The transfer window has closed. For Europe’s leading football clubs, the chance to revamp, reshape and — in certain cases — reduce their squads is over, until January at least. It was another busy summer for Chelsea, while after years of bringing in significant funds by selling players, Brighton & Hove Albion transformed themselves into a buying club, spending almost £200million ($263m) to give new manager Fabian Hurzeler plenty of options.
Arsenal lured Euro 2024 luminaries Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino to north London, Liverpool added Federico Chiesa to Arne Slot’s attacking options, and Manchester United were seen making some potentially sensible additions to their squad in their first summer of the INEOS era.
But who was the best buy? Who should have moved but didn’t? And which transfers went completely under the radar? Five of The Athletic’s writers offer their thoughts on another big-money summer.
Who was the best signing?
Mark Carey: Taking Kylian Mbappe out of the equation, I’m going for Joshua Zirkzee. I may live to regret it, but Zirkzee could be a key cog in the Erik ten Hag system, stitching Manchester United’s attack together more coherently than Bruno Fernandes’ hero-ball attempts. Zirkzee is not an out-and-out goalscorer, but he brings others into play beautifully. With a bit of time, he could have a major impact on United’s attack.
Oliver Kay: It’s weird. Nearly £2billion has been spent in the Premier League but I can’t really think of many deals that make me think, “Wow, that will definitely work.”
The ones that could work out best are some of the younger players, such as Yankuba Minteh to Brighton, Leny Yoro to Manchester United and Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall to Tottenham Hotspur. But in all those cases — and many others — they are big, big fees invested in potential rather than certainty. I like Liverpool’s deal for Federico Chiesa at that price, but there is a risk. For certainty, you’re probably looking at West Ham United’s deals for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Maximilian Kilman. Boring, I know.
Seb Stafford-Bloor: Bergvall is an extraordinary talent. One of the benefits of Tottenham competing in the Europa League this season is that whether he gets Premier League minutes or not, Bergvall will have the opportunity to play and develop into something truly special. It’s rare to find skill, size, and the ambition to change games all in the same player at that age, rarer still given that he had never played outside of Sweden’s Allsvenskan. He will evolve quickly, I’m certain of it, and that €10million (£8m; $11m) will be money extremely well spent.
James Horncastle: When a player who everyone expects or projects to go ends up staying, isn’t that like a signing? Nico Williams committing to Athletic Bilbao caught my attention, as did other examples of Basque loyalty, such as Martin Zubimendi turning down Liverpool to remain at Real Sociedad. Elsewhere, Roma fans descended en masse to Paulo Dybala’s house to thank him for refusing a salary package worth €75m from Al Qadsiah. If ever there was a player for whom Francesco Totti’s No 10 shirt should be passed down, it’s him.
Thom Harris: There are plenty that I really like across the continent. Teun Koopmeiners will bring luxurious technique and flexibility to Thiago Motta’s new-look Juventus, Yaser Asprilla should bring spark and creativity to Girona, while Paris Saint-Germain have snapped up one of French football’s brightest stars in Desire Doue. My favorite is closer to home, though — Mats Wieffer to Brighton. Constantly demanding the ball, he’s the box-to-box engine Hurzeler needed. He has the forward drive to bring the ball upfield and cause damage in the final third, too. At 24, there’s plenty of time for him to evolve into a real game-changer in the Premier League.
What was the most surprising signing?
Kay: Newcastle signing Nottingham Forest’s unwanted backup goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for £20million was certainly… surprising. Forest signing Elliot Anderson from Newcastle for £35million was also surprising. Likewise some of the players moving between Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Everton just before…