The summer transfer window is in full swing and a few managers have taken full advantage of their opportunities to strengthen their squad. Here are the teams that have made the most noise in the transfer window:
Norwich City
The Canaries have fared well since their promotion to the Premier League in 2011, achieving respectable mid-table positions for the last 2 years.
They have shown to be serious about staying in the Premier League, with 6 major signings since the window opened.
Their signings include Swedish left back Martin Olsson and former Manchester city left back Javier Garrido, but the most prominent Carrow Road new boy would be striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
The Dutch forward bagged 28 goals in 55 appearances in the last two seasons for Sporting, and has been linked with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United in the past.
Expect Norwich to raise a few eyebrows next season.
A.S. Roma
The Italian capital side hasn’t had the most success recently, which is especially surprising considering the club’s rather impressive history.
7 of their 11 new signings are aged 21 and under, so its clear the club is focused on building for their future, possibly to replace aging club legends Daniele de Rossi and Francesco Totti.
New centre back Mehdi Benatia and and right back Maicon should strengthen the back line that has been notoriously leaky in past seasons, and highly rated defensive midfielder Kevin Strootman, heavily linked with United in the past, will only add more quality to a Roma team looking to qualify for European football next season.
Sunderland A.F.C
The Tyneside club finished dangerously close to the relegation zone last season, and it was clear a few summer signing were needed.
Di Canio has added 9 new players to his squad, his first being a 19 year old striker from Altrincham of Blue Square Premier North. Not a bad find.
Underrated American striker Jozy Altidore, Italian international and former Juventus winger Emmanuele Giaccherini and young Swedish striker David Moberg Karlsson have also made their way to the Stadium of Light in the last few weeks.
They will all improve a Sunderland squad that has shown its quality in pieces, like in a home win against Manchester City and a 3-0 thrashing of their Tyneside rivals, Newcastle.
Aston Villa
Villa managed to finish 15th after an awful start to their Premier League season, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Young Danish duo Nicklas Helenius and Jores Okore join Spanish left back Antonio Luna and Bulgarian winger Aleksandar Tonev at the Birmingham based club, while Dutch midfielder Leandro Bacuna and England youth international goalkeeper Jed Steer have also been added to the ranks.
Helenius, who seems to be replacing want-away striker Christian Benteke, and has already scored 2 goals in 3 friendlies for the club, each 1-1 draws. The Dane had 40 goals in 102 games at only 22, so the Villa faithful have every right to be optimistic about his contribution to the club.
VfB Stuttgart
The 2007 Bundesliga champions seem to have fallen a bit since their title triumph, finishing 12th last season.
Despite being runners-up in the German Cup, their season was pretty horrendous.
With 10 players in and 10 players out (including loan deals), manager Labbadia seems to have ordered a squad revamp.
The most impressive coup would be Marco Rojas, the 21 year old New Zealand midfielder who lit up the A-League last season. The signings of Dortmund playmaker Moritz Leitner on loan, and Norwegian striker Mohammed Abdelloue are impressive deals as well.
If Stuttgart want to challenge on any front this season, their new players will be instrumental.