The fact that Garry Monk will have full control over transfers gives me a greater hope that we will have a more balanced and capable squad next season.
With Jeff Vetere as Director of Football and Darren Dein acting as an intermediary in recruiting talent, there were major problems in how we dealt with transfers last summer.
Neither of these two will be involved this time around, which should give the manager the overriding voice in player recruitment. So what can we expect from him based on his record at past clubs?
Swansea
Although not every signing worked out at his first managerial role at the Welsh side, he did get the big money moves right. The signings of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Federico Fernandez and Jefferson Montero proved astute buys.
The least successful was his £6m capture of Portuguese striker Eder who didn’t score a single goal in 15 appearances for the Swans.
Leeds
After moving on to the Yorkshire Club, his success rate continued to be very high. His best signings at Elland Road proved to be loan deals for centre-back Pontus Jansson and winger Pablo Hernandez. Both have gone on to sign permanently for the Whites, and are currently integral first-team players.
The likes of Kemar Roofe, Luke Ayling and Liam Bridcutt also turned out well, although the £2m signing of Swedish striker Marcus Antonsson was a notable failure.
Middlesbrough
Last summer saw Monk make a number of costly permanent signings at Boro. Britt Assombalonga’s £15m capture from Notts Forest has proven moderately successful with the Congolese international scoring 15 goals this campaign.
He also spent £5m on West Ham keeper Darren Randolph, £5m on Jonathan Howson from Norwich and £2.5m on Derby’s Cyrus Christie. All three have played a significant part in the club’s first team this season.
However, there have been a few costly failures. Although Martin Braithwaite did look like a decent player, he was loaned to Bordeaux in January after having spent £10m on him in the summer.
Ashley Fletcher signed for £6.5m but was also loaned out to Sunderland, while Marvin Johnson, who joined from Oxford United for £2.5m, has not been in the first team squad for over four months.
All in all, it is a mixed bag. Considering our limited budget, Monk will have to choose his targets wisely, and we’ll be hoping for many more hits than misses in the transfer market.