There has certainly been no dust on Sunderland's cheque book this summer.
Paolo Di Canio has been the busiest manager in the Premier League, recruiting nine new faces, many of which that would not have been too well known to fans of English football.
Some of those recruits were in action against Tottenham Hotspur in Hong Kong earlier today - a match that the Black Cats won 3-1. Here, Sports Mole reviews how seven of the new arrivals fared.
Vito Mannone
Eyebrows were raised when Di Canio replaced someone of Simon Mignolet's quality with Arsenal's third-choice goalkeeper. The Italian would have done his chances of claiming the number one spot no harm today, though. At times he struggled with the wet conditions, but that aside, he gave a very solid performance. A one-handed stop from Jermain Defoe in the second half was his outstanding moment.
Valentin Roberge
Having only featured for three minutes, it's hard to give any sort of assessment on the 26-year-old. At 6'2" he looks to be a physical presence and used that a couple of times during his short spell on the pitch to make a couple of useful clearances.
Cabral
Wes Brown was rightly selected as the man of the match at the Hong Kong Stadium, but Cabral ran him close. Despite having arrived with a reputation as a defensive midfielder, the 24-year-old showed some real attacking intent. Although the equaliser that he scored was presented to him on a plate by Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone, he still showed composure to convert the chance. The former Swiss youth international also appears to possess plenty of stamina, having lasted the entire match.
El Hadji Ba
At the age of 20, Ba is not expected to be a regular in the Sunderland lineup next season. He came off the bench in Hong Kong and although he had a relatively quiet outing, the Paris-born midfielder appears to be a real athlete. He also forced Brad Friedel into a smart save with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
David Moberg Karlsson
Attacking wise, the Black Cats were rather pedestrian at times last season. In just 18 minutes, Swede Karlsson showed that he has the pace that Sunderland have been lacking. Playing on the right side of a front three, time and again he looked to beat the Spurs offside trap. He finally managed to do so in stoppage time and then showed a clinical touch by bending his effort beyond the reach of Friedel and into the net.
Emanuele Giaccherini
Much was expected of Giaccherini - after all he's a current Italian international who has spent the last two seasons with Juventus. He started on the left wing and while he was certainly lively, at times his decision-making was a little disappointing. However, there were some encouraging points to his play - none more so than his workrate. For someone who has only recently returned from the Confederations Cup, he lasted 78 minutes and was always looking to apply pressure.
Jozy Altidore
With Danny Graham packed off to Hull City on loan, there is some pressure on Altidore to ease the goalscoring burden on Steven Fletcher. He had two opportunities today - one that he should have scored but provided Friedel with too much of a chance, while the other was more trickier as he shot through a host of bodies and just missed the far post. The American is bound to be disappointed to have not got off the mark, but from Sunderland's point of view, it was an encouraging display. He posed much more of a threat than Graham did in his six months at the Stadium of Light.
Liam Apicella
