Five of the biggest football stories of the summer

Just like that, the start of the European football season has rolled back around. It seemed like yesterday that Vinícius Júnior’s goal gave Real Madrid a 14^th Champions League title in Paris, and while Liverpool must have spent the last few months hurting, their win against Manchester City was the perfect antidote in the curtain-raiser for the season, winning the Community Shield 3-1.

There’s plenty to dissect from a busy summer of friendlies, transfers and the usual drama and intrigue associated with the beautiful game. Read on, as we look at five of the best talking points.

Striker merry-go-round

The key theme of the summer transfer window has been goal scorers. With strikers in such high demand, we’ve seen teams shift their centre forwards to and fro in the last few months, from Robert Lewandowski going to Barcelona, Sadio Mané joining Bayern Munich as his replacement, Darwin Núñez then going to Liverpool as a by-product, as well as City capturing Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus joining Arsenal.

There are plenty of players to keep an eye on and it will be interesting to see who wins the Premier League’s Golden Boot, with Mohamed Salah still one of the favourites with football bets today [valid where legal] despite so many new faces in the top flight.

#Pogback

When Paul Pogba left Juventus in 2016 for a then British record transfer fee, many expected him to kick on and become one of the best players in the world at Manchester United. And after a first season that saw glimpses of excellence – and a League Cup and Europa League double – it looked as though the prophecy was being fulfilled.

Having left the United academy four years earlier, Pogba cost an arm and a leg to bring back to Old Trafford, but inconsistency plagued his second term in England and after a frustrating final season, he failed to renegotiate a new deal at Carrington, leaving for free once again to return to Juventus.

Despite winning the 2018 World Cup, Pogba’s trophy cabinet is much lighter than he would have expected, but coming back to Turin will increase The Old Lady’s chances of restoring their place on the throne as Kings of Italy.  Max Allegri endured a tough season after cleaning up Andrea Pirlo’s mess, but bringing back Pogba once again demonstrates the club’s astute business in the transfer market.

A familiar face at Dortmund

It’s been a turbulent time in the Bundesliga this summer, but the comings and goings at Bayern present a genuine opportunity for a new team to forge a title charge and dislodge the Bavarians with the stranglehold they’ve had on the league for a decade now.

Edin Terzić is back in the Borussia Dortmund hotseat for a second spell and has wasted no time bulking his squad up to make it competitive for the first time in years. Dealing with the loss of Haaland, he’s recruited Karim Adeyemi from RB Salzburg as well as enforcing his back line with the arrivals of Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle, who in turn weakens Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Could we finally see a changing of the guard in German football? Or will Bayern stroll to an 11th successive title?

Roma rise from the ruins

After capturing the inaugural UEFA Conference League, José Mourinho demonstrated that he should still be considered one of the best managers in world football. Some toxic dressing rooms certainly damaged his reputation, but in his second season in charge of AS Roma he looks to be building a side capable of challenging the Milan teams for the Serie A title.

Bringing in Paulo Dybala on a free when his contract ended with Juventus was a stroke of genius, and you only need to look at the reception he got to know the Argentina international will give his all for the club. Alongside Gini Wijnaldum on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, and Nemanja Matić, Roma have significantly improved over the summer and if Tammy Abraham can rediscover his goalscoring touch, no one will want to visit Lazio anytime soon on Italian borders.

Football came home

While England’s men’s side were left heartbroken at Wembley 12 months ago after losing the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties, the Lionesses were on hand for retribution. The Women’s Euros came to town and the home advantage certainly worked in Sarina Wiegman’s favour, as England overcame favourites Germany in the capital to win their first piece of international silverware ahead of next year’s World Cup. Chloe Kelly proved an unlikely hero in extra time with a scrappy goal in front of the record 87,000 inside Wembley, as football finally came home after a long wait.

Image Source: BigStockPhoto.com (Licensed)