Another year and another batch of questions and concerns have been raised by the end of the UEFA Transfer Window 2013, which closed Monday, September 2. The top teams in Europe have been making moves, for better and worse, and it presents a different dynamic for the new seasons.

Unlike the popular professional sports in the U.S. where teams almost never stop making additions and alterations to their roster despite certain trade deadlines, the major changes in European soccer are more visibly loaded in the span of a couple of months.

Like most offseasons, moves are a sign of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer, but there were some extremely notable moves that stood out for the teams involved and the stories surrounding them. Here are a few of the biggest stories.

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Neymar to Barca

In one of the first major moves of the transfer season, young Brazilian star Neymar signed with FC Barcelona for a fee of £48.6m. Neymar joins a crew of excellent strikers, led by perennial top goal scorer Lionel Messi.

While the move was huge in terms of bolstering their already potent attack, the addition of Neymar didn’t solve all of their problems. They still need to shore up their defense, especially since Puyol can’t stay healthy forever, and they lost David Villa, Thiago Alcantara and Eric Abidal since the signing.

Barca will surely still be among the cream of the crop in Europe; their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League semis speak to them being far from untouchable.

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Real Madrid Pay Record Fee for Bale

On the heels of a surprise breakout season in 2012-2013, it’s not the most surprising thing to see striker Gareth Bale leaving the Tottenham Hotspur. What is surprising is that Spanish League giants Real Madrid paid a world-record fee for his services.

Already possessing one of the most prolific strikers that the beautiful game has ever seen in Christiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid paid a staggering £85.3m to secure Gareth Bale from England. While the signing surely improves the team in the face of losing Kaka, Mesut Ozil and Gonzalo Higuain, the biggest question of the season will be whether or not the ends justify the means.

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Arsenal Adds Ozil

After being criticized for their inability to land a major signing and perceived unwillingness to pay big money, Arsenal made a big splash as the window was closing by buying talented midfielder Mesut Ozil in a £42.4m deal. This is the largest signing of any German player in history.

The Gunners had come under heavy fire after starting the Premier League season with a 1-3 loss to Aston Villa and the news that coach Arsene Wenger was getting an extension despite a lack of signings and trophies. The Ozil signing, along with another under-the-radar signing of former Gunner Mathieu Flamini, inspires hope after a gloomy start to the season.

The team still needs more pieces to return to their former glory, but these signing were certainly a step in the right direction.

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Man U Unusually Silent

New Manchester United boss David Moyes had some large shoes to fill in replacing the legendary Alex Ferguson, and he has had a rough first transfer season in trying to do so. Moyes failed to land any of the major targets and had to spend much of his time protecting one of his.

The team attempted to sign players like Ronaldo, Alcantara and Ander Herrera to no avail, while continually shoeing away advances for striker Wayne Rooney, mainly from rivals Chelsea.

They managed to salvage a deal for midfielder Marouane Fellaini, but it was a fairly disappointing transfer window for the Champs.

There were many other major stories from Transfer Window 2013, like Jose Mourinho’s attempt to beef up Chelsea into championship form again, Ajax losing their young core talent and Napoli losing Cavani to PSG, only to re-tool the team with more young talent. No matter who you’re a fan of, the transfer season surely provides a new beginning for all involved.