Revamped Atletico Madrid

"This will be the biggest task of my career" is how Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone in June described the upcoming off-season. It wasn't a secret to anyone, that Atletico Madrid had run into a dead end with the club they have build and the team has peaked. Going into the summer, Atletico knew it would lose three of it's starting defenders: Juanfran, captain Diego Godin and Filipe Luis, due to their ages and declining skills. It was time to rebuild that defense into a younger and quicker group.

Losing three starters on defense wouldn't be the biggest shakeup on the team. Their star and face of the franchise Antoine Griezmann, 28, was looking to further his career and play with a better team and add some trophies to his resume, after winning the 2018 World Cup with France. The Griezmann transfer saga had many twists and turns, and sometimes turned ugly, but eventually the French superstar made his move to Barcelona for $139 million.

Arp could be the steal of the summer

Last season did not go as planned for 19-year old Jann-Fiete Arp, once a top prospect in German football. After training camp with Hamburger SV, newly appointed coach Hannes Wolf determined that Arp was not good enough to compete in the 2.Bundesliga, and shipped him away to the Hamburg reserves which played in the fourth division, where he spend most of the season. Thus, plummeting his value.

That did not deter Bayern Munich this summer of taking the risk and trying to rejuvenate the former youth star. Signing him at a discounted fee of €3 million, Bayern Munich figured they could take their time developing the youngster under the eyeful watch of their staff and eventually turning him into a replacement for Robert Lewandowski.

Legend's son joins Borussia Monchengladbach

His father holds the all-time record for appearances for the France national team. During his playing career, he also won the World Cup and the European Cup. Simply put, Lilian Thuram is a legend in French football.

That is what his 21-year old son Marcus is going to try to replicate, as he competes his first major move of his career, transferring from Ligue 1 club Guingamp, where he scored 12 goals in 64 matches in his two seasons, to the German bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach for a reported €12 million.

Piast Gliwice blew their own chance at history

Piast Gliwice captain Marcin Pietrowski said it best moments after a crushing 2-1 defeat to BATE in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier, saying that "Every kid growing up always dreams of playing in the Champions league, and now it's over."

Last week, to everyone's surprise, Piast Gliwice went on the road and drew BATE 1-1. They even were the better team, outplaying the Belarusian champions, a team that has had a lot of experience in Europe the past 10 or so seasons. Piast returned home for leg two and even took a early 1-0 lead, just 21 minutes into the game after a excellent header from Jakub Czerwinski.

And that's where this story took a turn.

Giampaolo could bring more Poles to Milan soon

If you ask Polish football fans to fantasize about a scenario where a dream coach would come and manage the Polish national team, you'll almost surely get a unanimous response for Jurgen Klopp, who has raved about Polish players and Polish football fan culture from when he coached three of them, Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Pisczcek with Borussia Dortmund. One time i remember, when Dortmund played Lech Poznan in a friendly (part of the Lewandowski transfer agreement), a Polish tv station asked Klopp for an interview and were rejected by the Dortmund press secretary, saying he won't be doing any interviews. Shortly after, Klopp popped up onto the set and on live tv, apologized for the staffer who told them he wouldn't do one, saying he'll always be available to Polish media because he loves their passion and love for the game. He's been true to his word too, as he's always accepted interview requests after big matches in the bundesliga, premier league or champions league from Polish media.

But, there should be someone else that fans should glamour about. A person who shares a similar love for Polish players. That's new AC Milan manager Marco Giampaolo. The reason for Giampaolo and Klopp to love Polish footballers isn't because their being nice, but it's a understanding and a respect they have for them. Giampaolo once told Polish Seria A TV rights holder Eleven Sport that as long as he's a manager he will always give Polish players chances because of three reasons: 1. They always work hard, even if they are not as skilled, you won't notice by their work ethic. 2. They genuinely love the game. And 3. They are cheap.

Leipzig under Nagelsmann

One of the more fascinating storylines going into the new bundesliga season is how RB Leipzig will look and preform with new manager Julian Nagelsmann in charge. Nagelsmann comes to Leipzig from Hoffenhiem, where he was consistently fielding one of the most offensive teams in the league. Last season they were among the league-leaders with 70 goals scored, 8 more then Leipzig had scored, despite Leipzig finishing several spots above Hoffenhiem. One constant negative for Nagelsmann in Hoffenhiem was that each summer he has had to deal with one-or more departures from his squad. As is the norm for a budget club.

In Leipzig, for the most part, they are not depended on transfers. They are not a feeder club. Atleast not to the extend a Hoffenhiem is. In recent summers, Leipzig has been approached by major clubs trying to get their hands on several of their marquee players, namely striker Timo Werner and midfielder Emil Forsberg. Yet, RB Leipzig hasn't seen a offer they've liked and both players still remain with the club currently. Even if that means risking Werner leave as a free agent next summer and gain nothing in return, the club refuses to sell players at a discounted price.

VfL Wolfsburg ready to fight for top 4

By now, every club in the top European leagues has begun preparations for the new season. Within the next month, all leagues will be back under way and we'll all be sucked in each weekend to our TVs watching and analyzing each game.

In Germany, most of the attention of the summer has been on Bayern Munich's and Borussia Dortmund's reconstruction. Dortmund trying to keep up with Bayern, and Bayern trying to get younger and rebrand all at the same time as they lose legends of the club such as Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Mats Hummels. While Dortmund tries to keep up with Bayern, Bayern is trying to keep up with the elite European clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Juventus.

One club not on the radar of many is VfL Wolfsburg. The club was devastated last several seasons due to a emissions-cheating scandal at the car manufacture Volkswagon that cost it's owners over $5.5 billion in penalties. The scandal forced the owners to put the club on the back burner and focus on the legal on-goings. Despite all odds against them, Wolfsburg survived relegation by winning in the relegation playoff match in back to back seasons.