The overlap between when the European soccer season begins (this season: Aug. 8) and when the summer transfer window closes (Aug. 31) is ripe for confusion and overreaction -- we're responding to early impressions from a given team when we don't even know who's going to be on its roster for the last 90% or so of the season.
- Transfer Grades: Rating every major summer move
- Ogden: What top clubs still need to do
- Carter: Players at big clubs in need of a move
Even before four of Europe's Big Five leagues got underway recently (the fifth, Italy's Serie A, starts this coming weekend), though, we were getting a pretty good idea of the stakes for the rest of this transfer window.