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While the 2019/2020 season of European football might well have been thrust into full swing, the 2019 summer window only officially ended yesterday.
The window had opened on July 1, and clubs had the next two months to wrap up transfer dealings, with the window shutting on September 2, although the English Premier League's transfer window closed a day to the start of the new season due to a law which was passed two years ago (English clubs were however not exempt from selling to their European counterparts).
Transfer windows give clubs an ample opportunity to strengthen areas of weaknesses, as well as offload unwanted players, and while the prices in the current market might be highly inflated, that is an offshoot of multiple other factors.
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With the window having closed, clubs would have to make do with what they have until another opportunity arises when the winter window opens in January.
There are clubs who did excellent pieces of business over the summer, while others left a lot to be desired.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting the four clubs who had the worst business over the summer, judging by value for money spent, success in selling off unwanted players, strengthening of key areas and acquisition of identified targets.
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.
#4 Chelsea
Chelsea find themselves on this list through no deliberate effort of their own, as the transfer ban handed on them by FIFA meant that the Blues could not buy any new players during the window.
The only new additions to the team were Christian Pulisic and Mateo Kovacic who were registered before the transfer ban, while a number of loan players had to be recalled.
The result of this is that new manager Frank Lampard arrived into his new job in less than ideal circumstances, while the sale of Eden Hazard made an already difficult job much more difficult.
Eden Hazard is one of the best players in the world, and over the last seven years proved his mettle with the Londoners, and was the major reason why Chelsea achieved a modicum of success last season, as he was responsible for half of The Blues Premier League goals.
In his absence the deficiencies of the squad have been left brutally exposed; their attack is blunt and inexperienced, Cesar Azpilicuetta's time at the top seems over, and their central defence pairing is not what it used to be.
The fact that Chelsea were not able to address these shortcomings means that they would struggle over the course of the campaign and the early signs are already there for all to see.
#3 Real Madrid
With over €300m spent on new arrivals over the summer, it seems a bit laughable to suggest that Real Madrid had a poor transfer window, but a deeper incursion reveals that to be exactly the case.
The Los Blancos had a devastating campaign last season, and Zidane was brought in to salvage the sinking ship with the promise of being in charge of transfer dealings, and despite the fact that the 46-year-old could not turn around the club's fortunes last term, his track record in his first spell gave cause for optimism.
Real Madrid made major inroads in the market, bringing in five new players before the middle of July, and all attention then turned to offloading the deadweights who Zidane deemed surplus to requirements.
The Frenchman was explicit in his desire to see some players, particularly Gareth Bale depart the club, stating that the earlier he left, the better it was for everyone.
However, club president Florentino Perez has always been a fan of the former Tottenham man, and went against his earlier premise of giving his manager a free rein by terminating Bale's proposed move to China at the 11th hour.
The failure of Real Madrid to offload players including Bale and Rodriguez had other consequences, as the club failed in its pursuit of another key target namely Paul Pogba, as funds were not readily available.
Real Madrid's midfield remains a weak link, as Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are no longer what they used to be, and Zidane realizes as much, making a midfield acquisition a priority and despite turning their attention to other midfielders including Donny van de Beek and Bruno Fernandes, they failed to land either.
Furthermore, Zidane has shown himself to be a firm loyalist through the course of his managerial career, and has so far shown a distinct distrust in all of his new arrivals (with the exception of the injured Hazard) begging the question as to why such money was spent on acquiring new players if they were not going to play?
Some of the players who departed over the summer are also starring with their new clubs, with Dani Ceballos' with Arsenal particularly impressive.
Real Madrid could be set for another season of struggles, and their failure to sort out their summer window effectively would be a major contributing factor.
#2 Juventus
Juventus pulled off one of the major coups of the summer by convincing the highly sought after Matthijs de Ligt to play for them ahead of virtually every other top European club.
However, the €75m purchase of the Dutch international is somewhat bittersweet, with news of Giorgio Chiellini's potential season-ending injury rubbed some of the gloss off it, as at 19, De Ligt still has a lot of growing up to do, and does not offer the same composure at the back that the Juventus captain does, which was evidenced by his errors in the game against Napoli.
The Bianconerri also completed the requisite free signings, and while Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot have the ability to join the pantheon of free arrivals who went on to achieve legendary status at the club, the former's fitness concerns and latter's disciplinary issues mean that they are both signings that could go either way.
Danilo is a player who has failed to cement a regular shirt at not one but two major clubs, as he struggled horribly at first Real Madrid and despite showing a modicum of improvement at Manchester City never gave the impression of being a crucial member of the squad and was always on the periphery.
Quite why Juventus valued him at €37m in a deal that saw the fast-rising Joao Cancelo go the other way baffles the imagination.
Upfront, Moise Kean, who is one of Italy's brightest talents was allowed to leave, and the fact that Juventus sold him to Everton for the paltry sum of €32m is baffling, to say the least.
The teenager was let go ostensibly in the hope that the Turin giants could get a big name striker, but their pursuit of Romelu Lukaku went up in flames after Paulo Dybala reportedly chose not to go the other way, while Mauro Icardi's deadline day loan move to PSG also put paid to another long-term target.
The result of this is that Maurizio Sarri is left with centre forwards with an average age of 33, and this is a less than ideal proposition for the 60-year-old, while their inability to offload some marquee players means that Juventus would have to omit some big names from their Champions League squad; a situation the man himself described as embarrassing.
#1 Manchester United
Manchester United have been in shambles since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, and their free fall would only be compounded after another clueless and disastrous transfer window.
The club massively underperformed last season, but have added only three new players to the squad; two untested youngsters in Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, while Harry Maguire was also brought in for a world-record fee.
Alexis Sanchez' time at the club has been horrendous, to say the least and not too many people would have been displeased to see him go on loan to Inter Milan. However, the Red Devils would still be paying a substantial part of his hefty wages, while the fact that Inter are not obligated to buy means that if the 30-year-old struggles at San Siro, Manchester United would find themselves in the same scenario again next year.
Beyond the Chilean and Matteo Darmian's exits, the club's other departures were very questionable. Chris Smalling was allowed to leave for AS Roma on loan, and despite not being the best of defenders, the England international was the most senior member of the current squad and has useful experience on the international scene.
The 29-year-old would have been effective as a backup option to Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, but his departure leaves United short in this regard.
Perhaps even more baffling was the decision to let Romelu Lukaku leave for Inter Milan.
The 26-year-old might have received a lot of stick for his poor first touch and heavy build, but the fact of the matter is that Lukaku is a striker, and his job is primarily to score goals, and in that regard, there are few with his track record.
He is one of only three active players to have scored over 100 Premier League goals, while he is also the all-time record goalscorer for the Belgian national team, and the fact that the highly revered Antonio Conte went all out for him in two different transfer windows at two different clubs is indicative of his quality.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer was adamant in his position that he needs a fluid and dynamic frontline which had no space for Lukaku, but the former Everton man's departure means that the goalscoring mantle has fallen upon Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Daniel James and Mason Greenwood.
The quartet have hit double figures in the Premier League on just three occasions combined, compared to Lukaku who achieved this feat in each of the last seven seasons consecutively.
Within the squad, there are also underlying challenges. Paul Pogba is the club's best player, but the Frenchman has seen his commitment questioned over the years, and expressly stated his desire to leave Old Trafford during the summer.
Manchester United are thus stuck with a non-committed but talented player who does not want to be at the club, while a lot of his teammates are not up to par.
Jesse Lingard who is without a goal contribution since 2018 continues to be the go-to man in attacking midfield, and this is rather laughable for a club the size of Manchester United.
The English international's stats read for pretty grim reading; he has just 10 assists, 17 goals and 17 big chances created in 115 Premier League matches and is an average player at best who at the age of 26 does not seem to have many windows for improvement.
Manchester United had a disastrous transfer window, and it would come as no surprise when they struggle to reach their targets this season.
