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Roberto Mancini’s side have momentum and will present a huge challenge to the champions and Chelsea

As if it were not enough to win the Premier League title once again, Manchester United insisted on staying ahead of the pack even in the close season.

Business was completed briskly, with the 20-year-old goalkeeper David de Gea bought from Atlético Madrid, Phil Jones, a teenage defender, coming from Blackburn Rovers and the winger Ashley Young relocating from Aston Villa. These were not breathtaking moves, but they sufficed to ensure that United would be made favourites at that moment to retain the title.

The continuity is a cause of envy and frustration to others. Players of the standing of Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes could retire without anyone acting as if calamity had fallen upon Old Trafford. The end of their careers was anticipated and the midfielder, for instance, had started less than half of last season’s Premier League fixtures.

Regardless of the long-term planning, Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad will still have to demonstrate both that their standards have not dipped and that they retain the knowhow to come through the key matches unscathed.

There was no immediate rush by any other club to reveal a grand intention to supplant United. Perhaps even the foreign owners are weary of losing so much money. Liverpool came closest to making a splash without plunging into deep debt. Their fans would have understood the logic of Kenny Dalglish on the January day when he bought Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez at a combined cost of some £57m, particularly since most of the expenditure was recouped with the transfer of Fernando Torres to Chelsea.

Suárez can score on his own account but will also be expected to serve as a provider for Carroll, as will the £20m winger Stewart Downing.

Day-dreaming fans can draw a parallel with Dalglish’s Blackburn side, that had men who could get the ball to Alan Shearer when the title went to Ewood Park in 1995. Repeating that sort of feat, however, is not easy and there will be doubts about Liverpool. Despite a glut of options provided by the recruitment of £20m Jordan Henderson and £7m Charlie Adam, the midfield lacks quality and there should be disquiet if Steven Gerrard, at 31, is still the main source of dynamism. There could be qualms, too, about the defence should injuries go on gnawing at Daniel Agger as they did last season.

Dalglish has at least completed eye-catching business in 2011. Few counterparts enjoy that good fortune and not even Manchester City looked masters of their own destiny when Carlos Tevez left the club to get on with the American tour without him. Suddenly the circumstances of the manager, Roberto Mancini, did not look so enviable. But it would be rash to assume that the project has stalled. The tone of the Premier League can alter in the moment it takes for one spectacular footballer to put his name to a contract, and so the acquisition of such a skilful striker as Sergio Agüero will have increased optimism at Eastlands.

A note of conservatism reflects conditions in the European and, for that matter, global economy. Many will be relieved at that. Harry Redknapp, for instance, may be addicted to trading in the transfer market, but he will already have done well if he holds tight to players who took fifth place for Tottenham Hotspur.

While that position in the table prevented an immediate return to the Champions League, there was consolidation before he had to bear the anxiety caused by Chelsea’s interest in Luka Modric.

At Stamford Bridge the initial aim of the new manager André Villas-Boas was to dampen any expectation of spectacular sums being spent on new players. Perhaps it is just a negotiating position, but managers and, more pertinently, owners may also have settled into a more subdued mood. Roman Abramovich might have had his exuberance stifled by Torres’s toils so far at Chelsea.

Scepticism about transfer fees is on the rise among most club owners. For as long as that lasts, the consequence is a rather pleasing retro tone that evokes a period when it was normal for clubs to come somewhere near to balancing the books. Uefa will be trying to enforce that prudence as its financial fair-play rules come into effect. Club proprietors, in the short term at least, will then be relieved if they can shake their heads sorrowfully and tell fans that it is just not feasible to buy a particular star.

Keeping outstanding figures will have to do instead. Newly promoted clubs, who comprise Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City this year, may one day feel there is a greater hope of establishing themselves. The Premier League is slightly more circumspect already and that could, for example, suit Arsenal, who made a rather poor effort, irrespective of injuries, when there was a real prospect of taking the title.

Finishing fourth was galling and the fans at the Emirates no longer seem so entranced by a manager without silverware since 2005. Lamenting the injury that restricted Thomas Vermaelen to five appearances is natural, but a lack of depth in the squad was also exposed when he was sidelined.

Arsène Wenger has had to contemplate the sale of Cesc Fábregas while also pondering necessary restructuring at a club that has fallen short for too long. Others, too, get exasperated. The ache continues at St James’ Park, the Stadium of Light and Villa Park, where the attendance figures are far more imposing than the results. While those on lesser budgets win admirers, with Fulham in particular overcoming the odds to finish in the top half of the table, it would galvanise the league if those of greater means were as good at making the most of their potential.

The competition no longer feels quite so opulent, but that has its benefits. Setting aside nationalistic interests, it felt healthy for football in Europe that English clubs have still to reimpose their dominance. Last season, United alone got to the last four of the Champions League, before being outclassed by Barcelona in the final. Two years before, three of the semi-finalists had been from England. Perhaps the bombast and even the sums previously spent can be scaled down. There is no prospect of the Premier League turning into a homely tournament and nor would anyone wish to see it shrink too far.

Even so, there was a breeziness to the July friendlies that evoked days gone by. Liverpool won 4-3 in Guangdong, Gervinho struck twice for Arsenal in the first 15 minutes of his debut against Köln, and United’s Rafael da Silva finished from near the byline as he sent the ball through the legs of the Chicago Fire goalkeeper. This was fun and, with luck, the season to come will be more reminiscent of a time when football clubs seemed to belong, above all, to the people who love them.

Manchester UnitedManchester CityLiverpoolArsenalChelseaTottenham HotspurKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk

• Bueno set for 10-day trial with view to long-term contract
• Reports in Spain say club have agreed deal for Nacho

The Mexico Under-17 striker Marco Bueno is set to arrive at Liverpool next month with a view to signing what may be a five-year contract.

His current club Pachuca held a meeting with the player and his parents on Monday to agree arrangements, with the youngster reportedly due on Merseyside some time between 10 and 12 August to begin training with the reserves.

“A pre-contract with the parents and Bueno was signed to be sent to Liverpool,” the Pachuca vice-president, Andrés Fassi, told El Universal. “So we are accepting the 10-day trial and the conditions, if the English decide to keep him.”

Bueno, talking about the prospective move to Merseyside, said: “I have to face it with great motivation and commitment to represent the country in the best way, and with faith that everything is achievable. It’s a life experience that I will never forget, I’m very excited about that and will give my best. Where the opportunity arises I will make the most.”

Reports in the Spanish media also claim Liverpool have secured a deal for the Albacete youngster Nacho, who had a successful trial with the club’s under-18s earlier this month. The Spanish press say the Reds have paid £150,000 up front for the striker with a further £350,000 of potential add-ons, plus a 15% sell-on fee.

Villarreal, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Málaga were all reportedly interested in the player.

LiverpoolAlbaceteTransfer windowEuropean footballguardian.co.uk

• 30-year-old confirms approach from Newell’s Old Boys
• Rodríguez: ‘The president called me and I said yes’

Maxi Rodríguez could join the proposed exodus from Liverpool’s midfield this summer after revealing a desire to return to Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys.

The 30-year-old came through the youth system at Newell’s Old Boys and played three seasons for the club before leaving for Espanyol in 2002.

He enjoyed a fine end to the season at Liverpool, scoring seven goals in three matches, including two hat-tricks, and still has 18 months remaining on the three-year contract he signed on arrival from Atlético Madrid in January 2010.

However, he has confirmed an approach from his boyhood club and may ask to be released from his Anfield contract if a compromise package can be agreed.

Rodríguez told the Argentinian newspaper La Capital: “When I left here, I knew I was coming back. The president [William Lorenzo] called me and I said yes. Now it depends on the contract I have in Liverpool, maybe that can be loosened a little.”

Kenny Dalglish found Rodríguez an important utility player towards the end of last season but with the Liverpool manager intending to overhaul his midfield with younger talent, and struggling to get several unwanted high-earners off the wage bill – such as Alberto Aquilani, Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen – an offer from Newell’s Old Boys is likely to be considered. But the Argentina international would have to accept a significant reduction in his salary for the deal to happen.

Another surprise departure could be Raul Meireles, who reports in Italy have claimed is a target for Internazionale one year after his £11.7m arrival from Porto. The Portugal international enjoyed a promising debut season in English football, particularly in the month after Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson as manager, but was not always deployed in his favoured central midfield role and would provide Liverpool with a quick return on their investment.

The Anfield club are expected to follow the £20m capture of Jordan Henderson with the signing of Charlie Adam from Blackpool, possibly this week, although the two clubs have yet to agree a fee for the Scotland international midfielder. A deal may include Jonjo Shelvey joining Blackpool on loan in a bid to gain more first-team experience.

LiverpoolTransfer windowAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk