With the signing of young England winger Cole Palmer on Friday, Chelsea exceeds the billion pounds sterling (1.167 billion euros) in three transfer windows! Great animators of the transfer window in Europe, the Blues have added Palmer to their collection, after Moises Caicedo, Roméo Lavia, Axel Disasi and Christopher Nkunku. “Everyone benefits from it. We live in what this business produces,” said London club coach Mauricio Pochettino.
On this last day of the market, Manchester City, which has already recruited the powerful Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Jérémy Doku, signed the Portuguese midfielder from Wolverhampton Matheus Nunes, for 62 million euros, according to the press. Manchester United have brought Moroccan midfielder Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina) and Spanish defender Sergio Reguilon (Tottenham) on loan. Liverpool have rebuffed an offer from Saudi club al-Ittihad of up to 175 million euros for their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, as the ‘Reds’ couldn’t let go of their star just hours before the market closed. Jürgen Klopp’s side have secured the signing of Bayern No.8 Ryan Gravenberch, a Dutchman.
French international Clément Lenglet has signed for Aston Villa, Ansu Fati has been loaned by Barça to Brighton and Hugo Lloris is still stuck at Tottenham, where the coach no longer counts on him.
Still hit by the losses due to the Covid period (1.4 billion euros and debt of 5.6 billion EUR in 2021-22 according to the annual report published in early August), Serie A has mainly sold and favored loans and out-of-contract players. Inter Milan still dropped 32 million euros to bring Benjamin Pavard from Bayern Munich. For the last day of the transfer window, the vice-champions of Europe have brought Dany Klaassen from Ajax Amsterdam.
In search of a double for Olivier Giroud (36), AC Milan tried the Iranian from FC Porto Mehdi Taremi and the Spaniard from Sevilla FC Rafa Mir, but finally fell back on the Serbian international from Fiorentina’s Luka Jovic, previously seen at Real Madrid. On the Juventus side, Leonardo Bonucci is leaving after twelve seasons in thirteen years (and a year at AC Milan) to join Union Berlin.
Bayern Munich made their big move in the summer when they brought in England captain and striker Harry Kane for 100 million euros plus 10 million in bonuses, making it the most expensive signing in club history and of the Bundesliga. Benjamin Pavard’s departure from Inter Milan, however, left “a gaping hole” in the Bavarian workforce, regrets coach Thomas Tuchel, who has “only” two right-backs left, the Moroccan Noussair Mazraoui and the Senegalese Bouna Sarr. Friday, according to the German media, the tenfold reigning German champions failed to bring in a purely defensive midfielder, demanded loudly by Tuchel since the start of the summer. Arrived in Munich at midday, Joao Palhinha passed his medical examination according to German media, but Fulham did not find a replacement before the German market closed at 6:00 p.m. (French) and the transfer estimated at 65 million euros. euros will not happen.
FC Barcelona, still strangled financially, has mainly sought to sell and reduce its payroll. Legends Gerard Pique, Sergi Busquets and Jordi Alba are gone. The first ended his career, the other two joined Leo Messi at Inter Miami. The Catalans have loaned Joao Felix from Atlético Madrid. The Portuguese is unwanted at the ‘Colchoneros’ and said he wants to join Barca. The Spanish champions have also managed to bring in Joao Cancelo from Manchester City, also on loan.
Real Madrid closed their transfer window early, with Englishman Jude Bellingham, 20, for 103 million euros, and Turkish nugget Arda Güler for 20 million. Despite injuries to Vinicius and Eder Militao, coach Carlo Ancelotti said he has what it takes in his squad. At Atlético Madrid, the Belgian Yannick Carrasco could leave for Saudi Arabia in the final stretch of the transfer window.
In Ligue 1, Paris SG animated the end of the transfer window until the end, by recruiting Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani. A transfer of up to 90 M EUR bonus included. The prospect of seeing the attacking trio of the French team Kylian Mbappé-Kolo Muani-Ousmane Dembélé reunited at PSG is enticing. After recruiting Lyon hopeful Bradley Barcola, PSG have made 345 million euros in purchases this summer with “RKM”, but the club has also sold (Neymar) or let go (Messi), big salaries. Marco Verratti, historic of the Qatari era but unwanted by the leaders and coach Luis Enrique, could also pack his bags, soon to the Middle East.
In Marseille, the arrival on the wire of the defender of Lorient Bamo Meïté came to close a very ambitious transfer window with the signatures already recorded of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Renan Lodi, Ismaïla Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Joaquin Correa and Michael Murillo . Monaco has recruited the promising Anglo-American striker from Reims Folarin Balogun.
