Much like last summer there will plenty of activity this summer and with the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona already appointing new managers in Louis van Gaal and Luis Enrique, these men will be looking to put their stamp on their sides, with United seemingly needing significant investment in order to become a real force in English football once again.
As well as United and Barca, other usual suspects will splash huge sums with the usual disregard for Financial Fair Play implications (see Manchester City and PSG) and in turn further inflate an extremely overpriced market.
But while Europe's elite continue to throw extortionate sums around, they do so at the detriment of the smaller clubs around Europe, going about things in an honest way and threatening to compete through hard work.
While Southampton haven't quite had enough in their squad to compete for major honours, they have exceeded all expectations under Mauricio Pochettino and after an impressive 14th place finish in their first season back in the top flight, have seen their stock rise once again by climbing to eighth this time around.
More impressively, the Saints have done so with a core of young English talent. Lets not ignore the fact the Southampton have spent almost £70million in the past two years, and with the signings of Dani Osvaldo and Gaston Ramirez aside (over a third of the overall sum being spent on these two players) money has been invested wisely. Players like Dejan Lovren and Vincent Wanyama were smart additions this summer along with the likes of Jay Rodriguez and Nathaniel Clyne last summer who have added much stability to an already talented young squad at St Mary's.
But while the Saints have become one of the neutral's favourites over the past few years with their exciting brand of football, and exciting talents like Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Morgan Schneiderlin things are about to take a sharp turn for the worst.
It came as no shock to anybody that Tim Sherwood lost his job as Tottenham manager this summer and although many expected Frank de Boer to take the job, Daniel Levy eventually gave Pochettino the nod and in an even more surprising move did so with a five year contract.
With question marks hanging over the future of some of Southampton's young stars already, the departure of their manager fuelled speculation even more over their exits with Lallana and Shaw in particular heading inevitably to one of the country's top clubs.
Rickie Lambert was soon to follow Pochettino out of the club securing a dream move to Liverpool who had released him some 17 years previous for a fee of £4 million. The sale of Lambert will have less impact on the Saints, and while they will be said to see him go given his service and impact he has had on club since arriving from Bristol Rovers in 2009, nobody will begrudge Lambert the chance to join his boyhood club. While the deal is more of a favour to Lambert, it also raises a sum of money which would not often be expected of a English 32-year-old and could rise even further.
Southampton have an exceptional youth setup and have been unable to hold onto their prized assets in the past with the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all moving on to pastures new. With Lallana and Shaw heading for the exit door and the lure of the Premier League's elite, it could only be a matter of time before other promising up and comers such as Nathaniel Clyne, James Ward-Prowse, Callum Chambers and Sam Gallagher have done enough themselves to force the club to cash in.
Clubs such as Southampton have shown that a smaller club can impress and still make a name for themselves through a core of domestic talent but unfortunately will be ripped apart without the reputation of the top 5, or the financial clout of those backed by rich tycoons.
But this isn't only a problem with teams like Southampton, clubs who threaten to succeed and compete with the biggest names in their country suffer the consequences all over Europe and sometimes on a much grander scale. This season, Atletico Madrid secured their first La Liga title since 1996 and almost completed an audacious double only to be beaten by their city rivals in the final of Europe's elite competition. This was also achieved on a wage budget smaller than that of Championship side, QPR (for any football fan left who hadn't yet received this news).
But instead of looking like they will be viable option to defend their title next season and cement a firm place within the elite of Spanish football, it already seems like their squad will be ripped apart by Europe's alpha-male predators. Atleti's prized asset and top-scorer Diego Costa seems on the brink of a £32million switch to Chelsea, while the likes of Koke, Joao Miranda and Filipe Luis are all being touted for big money moves, with Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea just some of the likely destinations.
David Villa has already left to sign a lucrative contract with soon to be MLS outfit New York City and Tiago edges closer towards a free transfer back to Stamford Bridge. Again while many of these deals would give Atleti a significant sum to outlay on new faces, they lose the togetherness of a spirited squad most of whom languished in mediocrity before the belief injected by Diego Simeone following his appointment in December 2011.
In that same year of 2011, Borussia Dortmund overcame the defending champions and German powerhouse Bayern Munich to seal the first of two consecutive Bundesliga titles. That season, Jurgen Klopp had brought in astute signings in Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa costing the 1997 Champions League winners a combined sum of around £4 million. Ilkay Gundogan followed the next summer for a similar fee and with that, so did another title, with Dortmund quickly becoming one of Europe's most promising sides.
But despite establishing themselves as a real European force, highlighted even more so by them reaching the 2013 Champions League Final - losing a close game to fierce rivals Bayern - their team would start to move in a similar direction. Shinji Kagawa, arguably Dortmund's best player over those two title winning season's left for England and Manchester United, and despite replacing him with their former academy player, Marco Reus (re-signed after a successful stint at Monchengladbach) Dortmund have been unable to regain their domestic crown.
To make matters worse for the "Football hipster's" favourite side, the lure of Bayern Munich became too much for some of the Dortmund players with their academy star and golden boy Mario Gotze's £35million transfer announced just the day before the sides were due to meet in that European Cup final.
Sure as anything, Dortmund's woes haven't ended with the loss of Gotze. Robert Lewandowski has moved to the Allianz this summer on a free transfer, whilst Europe's predators continue to be linked with not only Jurgen Klopp, now one of the most sought after managers in Europe, but also key figures such as Bender, Gundogan, Reus and Hummels.
Dortmund have already invested wisely this summer, bringing in Adrian Ramos from Hertha Berlin and last season's Serie A top goalscorer Ciro Immobile to fill the void left by Lewandowski, but they may be powerless to stop their other key figures from following the Pole out of Signal Iduna Park's exit door.
While this summer will yet again prove exciting and eventful in the transfer window for Europe's elite and richest clubs, it will do so at the expense of some of those who we love to watch the most. The humble sides who don't splash around money handed to them by a rich Sugar Daddy who use a football club as their latest play thing. Which begs the question that without huge financial backing, where will Europe's next elite side come from? Gone are the days of a talented manager like Brian Clough being able to drag a team like Nottingham Forest up from the Second Division to European Cup winners within a number of years.
Loyalty seems to be an extremely rare commodity in football nowadays, and with money and sponsorships and huge contracts becoming such a huge part of the game, we may not see another underdog like an Atletico or a Dortmund turn themselves into top, consistent European force now as they will be ripped apart of the seams and stripped of anything and anyone the big boys can take for themselves. All because they have the audacity to compete.
