Get Ready for Another Corker of an EPL Season!

Well isn't this coming season shaping up nicely! The Cristiano Ronaldo saga is finally over, we will be seeing the second best player in the world in the EPL next season.

There has been transfers galore throughout the summer, for everyone except Everton that is, and the "big four" face the biggest challenge to that tag for some time.

In a summer of sagas, where hardly any of the big rumoured transfers have actually gone through, the Ronaldo saga has dominated. But Sir Alex Ferguson has told us it's over now. Until next summer of course.

The Adebayor saga is also over as he has committed his future to Arsenal. So one saga remains: The Gareth Barry saga.

Martin O'Neill has gone back on the deadline he put on it and has now said Liverpool have until the end of the transfer window. Yet Liverpool still seem unwilling to pay the £15 million or so to get him.

Well, O'Neill and Barry probably feel a bit peeved that they went and splashed £20m on Robbie Keane and are refusing to pay that. But I don't understand why we can't just buy both. We have two billionaires in charge after all!

The start of the season will be hugely important, especially for a team that wants to break into that big four (and there are three teams who are capable of doing that this season.)

With plenty of players being at the Olympics and some injured, the full strength teams need to take advantage and make good starts.

Probably the worst hit are the champions Man Utd. They are missing Cristiano Ronaldo for the first two months of the season through injury, and news today has revealed that Wayne Rooney is likely to be out because of a virus he picked up in pre-season.

Add to this the fact that Nani is suspended, Anderson is in Beijing and Rio Ferdinand and Micheal Carrick have had problems during pre-season and that is a potential six first-team players out.

Chelsea will also be starting the season with Didier Drogba unavailable, which takes away their main offensive threat.

As I mentioned earlier, I think three teams have a good chance of really challenging the top four this season. Firstly, Manchester City. I think Jo will prove to be a great signing, and with Thaksin Shinawatra seemingly ready to just throw money at the club, the only way is up for them, especially with a man like Mark Hughes in charge.

Next is Portsmouth. I can see them building on their FA Cup success and making Europe next season. The partnership between Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch up-front could be a winner, and Crouch playing week in week out may just bring out the very best in him.

And the third team? Tottenham. Before this summer I would have said no chance, but they have made some really good signings and I am looking forward to a good battle between them and Arsenal in the coming years for North London superiority.

With Luka Modric and David Bentley linking up with Giovanni dos Santos and Dimitar Berbatov, they could prove very hard to suppress next season.

However, the two best transfer window performances in my opinion have been from Fulham and Hull. Fulham have brought in a Premiership veteran who has been consistent for a number of years in Mark Schwarzer to help steady the ship and avoid another nail-biting relegation battle, as well as getting Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera, two players who could become success stories at Fulham.

Hull have signed players that are perfect to keep them in the division. George Boateng, a quality player who has lots of experience, Tony Warner, a veteran of the division, and Geovanni, a skilful player who, given a first-team place, could be hugely important in Hull's season.

It's under two weeks now until the new season starts, and I personally can't wait. When it finally does start we can just sit back, relax, and watch what could be the best season yet.