Nobody expected Barcelona to be the motor behind the transfer market but that’s the way things have turned out.
Their purchase of Robert Lewandowski pushed Bayern Munich into buying Sadio Mane beforehand.
They have taken Andreas Christensen and will sign Cesar Azpilicueta making room for Chelsea’s major defensive reshuffle but they bumped them out of the way with their successful pursuit of Raphinha leaving Chelsea to sign Raheem Sterling.
Sportsmail looks at how have they done all this with no cash and investigates to what extent mortgaging the club’s future enabled them to be Europe’s big spenders this summer.