It's that time of year again: the off-season lull.

Y'know, the boring part of the football calendar...where there's actually more wall-to-wall football news, rumours, bust-ups, shocks and spills than you ever get during a league campaign.

While the best is still to come, there have been quite a few clubs diving head-first in the market, keen to get their transfer business out of the way and onto dry land well before that October deadline. 

But while we have some superstar talent-poachers in the mix, there are always the stragglers, floundering around in the shallows. Those same kiddy-pool teams that consistently get to the season's opener without a striker.

Sound like your lot? Check out our recap of all the A-League off-season transfers below, while we try to separate the best and worst deals so far...

WESTERN UNITED

Clearly Western United (not to be confused with the Solomon Islands' 2015 S-League champions of the same name, who have also had a good off-season) was going to be impossible to pip for the number of players recruited..

After all, they are building a club from scratch. Not a lot of dead wood hanging around the yet-to-be-constructed dressing rooms.

Yet they've still managed impressive recruitment, especially given most of these top-drawer stars signed miraculously before they had coach...yeah.

In addition to last season's golden glove Filip Kurto, who we'll touch a little more on later, they've got a sterling array of Aussie up-and-comers headlined by Jonathan Aspro, Aaron Calver, Ivan Vujica and Ajax's forgotten wunderkind, Sebastian Pasquali.

There are some clever hidden gems in here as well. Max Burgess, Stamatopolous and Pain are all stars in the making under the right coach and Mark Rudan seems to have the midas touch.

As far as experience goes in a very youthful squad, Scott McDonald finally gets a chance at redemption Down Under, while Durante and Gulum - devastating, but slightly questionable after a year out of the game - should provide some element of experience at the back.

Then there's the star marquee midfielder, Kone - who has also lacked game time. He'll be particularly interesting because while we're sure he'll have an impact on the pitch, he needs to have an even-bigger impact off it.

We've all watched Melbourne Victory matches at Kardinia Park (well at least a few of us have) and they can be boring, dire affairs in front of crowds of a couple of thousand.

It's a crap venue to watch football and becomes a hard sell for a brand new club seeking to inspire a fan base to stick with them for (at least) two years until they hit the big time in Wyndham.

But if Kone can attract a loyal, noisy Greek cohort to add substance to the other sports fans just looking for something shiny and new, and then you add Rudan's excellent attacking football...it might not be a buzz killer after all.

IN

Max Burgess (Wellington Phoenix) 
James Delianov (Melbourne City) 
Andrew Durante (Wellington Phoenix) 
Ersan Gulum (uncontracted) 
Brendan Hamill (Western Sydney Wanderers) 
Filip Kurto (Wellington Phoenix) 
Scott McDonald (Partick Thistle) 
Ivan Vujica (Newcastle Jets) 
Sebastian Pasquali (Ajax)
Apostolos Stamatopolous (Adelaide United)
Connor Pain (Central Coast Mariners)
Connor Chapman (Pohang Steelers)
Panagiotis Kone (Udinese)

BRISBANE ROAR

With the star power of Robbie Fowler behind them, Brisbane Roar have expectedly gone gangbusters on an early spending spree, bringing in some top notch Aussie talent from abroad to complement a slew of lower English league stalwarts.

There are some really interesting signings here. After a tough campaign last season, Roy O'Donovan may seem a curious choice, but the Irishman has great determination and could still wreak havoc under the guidance of God himself.

McGing, O'Neill and Mells provide a mixture of youthful exuberance and A-League experience as ones-to-watch, while Brad Inman is one of our dark-horse tips for most underrated signing of the season.

He's got bags of experience, great pedigree and a precocious work rate. Could still be a Socceroo cap in him yet. As for the British brigade, given the great success of Steven Taylor's hardline approach last season, there could be some very astute vision in the experienced head of Tom Aldred.

IN

Roy O'Donovan (Newcastle Jets) 
Tom Aldred (Bury) 
Aaron Amadi-Holloway (Shrewsbury) 
Macaulay Gillesphey (Carlisle United) 
Jake McGing (Wisla Plock) 
George Mells (Fortuna Sittard) 
Brad Inman (Rochdale) 
Aiden O’Neill (on loan from Burnley) 
Jay O'Shea (Bury)
Scott Neville (Perth Glory)

OUT

Matt McKay (retired), Henrique, Thomas Kristensen, Brett Holman, Luke DeVere, Eric Bautheac, Eli Babalj, Joe Caletti, Charles Lokoli-Ngoy, Alex Lopez, Tobias Mikkelsen, Stefan Nigro, Brendan White, Ruon Tongyik, Nick D'Agostino, Dane Ingham (released)

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS

It's also been an impressive halfway mark from Western Sydney.

Granted, it could have been more exciting: they seem to have missed out on the star power of a Franck Ribery and will be dying to clinch a big-name marquee to put bums on seats (or feet on terraces!) at Bankwest Stadium.

But from a purist's perspective, Markus Babbel has searched far and wide for top-drawer central European drawcards, with a particular emphasis on defensive maestros.

Daniel Georgievski is a solid signing, who was one of the top-three fullbacks in the competition for the last two seasons, while Dylan McGowan - after a decent spell overseas - mixes A-League experience with top quality.

But the Europeans deserve the most attention and in Pirmin Schwegler they have picked up a fit, reliable powerhouse of a defender who's been a regular in the Bundesliga (and captain) for well over a decade. He's also only 32. Yes, we're gushing a little.

In Majewski they've picked up a nine cap Polish international who can score cracking goals and Daniel Lopar - a very accomplished, experienced pair of hands - will provide excellent competition for the number one role.

Credit Filip Kurto for that one, he's shown just how vital a quality foreign goalkeeper can prove between the sticks (especially when home-grown talent like Vedran Janjetovic is prone to the howlers he had last season...)

IN

Daniel Georgievski (Newcastle Jets) 
Pirmin Schwegler (Hannover 96, Germany) 
Daniel Lopar (St. Gallen, Switzerland) 
Radoslaw Majewski (Pogon Szczecin) 
Dylan McGowan (Vendsyssel) 

OUT

Brendan Hamill (Western United) 
Giancarlo Gallifuoco (Central Coast Mariners) 
Josh Risdon (Western United) 
Oriol Riera, Roly Bonevacia, Raul Llorente, Alexander Baumjohann, Jaushua Sotirio, Abraham Majok, Marc Tokich, Rashid Mahazi, John Roberts, Nick Fitzgerald (all released)

SYDNEY FC

It was tempting to put Sydney FC first simply on their gob-smacking snatch and grab for Kosta Barbarouses and Alex Baumjohann, really showering the salt in dominance of Western Sydney Wanderers and their quest to usurp Melbourne Victory to that 'biggest club in the country tag'.

But it would have been ignoring the gigantic chasm that remains, and seems to remain for the A-League's top clubs every off-season,and the inability to lure (never mind retain) major jaw dropping marquees.

Given the hefty price and rarity of Asian marquees in the A-League, it makes Asian Champions League success seem a pipedream. Just when you get one squad used to the travails of competing on the continent, they're released and you have to blood in a new bunch of Europeans instead.

It's hard to say exactly who the rest of that bunch will be, because while the reigning Champions have split ways with De Jong and Ghoochannedjad (finally we can stop spelling it), Barbarouses and Baumjohann remain their only signings so far.

The losses keep coming though: Calver proved a force but agreed to ditch Sydney ironically just before he became a key part in the starting XI but the expected arrival of Ryan McGowan may help heal that wound rapidly.

De Silva and Brillante cut into the midfield, while Alex Brosque, clearly the heart and soul of the Harbour City, may prove an unquantifiable loss.

Ultimately it's just a big 'Wait and see', but what Sydney have lacked in quantity they have aimed to make up for with quality so far.

IN

Kosta Barbarouses (Melbourne Victory), Alex Baumjohann (Western Sydney Wanderers)

OUT

Alex Brosque (retired)
Siem de Jong, Reza Ghoochannejhad (APOEL), Anthony Caceres (Manchester City), Daniel De Silva (Central Coast Mariners)
Aaron Calver (Western United) Josh Brillante, Jop van der Linden, Alex Cisak, Mitch Austin, Jacob Tratt, Cameron Devlin (all released)

MELBOURNE CITY

With a new coach at the helm, there are some interesting changes set to take place at Melbourne City, with the likely focus to remain on feeding the mother club (and earning some tidy cash windfalls in the process).

But that doesn't mean they can't make some excellent foreign signings and Craig Noone has an excellent record as one of the Championship's better players over the past decade.

Only 31, if he's a bit more Robert Koren than Damien Duff, he's set to be a star for City.

Richard Windbichler's a slightly more unknown quantity. He was successful at Ulsan Hyundai but has a slightly patchy record at club level, terminated from his last gig at a Danish minnow after just five matches.

He's an experienced centreback, but given the success of Bart Schenkeveld, we can't imagine him filling such a massive hole. Famous last words, of course.

City have also lost Baccus, which is a shame given his inconsistent but at times dazzling displays last season, but Dennis Genrau is set to return from PEC Zwolle, so there could be another Aussie prodigy in City colours next season.

The signing we're really excited about though is Scott Galloway, who was our vote for most improved player last season and along with Georgievski and Matt Millar - all of whom were quickly snapped up - created mayhem for opposition defences last season. 

The importance of fullbacks has been an awakening of sorts in the A-League alongside goalkeepers, so while City lose a marquee talisman in Ritchie De Laet, we're going out on a limb here and saying they may be getting something even greater in return.

Phew, we're making some big City calls here...

IN

Scott Galloway (Adelaide United) 
Craig Noone (Bolton Wanderers) 
Richard Windbichler (Viborg FF)

OUT

Kearyn Baccus, Bart Schenkeveld, Ritchie De Laet (Aston Villa - end of loan spell)
James Delianov (Western United) 
Eugene Galekovic (retired) 
Shayon Harrison (Tottenham Hotspur - end of loan spell)
Riley McGree (Club Brugge - end of loan spell) 
Dario Vidosic 

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS

If anyone needs to inspire in this off-season's transfer dealings, it's the Mariners. To be fair, they actually put in a good shift under Mike Mulvey last time around and we all know how that turned out, but if anyone's going to turn up in Gosford next season, they need some reliable output.

To make matters worse, the sinking Mariners have suffered a significant exodus pre and post-Mulvey, despite Alen Stajcic's promising signs towards the end of last season.

The losses of Aiden O'Neill, Andrew Hoole and Connor Pain will hit the stocks hard and there's very little in the 'in' list to inspire. But there are still a raft of signings underway, so it's not all bad news for the Central Coast.

Gallifuoco, despite a rather patchy career to this point, showed signs that he could be an effective DM general if brought under the wing of a consistent coach. Daniel De Silva is a similar story if you swap the mindset from defence to offense.

Ziggy Gordon's coming off a strong season for Hamilton in the Scottish Premiership and at 26, provides some experience yet is still in his physical peak. But rectifying the Mariners defensive woes, especially after the loss of Jonathan Aspro, will be a massive challenge.

Majok, Tongyik and Ingham all have potential but are raw and what the Mariners desperately need - a strong commanding backline and goalkeeper - are notably absent from the list.

IN

Giancarlo Gallifuoco (Western Sydney Wanderers) 
Daniel De Silva (end of loan period) 
Ziggy Gordon (Hamilton Academical) 
Jai Ingham (Melbourne Victory) 
Abraham Majok (Western Sydney Wanderers) 
Ruon Tongyik (Brisbane Roar) 

OUT

Peter Kekeris (released), Connor Pain (Western United)
Tom Hiariej, Corey Gameiro, Joe Gauci (released) 
Andrew Hoole (Broadmeadow Magic) 
Ben Kennedy, Jem Karacan (released) and Aiden O'Neill (end of loan) 

PERTH GLORY

Perth are an fascinating one to watch, mainly because they're going to have to pull off a massive fullback scoop somewhere if they're going to challenge for the ACL next season.

Ingham's a step in the right direction and he had a few breakout games last campaign, but he's far from the finished product and had a couple of stinkers - as all youngsters do - as well.

There's not exactly a plethora of other A-League options on the table either, with all the best names snapped up in June already. Losing Davidson is a mammoth blow given how incredible he was last season, but losing Neville as well, given his stature and discipline, leaves a big question mark.

Franjic was strong, but still one of the less effective members of the first-team last season and now another year older, so a big recruitment drive needs to happen if Popa's to fulfil his lofty potential.

On the bright side, Nick D'Agostino was dynamite in a rubbish team last season so we're drooling over his potential under Popovic.

He's explosive in midfield and has a powerful shot that he paraded for the Young Socceroos recently, so if he can add a little Diego Castro magic, we see a Socceroos debut on the horizon.

IN

Nicholas D'Agostino (Brisbane Roar), Jacob Tratt (Sydney FC), Dane Ingham (Brisbane Roar) 

OUT

Jason Davidson (Ulsan Hyundai)
Brendon Santalab (retired) 
Fabio Ferreira, Walter Scott (released) 
Jacob Italiano (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany) 
Scott Neville (unconfirmed) 

NEWCASTLE JETS

Next up are the Hunter hunters, who so far have been hunted a lot more than they're hunting.

O'Donovan's made an interesting switch to Brissie after rejecting the club's "generous offers", but at 33 and after a hit-and-miss previous campaign, that might not be the worst move.

Ronald Vargas's loss is a bigger blow, but given his fitness record, again it's not the end of the world.

Instead they've brought in a startling signing indeed. Panamanian striker Abdiel Arroyo, 25, is a loan from the Panamanian league but he was a striker at the 2018 World Cup and has already racked up 45 caps and seven goals for his country - not bad at all.

He hasn't had much of a showing outside his home country bar the showpiece tournament, but he's got great physical attributes and is exactly the sort of striker the A-League's lacking.

With Ernie Merrick undoubtedly seeking a return to the fast-paced quick breaks that reaped such reward two season's ago, Arroyo is one of the most exciting and enticing signings of the off-season so far.

Matt Millar also stacks up well, especially given the fiery F3 Derbies his transfer is set to create.

Unfortunately they lost Georgievski, Cowburn and Vujica in the process, which turns that plus into a negative, but with time remaining it's not all bad for the Jets' rebuild.

They really do need to look at more attacking stocks given how wayward their shooting boots can be, because heaping the pressure on Petratos and a young Panamanian may not be the best method. 

The centreback pairing may also need a refresh. While Nigel Boogard and Nikolai Topor-Stanley have proven a dynamo pairing for the Jets, another year in both their legs with very little support behind them may be a problem going forward.

IN

Pat Langlois (promoted, youth team) 
Matt Millar (Central Coast Mariners)
Nick Fitzgerald (Western Sydney Wanderers) 
Abdiel Arroyo (Arabe Unido - loan)

OUT

Roy O'Donovan 
Ronald Vargas, Daniel Georgievski, Jair, Nick Cowburn, Jake Adelson, Kwabena Appiah (all released) 
Ivan Vujica 

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 

Another busy bee that's been a little more style than substance have been the Nix under new boss Ufuk Talay, with the new gaffer tasked with not only filling the shoes of Mark Rudan, but also replacing half the team that followed him to Western United.

It's a bit of a hammer blow for the Nix, who also announced the bittersweet departure of Sarpreet Singh to Bayern Munich. It's left a squad with large holes and a lot of unproven talent to fill them.

The only two sizeable names the Nix have recruited so far, Luke DeVere and Stefan Marinovic, are a little hit-and-hope.

Marinovic is an experienced, talented shot stopper with large boots to fill, but he hasn't played a lot of first-team football lately so whether or not he'll be a success back in his home country is unclear.

DeVere's similar, but despite his obvious talent, the former Socceroo's injury history makes for devastating reading. He was so unreliable at Brisbane Roar that far from the exciting signing he should be, it reads more as a backup...with little backing it up.

Sotirio leads a line of inexperienced youngsters (although Sotirio's not that young anymore) who will try to restore some depth. But it'll come as a surprise to no one that Wellington will require so much more, with almost all of the bright sparks from last season now missing in action.

Particularly in need of a massive revamp is the squad's forward line after losing both Krishna and Williams. It's hard to think of a squad that's been harder hit in the off-season and a squad that needed it less.

IN

Luke DeVere (Brisbane Roar) 
Stefan Marinović (Bristol City)
Walter Scott (Perth Glory) 
Jaushua Sotirio (unattached) 
Ben Waine (Academy) 
Callum McCowatt (Eastern Suburbs) 

OUT

Filip Kurto (Western United)
Max Burgess (Western United) 
Roy Krishna 
Nathan Burns, Antony Golec, Justin Gulley, Michal Kopczyński, Ryan Lowry, Cillian Sheridan (released) 
David Williams (unconfirmed) 
Andrew Durante (Western United) 
Tom Doyle (unconfirmed) 

MELBOURNE VICTORY

Here's hoping Jay Barnett's a cracker, because even if you ignore the massive flux of experienced talent going on around him, more-or-less swapping Rahmay Akbari is a gamble.

Akbari was a sensational talent that could have had a breakout year under Marco Kurz, but now he's back where it all began for him.

It may be peculiar to start with a midfielder who's made three A-League appearances, but in truth there's little else going on for the Big V so far, with the losses of Barbarouses, Keisuke Honda, Carl Valeri and Georg Niedermeier yet to be replaced.

It will be most interesting to see what Kurz does with the newfound resources at his disposal. He overachieved consistently with bare bones at Adelaide, but how he fares in that most elusive coaching challenge - the transfer market - is another beast entirely.

Back in the ACL, whether Victory go all out on an Asian marquee in the hope of finally making some inroads under a more pragmatic, defensive coach will prove key. 

Either they'll give Kurz time in the role and a somewhat smaller budget to play with in the hope that he'll prove himself first, or they splash the cash big-time and expect big things on the continent in return.

What is doubtful is that Kurz will bring many with him from the City of Churches. The Reds have already lost some of their key stars and are seemingly focusing on developing the kids that remain, so there might not be much left to pick through.

Which means so far it's probably the former, but it's still early days and there are some big striking boots to fill. Victory are never an uninteresting transfer player, put it that way.

IN

Jay Barnett (Brisbane Roar)

OUT

Keisuke Honda (released) 
Carl Valeri (retired) 
Georg Niedermeier, Raul Baena, Jai Ingham (all released)
Rahmat Akbari (end of loan) 
Kosta Barbarouses 

ADELAIDE UNITED

Sight unseen, exactly what the Reds are going to look like under Gertjan Verbeek, nobody knows.

It's worrying enough for Reds fans that they're yet to make a signing after the hugely significant loss of maestro skipper Isaias and burgeoning superstar Scott Galloway.

But perhaps more concerning is the record of their new coach Verbeek: don't get us wrong, he's an astute football tactician, has an impressive pedigree and a fantastic record of youth development, but his coaching stats are all over the place.

His last gig at FC Twente was a complete debacle and he has a track record of getting the boot early in appointments, not to mention bust-ups with players and weird personality clashes. 

We actually think he's a very interesting appointment and expect big things from him at Adelaide, but the fact remains that with no signings and rumours of a new low-budget, youth academy focus, it doesn't make for inspiring reading for last campaign's semi-finalists.

In a glimmer of hope, Verbeek has talked up his European scouting connections, so there is clearly some work going on behind the scenes, there always is. But ranked on their progress so far, the Reds sit stone dead last.

OUT

Isaias (released) 
Scott Galloway (Melbourne City) 
Baba Diawara (released)