This has been a difficult summer for the Premier League.
It likes to see itself as the greatest league in the world, but during this transfer window some of Europe’s best players have shown they don’t necessarily agree with that status.
It was assumed Edinson Cavani would swap southern Italy for Stamford Bridge or Etihad stadium, but he was lured to the Paris Saint-Germain project and a large pile of Qatari cash.
Maybe Atletico Madrid’s Falcao would bring his guaranteed source of goals to the Premier League instead with both Chelsea and Manchester City again showing strong interest.
The Colombian striker, however, preferred to give the Champions League a miss and instead elected to go and play in front of Monaco’s paltry crowds of around 5,000 in France.
But what Monaco lack in crowds and atmosphere at the Stade Louis II, they make up for in their ability to pay enormous wages.
Falcao’s move was the naked triumph of money over ambition.
It is not just France offering new competition to the Premier League.
The Bundesliga is resurgent. This was clear when Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund contested the Champions League final at Wembley in May.
This summer Barcelona’s Thiago Alcantara chose to move to Bayern Munich over Manchester United.
Of course this had much to do with being reunited with his former boss Pep Guardiola, who himself had earlier in the year made the decision to manage in Bavaria rather than London or Manchester.
To compound this trend arguably the Premier League’s best player and the reigning Footballer of the Year Gareth Bale reportedly does not want to remain in England.
Bale wants to swap White Hart Lane for the white shirt of Real Madrid this summer.
His choice is to stay and play in the Europa League in front of 36,000 or move and play in front of crowds of 80,000 in the Champions League alongside Ronaldo.
Can you blame him? That really isn’t much of a dilemma.
Does this all mean that the Premier League is in decline?
Is it a cause of concern that the leading players are seeking to ply their trade elsewhere?
It is too early for the Premier League to panic, but a classic season would certainly help to confront the increasing threat from Europe.
This season has the potential to be the most open and competitive campaign in the Premier League’s history.
It would be assumed that after winning the previous season’s title by eleven points Manchester United would be strong favourites to win it again this season.
But of course there will be a new man sitting in the manager’s dug-out this season, and so their rivals can sense a new vulnerability.
How David Moyes asserts himself and adjusts to managing Manchester United will dictate much of this season.
The retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson has energised the rest of the Premier League, giving them greater hope of dislodging United.
The United hierarchy have to help Moyes by providing him with several significant new signings in the next three weeks.
If they don’t add to their squad United will be dragged back in to the pack and this will be an even more intriguing season.
Waiting to take advantage are their neighbours Manchester City, who astutely did their transfer business early in the summer and have brought in some real talent in Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo.
City will also be under new management in Manuel Pellegrini, and both he and these new players will all need time to adjust to the faster pace of the Premier League.
The title has resided in Manchester for the last three seasons, but next May it could return to London.
Its most likely destination is Chelsea with the return of Jose Mourinho.
The self-proclaimed “Special One” is likely to create another special team with Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar now at his disposal.
Should Arsenal finally spend some of their money then they could also mount a challenge, and at this stage, with Gareth Bale still on their payroll, don’t write off Tottenham either, who have bought well in Roberto Soldado and Paulinho.
The strength of the Premier League is that its winner can come from any of three teams, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, and there remains a remote chance that either Tottenham and Arsenal could also gatecrash the party.
Compare this to the rest of Europe.
For all La Liga's undoubted glamour and galaticos, the winner will once again come from Real Madrid or Barcelona.
In France, Paris Saint-Germain won the title by 12 points last season, and they will obviously be even stronger this season.
In Germany the gap between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund was an embarrassing 25 points last season, and since then Bayern have lured Mario Gotze from Dortmund.
Can that gap really be bridged this season? Probably not.
The Premier League can still offer more competition and suspense than many of these other leading European leagues.
While many of Europe’s star attractions have chosen not to come to England this summer, the Premier League remains the most exciting and enthralling league in world football.
Another classic season this year is needed to cement that status.