Transfers: has the Premier League lost its shine?

The summer's transfer season has seen another marquee player embroiled in a Premier League transfer saga move one step closer to putting pen to paper. However it is not Arsenal that Gonzalo Hiquain is going to sign for, reports place him in Napoli having passed a medical. This represents a huge loss for not only Arsenal, but the Premier League when the proposed 35mil deal goes through. This is yet another example of a top name player snubbing the Premier League this summer.

What has been truly striking is the efficiency and quickness of finalizing some of these big name deals. Even before the summer transfer saga began, Mario Gotze had already pledged to sign for German rivals Bayern Munich from Dortmund, much to the dismay of top English clubs. AS Monaco moved almost instantly once the window opened with the capture of the highly rated Radamel Falcao, one player thought to have been heading to England, with Chelsea or Manchester City the likeliest destinations. There wasn't even so much as a whimper to try and counter AS Monaco for his signature. The mega rich French club also snagged Joao Moutinho without much notice.

Edison Cavani followed after, wrapping up his 55mil move to Paris St. Germain from Napoli earlier this month. Yet again, top English clubs missed the mark, not even getting a sniff. Even the versatile midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan's snub of Liverpool for Borussia Dortmund put another blow into the side of the Premier League. Although not a top name just yet, Manchester Utd losing out on Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich was another coup that went against the English giants power.

Really the only top English club doing damage in the market is Manchester City. Splurging on Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic, with maybe another signing yet to come. Each is a quality footballer and will certainly add excitement to the forth coming season. But it still doesn't feel like a productive summer for the Premier League.

So what does this all mean? By the way the summer has gone thus far, it is obvious England doesn't hold as much sway in this transfer window as it once did. It almost feels as if many top English clubs are simply posturing in this window. Take Arsenal for example, Arsne Wenger has millions to spend on reinvesting in the squad and yet has done very little thus far. Arsenal have already lost out on Gonzalo Higuain as reported above, and their only other active bid for Luis Suarez is likely to hit a wall as well. Luis Suarez would be a huge signing for Arsenal, he could even be the difference between glory or another cup-less season. However Wenger is not good at putting out the proper bid, instead trying to seize the player with small progressive bids. This really leaves the door open for Real Madrid to come in and snag Suarez out from Arsenal's clutches. Funny, this just happened with Higuain.

Even Manchester Utd seem to be posturing at this point. Do they really think they can prize a player like Cesc Fabregas away from Barcelona? First off, David Moyes doesn't have the same pull of Alex Ferguson, obviously. Secondly, I don't see value in the move for Fabregas, Barcelona is just a bigger club with more of a guarantee to win trophies. Are Man Utd and Arsenal simply making bids for marquee names that won't ever come to fruition in an effort to keep the fans happy? I'd hope not for the sake of the league and our fantasy prospects.

The good news is we still have all of August for the heat to be turned up. Wouldn't it be a sad end to the window if Wayne Rooney was the only buyable option for top English clubs? Needless to say our fantasy prospects are banking on a productive summer for the Premier League!

What are your thoughts? Has the Premier League lost some of its attraction?