Guillem Balague looks ahead to the return of La Liga

Guillem Balague looks ahead to the return of the La Liga season, as he explores Atletico Madrid's transfer ban, Real Sociedad's summer signings, the league's three new arrivals and much more.

Uncertainty continues to surround the future of Diego Costa, who on Thursday released a statement declaring he will not return to Chelsea and "must return to Atletico Madrid," but Balague is confident the move will be completed even if it is currently "very much on ice".

Meanwhile Athletic Bilbao prepare for life without Ernesto Valverde after the Spaniard left to succeed Luis Enrique at Barcelona, while Sevilla go into the 2017/18 campaign with new boss Eduardo Berizzo at the helm.

Sky Sports' Spanish expert runs the rule over the clubs beyond title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona - look out for his assessment of their chances on Sunday on skysports.com...

Atletico Madrid

A new stadium but a transfer ban means that Atletico will have to try to compete with the same squad of players with a few loanees brought back to plug the gaps.

Their inability to score enough goals was one of the main differences between Atletico and the big two.

The ban means plans to sign Alexandre Lacazette were a non-starter and the highly probable the return of Diego Costa is also, for the time being, very much on ice. But it will happen.

Diego Simeone will be warmed by the decision of his talisman, Antoine Griezmann to remain faithful despite the attention of a host of clubs but it ultimately looks like a season when a top-four finish and perhaps a decent run in the different cup competitions would represent a success for Atletico in the first season at their new home.

Sevilla

It's all change at Sevilla as the Andalusian club tiptoe into their first post-Monchi season.

Argentinian coach Eduardo Berizzo is the new man at the helm and once again the club looks to have spent the money that has come in following the sale of Vitolo, very wisely.

Ever Banega and Jesus Navas return to their spiritual homes while the addition of Nolito, who has something to prove following a fairly unsuccessful stopover at Manchester City, is another welcome addition.

All three signings showed enough to suggest wise investment in the first leg of the club's Champions League qualifier in Istanbul.

The signing of Danish man-mountain Simon Kjaer could help shore up the defence while at the other end, in their search for another goalscorer, they have paid Sampdoria €20m for Colombian striker Luis Muriel who, if keeps fit, could give them the goals needed to challenge for a top-three finish.

Athletic Bilbao

Athletic get used to life without Ernesto Valverde with Cuco Ziganda at the helm after six years with the reserve side.

The club's extremely demanding transfer policy that permits only Basque players to play for the club makes the statistic that, apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid, Athletic are the only La Liga club never to be relegated even more staggering.

Once again they will be looking to the seemingly ageless Aritz Aduriz to do the business up front while at the other end the form of the young 22-year-old goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is attracting serious attention from some of the European giants.

Inaki Williams hasn't quite made it over the line yet, but his form could also be key to how well the Basque side perform this year.

Villarreal

This very well-run club from Castellon has been punching far above its weight for a good few years now, despite a blip that saw them relegated a few years ago.

They bounced straight back and have been there or thereabouts for European contention ever since. Good housekeeping means they have once again balanced the books by selling Musacchio to Milan and Alexandre Pato to Tianjin.

This has allowed them to bring midfielder Pablo Fornals back home from Malaga and Ruben Semedo from Sporting.

Their most significant signing could be the highly rated 20-year-old Turkish striker Enes Unal for €15m from Manchester City.

The fact that AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca opted for a loan season in Castellon, rather than a return to Sevilla, shows just how highly the club is rated.

Watch out also for defensive midfielder Rodri to also come of age in a Fran Escriba side that should once again be in the hunt for European football without ever really threatening to win the title.

Real Sociedad

The sale of defender Yuri Berchiche to PSG for €16m has allowed Real Sociedad to delve into the transfer market and at first sight they looked to have spent wisely with the purchase of Diego Llorente, for €6m from Real Madrid, and Adnan Januzaj, for €10m from Manchester United.

Januzaj looked like the next great thing at first at United - there were even comparisons made with him and a young Ronaldo - but injuries, a reputation for softness, and a questionable mental strength meant that he fell out of favour.

If his application can match his undoubted great natural talent then he could well be a significant addition to Eusebio Sacristan's San Sebastian-based side who will do well to match last season's sixth-placed finish.

If they become embroiled in a long and arduous Europa League campaign, it remains to be seen if they have the depth of squad to cope well with it.

Celta Vigo

With a little more luck and better finishing, Celta Vigo could well have won the Europa League. In the end they fell at the semi-final stage although poor John Guidetti must still have sleepless nights over the miss at Old Trafford that meant they went out to eventual winners Manchester United.

Cup football certainly cost them their league form and a 13th-place finish last season means this time they can concentrate on La Liga without any European distractions.

Juan Carlos Unzue at one stage looked a serious candidate for the Barcelona job but has had to make do with taking over from Eduardo Berizzo at Los Balaidos.

It might turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to him. He will be relieved to be shot of Fabian Orellana who has gone to Valencia and was hardly a positive influence in the dressing room.

The biggest investment comes in the shape of 22-year-old Slovakian midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, who signed for €5m from Danish club, Nordsjaelland.

The 21-year-old Uruguayan striker Maxi Gomez, who scored 28 goals in 47 games for Defensor Sporting, could turn out to be a bargain at €4.3m if he settles, while Jozabed's loan from Fulham becomes permanent for €3.5m.

Levante

As ever the new boys all have one thing in common when promoted - no money, or at least not huge amounts - although Levante and Getafe, unlike Girona, have at least been here before.

Levante won the title race at a canter by 14 points. Having been relegated at the end of the previous season, they achieved their success by being a hard working, hard-running, highly motivated side under the guidance of Juan Muniz in his first season with the club.

A lack of goals could be their problem in the top flight and they will look to the 21-year-old Ghanaian Emmanuel Boateng, a €2m signing from Portuguese club Moreirense, to remedy that.

The club's total spend has only been only €5.4m which has had to be covered largely by the sale of Victor Camarasa to Betis.

Girona

Thank God Girona went up automatically, because they didn't seem to have wanted promotion via the play-offs.

Osasuna beat Pablo Machin, the former Numancia manager's side in the play-off final last season and astonishingly, the previous year saw them win 3-0 away to Zaragoza in the semi-final first leg before losing 4-1 at home and failing on the away goals rule.

Founded in 1930, this will be the first time the club has ever played in Spain's top flight. They have spent just €4.5m on Colombian central defender Bernardo Espinosa from Middlesbrough.

Most interestingly they have some kind of arrangement with Manchester City, as Pep Guardiola's brother Pere is behind the recent takeover of the club with no fewer than five City players currently on loan at Girona - namely Kayode, Douglas Luiz, Aleix Garcia, M.Moreno and Pablo Maffeo.

They are probably everyone's favourite to go straight down but, with the help and connections of City, they might just surprise a few people.

Getafe

Like Levante, Getafe bounced back into the top flight after being relegated last year thanks to their 3-2 final play-off victory against Tenerife that saw them come from behind after a 1-0 defeat in the Canary islands.

Getafe have returned under the guidance of Jose Bordalas. Last time the much-travelled coach did that was with Alaves last season, who he got promoted, and was then duly sacked.

He will no doubt be hoping that history does not repeat itself. They haven't spent fortunes, but much of their hopes will be pinned on former Atletico forward, the 21-year-old Amath Ndiaye that cost them €3m.

At the other end €2.5m has gone on Togo international centre-back Djen Dakoman from Belgian club Sint-Truidense and formerly of Alcorcon.

Winger Dani Pacheco, midfielder Portillo and defender Bruno Gonzalez come in from Real Betis for a total of around €3.1m while Chuli arrives from Almeria for €700,000.