. . . . Clicking and dragging transitions don't seem to work the same way. . . . .
Tested using MEP 2022 and they work the same as in previous versions of MEP.
The transition must dragged onto the joint between, and must straddle both objects on the timeline, otherwise it may end up on the beginning or end of one of the objects.
Do note that some of the transition effects eg the Zoom collection, when used as a fade in/out do not adapt the correct aspect ratio (AR) if the movie is 16:9 AR