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So much for a bit of a rest over the summer. If you edit an occasionally topical NUFC fanzine and have to source a player profile for each new signing, there's something to be said for those peaceful Ashley-era windows when all we had to worry about was which players we didn't manage to get over the line. Speaking of which, I see Hamza Choudury actually moved this year. Those were the days. Even just the barest of summaries of this summer's business is dizzying. Eight first-team players went out of the exit door for just shy of £250m - Woltemade, Gordon, Tonali, Guimarães, Trippier, Targett, Krafth, Ramsdale. In their place have come another eight signings for somewhere close to £300m, depending how you calculate the fees - Fernandez-Pardo, Touré, González, Bamba, Steur, Dedić, Horníček, Jaouen. For all the panic at various points, especially when Manzambi and Munoz were missed and Bruno and Howe left, that's actually a remarkably balanced outcome in player numbers and net spend. But those are just about the only aspects of our business that have been balanced. When you look at other dimensions of those sales and acquisitions, the differences are stark. And hugely significant for the club. First off, there are the disparities in experience. We're all aware of those, of course, but the figures are truly startling. Those eight departing players had made a grand total of 1479 appearances in the top five European leagues, an average of 185 each. Their replacements? Just 212 in total. In. Total. The average age of those outgoing players was exactly 29. Their replacements? Just 21.7. Now that's quite the squad refresh for one of the oldest squads in the league. Second, there's the accounting difference. We might have incurred a net spend overall, but as we know now, that £300m outlay gets amortised over five years for accounting purposes, so the accounting spend is less than £60m this year. By contrast we bank all the transfer money we receive, minus the remaining book value of the player and, of course, those sell-on clauses that every other club puts into our deals. Even allowing for those, we’ll have received the best part of £200m, while also cutting the wage bill by something like 300k a week - at least according to one estimate I read - which amounts to £15m a year. Another vital adjustment, and crucially part of a deliberate well-conceived strategy. But what about the differences that really interest us? That is, the differences in talent and depth in the squad as a result of the summer's comings and goings. The complicating factor here is that we have a new manager with a new core formation and that places new demands on the shape of the squad. Well, it's early days, of course, but there are very promising signs from the new signings. Nico brings proven quality and had a brilliant debut, Dedić has been consistently outstanding, Horníček excellent. Meanwhile Steur looks a proper talent with bucket loads of self-assurance to match. By the crucial measure of performance - rather than reputation - this is a vastly improved squad with even more potential in the other new signings (mind you, I'm not sure we would be saying that if we hadn't implausibly scored with every shot on target we've had so far in the league…). In terms of squad building, though, this window has definitely left some imbalances and peculiarities - top heavy in some areas, thin in others, rather opaque in others still. If we start at the back, we're undeniably stronger in goal, but it's unusual to shell out two significant fees totalling nearly £50m for two goalkeepers. After all, you can only play one at a time - insightful, I know! - and fixtures will be limited this season compared to last. Jaouen is clearly the development project, but it's not entirely clear how he gets games to continue that development. He must be praying for two good cup runs. If we're overstocked at keeper - and we'll come back to the true significance of that later - you can't say the same across the back four. With three full-backs leaving and only one coming in, we're only a couple of injuries away from the return of the Burn-Miley solution (not a complex mathematics theorem, but rather an undesirable footballing stopgap). Similarly, at centre-back, only Botman’s knee is keeping us from renewed reliance on two ageing players who were never the fastest in the first place. Dedić has had a remarkable impact in a very short space of time, but investment elsewhere at the back is surely the next priority, especially a centre back with pace. As for midfield, the opposite is the case. There, we've acquired both talent and depth, such that we now have an embarrassment of riches: Nico, Miley, Steur, and Bamba provide two outstanding starters and two excellent young back-ups for those two central roles. Where that leaves Ramsey and Joelinton is an interesting question, especially given Willock’s conversion to the athletic running 10 that Jaissle prefers. Versatility in what will surely be a fluid system and invaluable legs from the bench is probably the answer; neither feels like a natural fit for the base midfield positions. It's the forward positions where I find the picture murky, although that's probably a product of me thinking in old-fashioned fixed positions that don't match what we'll see on the pitch. Still, I look at all our options and have only questions. Take the left-hand side, for example, where we've invested heavily - a bumper contract for Barnes, and two of our highest fees for a World Cup starter in Touré and Fernandez-Pardo who, I keep on being told, is a Gordon clone (I assume this doesn't mean he decides when and where he plays and misses a hateful of chances). Barnes has been first choice so far but his all-round play still doesn't match his finishing, while Touré has barely had a kick. I don't see what the plan is. Yet. What about up front? I remain unconvinced by Osula as a consistent all-round option. Given the death of strikers elsewhere in the squad, Fernandez-Pardo has surely been bought to play up front, but he has no goal output to speak of so far in his career. Wissa seems to be the first choice no. 10, but are we really relying on Willock as our other option? Certainly we'll need something different at St James’ against opponents who keep the game tight. Perhaps all will become clear on Saturday. This is not to be negative, but simply to acknowledge that questions remain. All the talk has been of alignment, but clearly it will take time to align the pre-existing squad, the pre-Jaissle newcomers, and those bought with his particular requirements in mind. We're currently trying to put pieces from three different jigsaws into the same finished picture. Not every piece is going to fit. But that may well also be part of the strategy. While immediate financial pressures have eased, we'll soon need to sell again. As Chelsea have shown, it's apparently not even necessary for players to play football for their value to rise in this bizarre modern game. If we're overstocked in certain areas, especially with younger players, then those are assets that will be sold, perhaps even before we've seen much of them on the pitch. It's impossible to look at the goalkeeper situation and think anything else, but it will apply to other areas too. So let's embrace football as something to enjoy again. This summer has changed everything. Hell, the last 20 minutes at Spurs was just about the happiest I've ever been in a football ground. Just don't get too attached to your new heroes. Matthew Philpotts