IT is the hotbed of football in England, right? And yet, the last time a club from the north – that’s what we call it out of convenience, in reality we mean the north-west – won the Premier League was in 2014. Indeed, in the last three seasons, only twice has a northern club, both times Manchester City, finished in the top three.

Yet many see the wind changing. And they cite this summer as the turning point. Before you even get to players and transfer activity, consider the men in charge. Pep Guardiola may have just two years left on his contract at the Etihad, but the club have bent over backwards for him in every way and you imagine the only circumstance which would see him depart is of his own volition. Across town, Jose Mourinho is firmly ensconced at Old Trafford and Jurgen Klopp, too, is riding high at Anfield.

Contrast this with their fellow clubs inside the M25. Antonio Conte, despite being fresh off winning the title, has endured the bumpiest, grumpiest of summers, against a backdrop of simmering tensions with club officials. The smart money is on him not being back next season, whether he leaves in triumph or in disgrace.

What happens with Arsene Wenger and Arsenal is anyone’s guess. And while Mauricio Pochettino is thriving at Tottenham there is, in the back of everyone’s mind, the worry that he could end up being a victim of his own success, perhaps lured away by a big European juggernaut.

The transfer window has only enhanced this perception. A hypothetical ranking of transfer activity would likely place Manchester United and Liverpool at the top.

Mourinho got the centre-forward he craved (Romelu Lukaku) and was further boosted by the return of last season’s central striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who re-signed after being assured he will be fit again by the new year. In Nemanja Matic they finally have a legitimate defensive midfielder and, better yet, it’s one Mourinho knows and respects. Victor Lindelof is more of a slow burn, we may not see the best of him for a while, but he offers another option.

Liverpool can be satisfied too, even though they failed to sign the centre-back they seemingly craved (sorry, Virgil Van Dijk, it’s at least another few months on the south coast). They are definitely short in that department, but they did solid business elsewhere. Mohamed Salah is a neat fit for Klopp’s go-go football, Andy Robertson is exciting and Dominic Solanke on a free the classic risk worth taking. As for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, £35 million for a guy with a stop-start career (and just one year left on his contract) may seem pricey until you consider he is 24, versatile, plays for England and because of the voodoo economics in the Premier League if it doesn’t work out can be easily dumped on a mid-table side without much of a loss.

But maybe the real boost to Anfield comes from a transfer that has not yet occurred. Locking up Leipzig’s Naby Keita for 2018-19 is a masterstroke, given how sought after he is likely to be next summer and given how much Klopp craved him. Turning down Barcelona’s desperate last-ditch bids for Philippe Coutinho probably does not make sense from a bottom line perspective, but it did bolster Fenway Sports Group image, particularly with fans, as serious operators who are true to their word.

Last season, Manchester City spent a fortune on attacking players. This year, they spent it at the back. The club are “all-in” when it comes to Guardiola. Personally, I’m not fully convinced by the signings (Kyle Walker? Ederson? Danilo?) but the sheer heft of talent, coupled with another year of Pepdom, leave little doubt that they are among the favourites for the title.

But veer south to the champions and the narrative changes. Arsenal have become the poster boys of poor planning. From allowing Wenger to take forever to commit, to the snafu over the expiring contracts to the amateurishness of Deadline Day and the bid for Thomas Lemar which seemed to be predicated on Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny trying to persuade him to move to the Emirates hours before a crucial international match… you couldn’t make it up.

The squad itself is a problem, but even more so are the optics. Arsenal feel rudderless and Wenger increasingly coming across as Mister Kurtz from Heart of Darkness.

Chelsea tried to be clever by moving late to round out their bench and, as a result, look thin, at least by the standards of super clubs. They landed Davide Zappacosta, a reliable versatile wing-back, but missed out on Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley and Fernando Llorente, ending up with Danny Drinkwater instead.

The object was to add depth, ideally of the kind that could appreciate in value. They haven’t added enough of it, at least on paper. Having just two centre-forward options means that, barring an improbable 180 degree turn on Diego Costa, they will need to act again in January.

That said, the doom and gloom ought not to be quite that thick. The additions of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen improve the back line, Tiemoue Bakayoko is the guy Conte wanted and Alvaro Morata is an upgrade up front. Still, many were expecting more.

As for Spurs, the negativity is a bit of an overreaction, probably stemming from he fact that they were quiet until the last 24 hours of the window. Llorente, any way you slice it, is a far better option than Vincent Janssen. Hijacking his deal is an ego-boost post-Willian and not only gives them an alternative to Kane, it provides a guy with a different skill set.

As for Serge Aurier, he is a calculated risk. In terms of ability, he might be one of the top five wing-backs in the world. In terms of character/discipline, he’s had major issues. If Pochettino can curb that, he will be one of the bargains of the summer. If he can’t, we’ll see plenty of Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker-Peters.

If they gave prizes for summer transfer activity, there is little question most would be delivered, at least among the big clubs, to the north-west (and you can throw Everton in there too). Whether that translates to a shift in the table remains to be seen.