With this week’s amazing Champions League Final completed, the less amazing FA Cup in the books, and the final weekend of Serie A and La Liga all wrapped up, the season of European Football is over. It has been a hell of a ride and Wednesday’s defeat of Manchester United by Barcelona was a fitting swan song. Although it has only been my first season of fandom, I’ve jumped in with both feet and I’m already ready for next season. But before the first kick of the 09-10 season, we get all the excitement of the summer transfer window! So who is going where? At this point we can only guess – so let’s take some guesses. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts fellow soccer fans.

Well first thing’s first and that’s that Chelsea needs a new manager. While it is still up in the air, my money is firmly on AC Milan’s Carlo Ancelotti (if no other reason than because he looks so much like Guus Hiddink). So what does an Ancelotti Chelsea look like? Here’s my guess, no more Didier Drogba. I’m going out on a limb, but I think Drogba leaves Chelsea for Inter Milan and his old boss Jose Mourinho. So who is out there to replace Drogba? How about Valencia’s David Villa? We know Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich isn’t afraid to spend money.

Liverpool has already been rumored to have made an offer for ManU’s Carlos Tevez and while I do think they could use a bit more depth at striker (move Kuyt to the bench spot), I just gotta think the money is better spent on defense. Liverpool needs a strong Rio Ferdinand type to lead in central defense. For me the best case scenario would be to lure Gerard Pique away from Barca. I know that this is unlikely as Pique just left ManU for Barca last year – but after his performance in the Champions League, he has gotta be on the top of the list. What are other options for potential Liverpool defenders? How about Everton’s Joleon Lescott or Juve’s Chiellini. Basically anyone better than Jamie Carragher will do.

Around the rest of Europe, the hottest player up for grabs has got to be Frank Ribery. Expect all the big clubs to make a play for him but my guess is that it will be the deep pockets of Manchester City that lure the frenchman away from Bayern. That is, of course, assuming that Cristiano Ronaldo stays at Manchester United, which I suspect he will (if he leaves watch Ribery go there instead). So if Ronaldo stays at ManU and Ribery goes to ManCity, where does that leave Real Madrid? My prediction is that they spend their rich transfer budget on Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Of course this assumes that Drogba does indeed go over to Inter… and now it’s obvious how fragile this house of cards I’ve built really is.

So these are just some thoughts on a few of the potential big moves. Will Adebayor stay at Arsenal? Will Figo or any of the other old euro stars come to MLS? Where will big names like David Silva, Juninho, and Gareth Barry end up? Let the summer excitement begin!