loum (€7.5m from Braga), Renzo Saravia (€5.5m from Racing Club), Ivan Marcano (€3m from Roma)
Key departures: Eder Militao (€50m to Real Madrid), Felipe (€20m to Atletico Madrid), Oliver Torres (€12m to Sevilla), Jose Sa (€2.5m to Olympiacos), Hector Herrera (free to Atletico Madrid), Yacine Brahimi (free to Al Rayyan)
16Zenit St Petersburg
Key signings: Malcom (€40m from Barcelona), Douglas Santos (€12m from Hamburg), Aleksey Sutormin (€2.5m from Rubin Kazan), Aleksandr Vasyutin (€0.7m from Sarpsborg 08)
Key departures: Elmir Nabiullin (€3m to Sochi), Dmitri Poloz (€3m to Sochi), Hernani (loan to Parma), Luis Neto (free to Sporting CP), Claudio Marchisio (released), Aleksandr Korkorin (ban)
15Liverpool
Key signings: Sepp van den Berg (€1.9m from PEC Zwolle), Adrian (free from West Ham), Harvey Elliott (undisclosed from Fulham)
Key departures: Danny Ings (€22m to Southampton), Simon Mignolet (€8m to Club Brugge), Marko Grujic (loan to Hertha BSC), Harry Wilson (loan to Bournemouth), Alberto Moreno (free to Villarreal), Daniel Sturridge (released)
14Ajax
Key signings: Quincy Promes (€15.7m from Sevilla), Edson Alvarez (€15m from America), Razvan Marin (€12.5 from Standard Liege), Lisandro Martinez (€7m from Defensa), Kik Pierie (€5m from Heerenveen)
Key departures: Matthijs de Ligt (€75m to Juventus), Frenkie de Jong (€75m to Barcelona), Maximilian Wober (€10.5m to Sevilla), Rasmus Kristensen (€5m to RB Salzburg), Daley Sinkgraven (€5m to Bayer Leverkusen)
13PSG
Key signings: Abdou Diallo (€32m from Sevilla), Idrissa Gueye (€30m from Everton), Pablo Sarabia (€18m from Sevilla), Ander Herrera (free from Manchester United), Xavi Simons (undisclosed from Barcelona)
Key departures: Giovani Lo Celso (€22m to Real Betis), Moussa Diaby (€15m to Bayern Leverkusen), Christopher Nkunku (€13m to RB Leipzig), Grzegorz Krychowiak (€12m to Lokomotiv Moscow), Timothy Weah (€10m to Lille), Kevin Trapp (€7m to Frankfurt) Gianluigi Buffon (free to Juventus), Adrien Rabiot (free to Juventus), Dani Alves (free to Sao Paulo), Ruben Providence (undisclosed to Roma)
12Sevilla
Key signings: Jules Kounde (€25m from Bordeaux), Munas Dabbur (€15 from RB Salzburg), Lucas Ocampos (€15m from Marseille), Diego Carlos (€15m from Nantes), Joan Jordan (€14m from Eibar), Luuk de Jong (€12.5m from PSV), Oliver Torres (€12m from Porto), Maximilian Wober (€10.5m from Ajax), Fernando (€4.5m from Galatasaray), Sergio Reguilon (loan from Real Madrid)
Key departures: Pablo Sarabia (€18m to PSG), Quincy Promes (€15.7m to Ajax), Luis Muriel (€15m to Atalanta), Gabriel Mercado (free to Al Rayyan)
11Napoli
Key signings: Kostas Manolas (€36m from Roma), Alex Meret (€22m from Udinese), Eljif Elmas (€16m from Fenerbahce), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (€8m from Empoli), David Ospina (€3.5m from Arsenal), Orestis Karnezis (€2.5m from Udinese)
Key departures: Amadou Diawara (€21m to Roma), Carlos Vinicius (€17m to Benfica), Raul Albiol (€5m to Villarreal), Roberto Inglese (loan to Parma), Roberto Insigne (€1.5m to Benevento)
10Manchester United
Key signings: Harry Maguire (€87m from Leicester City) Aaron Wan-Bissaka (€55m from Crystal Palace), Daniel James (€17m from Swansea City)
Key departures: Romelu Lukaku (€65m to Inter), Antonio Valencia (free to LDU Quito), Ander Herrera (free to PSG), James Wilson (free to Aberdeen)
9Tottenham
Key signings: Tanguy Ndombele (€60m from Lyon), Ryan Sessegnon (€27m from Fulham), Giovani Lo Celso (loan from Real Betis) Jack Clarke (€11m from Leeds)
Key departures: Kieran Trippier (€22m to Atletico Madrid), Vincent Janssen (€6.3m to Monterrey), Michel Vorm (released), Fernando Llorente (released), Jack Clarke (loaned back to Leeds)
8Manchester City
Key signings: Rodri (€70m from Atletico), Joao Cancelo (€65m from Juventus), Angelino (€12m from PSV), Zack Steffen (€8m from Columbus Crew)
Key departures: Danilo (€37m to Juventus), Douglas Luiz (€16.7m to Aston Villa), Fabian Delph (€10m to Everton), Pablo Mari (€1.3m to Flamengo), Vincent Kompany (free to Anderlecht)
7Bayern Munich
Key signings: Lucas Hernandez (€80m for Atletico Madrid), Benjamin Pavard (€35m from VfB Stuttgart), Jann-Fiete Arp (€3m from Hamburg)
Key departures: Mats Hummels (€30.5m to Dortmund), Marco Friedl (€3.5m to Werder Bremen), Rafinha (free to Flamengo), Franck Ribery (released), Arjen Robben (retired), James Rodriguez (loan return to Real Madrid)
6Atletico Madrid
Key signings: Joao Felix (€126m from Benfica), Marcos Llorente (€30m from Real Madrid), Mario Hermoso (€25m from Espanyol), Kieran Trippier (€22m from Tottenham), Felipe (€20m from Porto), Renan Lodi (€20m from Atletico PR), Hector Herrera (free from Porto)
Key departures: Antoine Griezmann (€120m to Barcelona), Lucas Hernandez (€80m to Bayern Munich), Rodri (€70m to Manchester City), Gelson Martins (€30m to Monaco), Luciano Vietto (€7.5m to Sporting CP), Bernard Mensah (€3.6m to Kayserispor), Diego Godin (free to Inter), Juanfran (released), Filipe Luis (free to Flamengo)
5Juventus
Key signings: Matthijs de Ligt (€75m from Ajax), Danilo (€37m from Manchester City), Cristian Romero (€26m from Genoa), Luca Pellegrini (€22m from Roma), Merih Demiral (€18m from Sassuolo), Aaron Ramsey (free from Arsenal), Gianluigi Buffon (free from PSG), Adrien Rabiot (free from PSG)
Key departures: Joao Cancelo (€65m to Manchester City), Leonardo Spinazzola (€29.5m to Roma), Moise Kean (€27.5m to Everton), Emil Audero (€20m to Sampdoria), Stefano Sturaro (€16.5m to Genoa) Riccardo Orsolini (€15m to Bologna), Alberto Cerri (€9m to Cagliari), Andrea Favilli (€7m to Genoa), Rogerio (€6m to Sassuolo), Leonardo Mancuso (€5m to Empoli), Cristian Romero (loan to Genoa), Andrea Barzagli (retired), Martin Caceres (released)
4Borussia Dortmund
Key signings: Mats Hummels (€30.5m from Bayern Munich), Nico Schulz (€25.5m from Hoffenheim), Thorgan Hazard (€25.5m from Borussia Monchengladbach), Julian Brandt (€25m from Bayern Leverkusen), Paco Alcacer (€21m from Barcelona), Mateu Morey (free from Barcelona U19)
Key departures: Abdou Diallo (€32m to Sevilla), Alexander Isak (€6.5m to Real Sociedad), Sebastian Rode (€4m to Eintracht Frankfurt), Shinji Kagawa (€3m to Real Zaragoza), Jeremy Toljan (loan to Sassuolo), Felix Passlack (loan to Fortuna Sittard), Christian Pulisic (loan return to Chelsea)
3Real Madrid
Key signings: Eden Hazard (€100m from Chelsea), Luka Jovic (€60m from Frankfurt), Eder Militao (€50m from Porto), Ferland Mendy (€48m from Lyon), Rodrygo (€45m from Santos)
Key departures: Mateo Kovacic (€45m to Chelsea), Marcos Llorente (€30m to Atletico Madrid), Raul de Tomas (€20m to Benfica), Theo Hernandez (€20m to AC Milan), Martin Odegaard (loan to Real Sociedad), Sergio Reguilon (loan to Sevilla), Luca Zidane (loan to Racing Santander), Dani Ceballos (loan to Arsenal)
2Barcelona
Key signings: Antoine Griezmann (€120m from Atletico Madrid), Frenkie de Jong (€75m from Ajax), Neto (€26m from Valencia), Junior Firpo (€18m from Real Betis), Emerson (€12m from Atletico MG)
Key departures: Malcom (€40m to Zenit), Jasper Cillessen (€35m to Valencia), Andre Gomes (€25m to Everton), Paco Alcacer (€21m to Dortmund), Denis Suarez (€12.9m to Celta Vigo), Emerson (€6m to Real Betis), Thomas Vermaelen (released), Douglas (released), Xavi Simons (undisclosed to PSG).
1Arsenal
Key signings: Nicolas Pepe (€80m from Lille), William Saliba (€30m from Saint-Etienne), Kieran Tierney (€27m from Celtic), David Luiz (€8.7m from Chelsea), Gabriel Martinelli (€6.7m from Ituano), Dani Ceballos (loan from Real Madrid)
Key departures: Alex Iwobi (€30.4m to Everton), Krystian Bielik (€8m to Derby County), Laurent Koscielny (€5m to Bordeaux), David Ospina (€3.5m to Napoli), Carl Jenkinson (€2.2m to Nottingham Forest), Aaron Ramsey (free to Juventus), William Saliba (loan to Saint-Etienne), Danny Welbeck (released), Petr Cech (retired), Stephan Lichtsteiner (released), Cohen Bramall (released)