The wait is nearly over and that reality is possibly dawning, more than ever, on a number of Premier League clubs.
Sure, even after the big kick-off on Friday night, the transfer window will remain open for another three and a half weeks.
Yet ask any top-flight manager and they want to have their ‘wish list’ complete before a ball is kicked in earnest.
Questions at the top end of that list right now include: will England captain Harry Kane still be a Tottenham Hotspur player or will he leave English shores for German lands; how exactly will Chelsea line up after another summer in which the word hectic would again be an understatement to describe events at Stamford Bridge; and will West Ham, fresh from their first trophy in more than 40 years, also say farewell to the manager, hot on the heels of their captain?
We may know more before the opening contest of the season between newly promoted Burnley and champions Manchester City on Friday.
While they cannot afford to be complacent – Leicester City showed as much last season – if the Clarets maintain the form they displayed under Vincent Kompany last summer, this SBOTOP observer expects they will have enough to survive.
And what of the other new boys?
Well, it may be tougher for Sheffield United and Luton Town to provide Premier League highlights.
The Brammall Lane club was flying high until Covid intervened in the spring of 2020 when the team was being talked about as possible contenders for a European spot.
When action resumed three months later, they were never quite the same and finished well adrift at the bottom the following season.
Now they are back and raring to show they can become established in the top flight.
Initially, though, survival would be a triumph, as it would be for Luton Town whose fairytale return to the top division, after an absence of 31 years, provides the romance ahead of the new campaign.
Given the resources at their disposal, many will expect the Hatters to be the Premier League’s whipping boys.
So, can they become success stories like Brentford and Bournemouth or will they fall into the category occupied by Swindon Town (1993-94) and Derby County (2007-08) and be out of their depth.
Luton certainly offer the work ethic to meet the survival formula. Whether they have the quality is a rather different question. Promotion was built on a miserly defence that conceded 42 goals in 46 Championship matches, and Ethan Horvath, the American goalkeeper who has returned to Nottingham Forest after a loan, was a big part of that.
Going back to Leicester, one club which appears in a similar position to them 12 months ago is West Ham.
No-one expected the Foxes to go from 2021 FA Cup winners to relegation just two years later but their failure to strengthen their squad proved costly.
As it stands, West Ham, fresh from securing their first piece of silverware for more than 40 years, are in the same boat.
Despite receiving a massive fee for captain Declan Rice from Arsenal, they have yet to sign one player and now a reported dispute is threatening to undo all the progress made under David Moyes in recent years.
Moyes has struggled to agree on signings with Tim Steidten, West Ham’s new technical director, and faces missing out on one of his top targets, Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse.
As I write, the reality may well have dawned on Steidten that new recruits are essential as the club has agreed a £32 million deal to sign the Ajax midfielder Edson Álvarez and are trying to buy Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay from Manchester United. Álvarez has agreed terms on a five-year deal and is set to fly to London for a medical.
As for new recruits to watch out for, well it will be interesting to see how Moussa Diaby fares at Aston Villa.
Unai Emery appears to have pulled off something off a coup by signing the Bayer Leverkusen and France winger for a reported club record £51.9m.
Diaby, one of the quickest players in Germany, can play anywhere across the front line; he scored 49 goals and made 48 assists in his 173 games for Leverkusen.
And what of Newcastle United who made midfielder Sandro Tonali Italy’s most expensive footballer when they signed him from AC Milan.
There are others, of course, and full previews (and more ins and outs) will come thick and fast over the next few days but, with the big kick-off fast approaching, you can be forgiven, depending on who you support, for being excited, experiencing some trepidation or, perhaps, a combination.
The SBOTOP Premier League betting odds make City clear title favourites ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United with Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs behind. They also make the newly promoted clubs and Bournemouth as favourites for the drop. These odds are not usually wrong!
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