Despite some early blockbusters, it’s been quite a subdued transfer market overall this summer. Nevertheless, Martin O’Neill managed to match last summer’s influx by bringing in seven new faces, although his hand may have been forced somewhat by the exists of Gareth Barry & Martin Laursen.

Here’s the seven in the order they joined:-

• Stewart Downing, 16/07/09, £12m, Middlesbrough
• Fabian Delph, 04/08/09, £8m, Leeds
• Habib Beye, 07/08/09, £2.5m, Newcastle
• Andy Marshall, 12/08/09, Free, N/A
• Stephen Warnock, 27/08/09, £8m, Blackburn
• James Collins, 01/09/09, £5m, West Ham
• Richard Dunne, 01/09/09, £6m, Man City

That’s a £41.5m outlay. Taking the £16m received for Gareth Barry & Zat Knight into account, that’s over £25m invested in new players this summer. Not at all shabby.

When you consider the net spend last season was in excess of £45m, that’s more than £70m net over two seasons. Well, I say two seasons, but we’re only a handful of games into the second and the January window remains an option if required.

Randy Lerner warned us that there would be less money spent on players this summer, and he was true to his word, but a net £70m over the last couple of summers is a serious amount of investment. I doubt it needs pointing out that everyone with a vested interest will be hoping to see some serious returns this season.

MON has brought an interesting mix of players in this year. MON’s already proven that he’s willing to splash the cash on a young, exciting prospect when he brought Ashley Young to the club. I’m sure we’re all hoping that history is set to repeat itself with Fabian Delph.

The squad is a lot stronger than when Ash joined us and there’s a lot of competition for places in the middle of the park, so Delph may need a season to settle, but he’s definitely a brilliant prospect.

Stewart Downing might not be as young, but it’s definitely going to be interesting when we have the option of another attacking winger. Although Downing is unlikely to play much, if at all, before the end of the year, it’s a massive shame that we’ll no longer have the burden of the extra European games so that MON could utilise all of the attacking options at his disposal.

No disrespect to Andy Marshall, but he was brought in to replace Taylor as 3rd choice goal keeper. It’s definitely a bonus to have his sort of experience to call upon should the worst come to the worst and he’s a welcome addition to the squad from that perspective.

I think I read somewhere that Warnock was a long time target and it shows MON’s persistence to go back in for him. With Shorey apparently all set to go to Portsmouth on a season long loan that fell through at the last minute, it’s clear that Warnock is the new first choice left back.

My feeling is that Beye was something of an opportunistic purchase, driven mainly by the apparent long term injury to Luke Young. Lichaj drew the plaudits during the summer, but it’s too early for him just yet. Beye’s a decent option to cover and if the serious alternative was again playing someone out of position, then he’s a great addition to the squad.

The biggest hole to fill, quite literally, was at the back. With Laursen’s retirement, Zat Knight’s slightly strange exit and Curtis Davies’ shoulder problem, it was imperative that MON brought a couple of experienced central defenders in.

I’m far from convinced that Richard Dunne was the most willing player to leave a club, but he’s not going to be treated like he’s making up the numbers at Villa. Surely he’s going to be taking Laursen’s number 5 shirt and will probably become a fixture at the back. Hopefully he can strike up a strong partnership with Cuellar as soon as possible.

Everyone is talking about having a strong leader at the back and that Dunne fits the mold. He will more than likely become the key acquisition of this summer.

I have to admit that James Collins is a player who has completely flown under my radar and presumably he will provide cover for Dunne and Cuellar. Again, we have an impressive youngster coming through the ranks in Ciaran Clark, but with Davies apparently needing some surgery and lengthy recuperation, it’s great to have another experienced option in the squad.

So, strictly speaking these are the seven new players this summer, but don’t forget those youngsters knocking on the door of first team consideration. With Clark, Lowry, Lichaj, Herd, Bannon and Albrighton all showing that they’re capable of doing a job this season, we’ve actually got one of the deepest squads in terms of talent that we’ve had for a long, long time.

Early signs suggest that this might be a competitive Premiership season and I’m pretty excited about what this squad might be able to achieve. Make no mistake, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, perhaps a little luck and the strong support of the fans, but there’s every chance that MON has now assembled a squad capable of challenging for honours.