Dortmund and Bayern both seem to have bought sensibly, answering specific needs in their squad, while the Brendan Rodgers project at Liverpool, however clouded it may be in guruspeak, has the virtue of being a project, of buying a particular type of player to fit an overall scheme. But actually, the club who have probably performed best so far in the transfer market are Manchester City.
The club were much mocked for saying Roberto Mancini had been sacked as part of a drive to a more "holistic" approach, but the coherence of their philosophy is becoming increasingly clear.
The chief executive Ferran Soriano said in March that City would look to bring in "three or four players" and that he felt they had made the squad bigger but not better the previous summer. Sure enough, four major players have arrived: none of them perhaps are absolutely stellar names but the role of each in the squad is clear.
Fernandinho adds a creative edge from deep and can release Yaya Touré; Jesús Navas adds pace and penetration on the right; Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic relieve the pressure on Sergio Agüero, Negredo offering muscularity and goals and Jovetic technical ability and cover not just at centre-forward but as a second striker or a wide man.
Theirs has been a calm, coherent spree. Perhaps, given the determined Luddism that still governs large parts of English footballing culture, "holistic" wasn't the wisest choice of words, but as others snatch at stars, they have taken a major step towards the harmonious style that has brought success to Barcelona and Bayern.
