AuthorJeffEyesRimmer While the main focus of the transfer window inevitably turned to the vast sums of money being spent by the English premier league clubs it was easy to forget that the other European heavy weights were busy strengthening as well for the coming season. There was certainly some stand out big name transfers across Europe that shows all the cash isn’t just concentrated in England. Below are a few of the transfers that you may have missed while waiting to see if Arsenal would finally sign anyone (thankfully they did).
Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli to Juventus €90million) Ok let’s start off with the one you have probably heard about although most would have thought that Higuaín would have ended up at Arsenal one day. So long the pursuit of the striker had been, or at least that’s what the papers said. Now one of the most expensive players ever Higuaín will be aiming to replicate the form at Napoli, where he scored 36 in 35 matches. Juventus grip on the Scudetto has got stronger with the purchase of one of the best finishers in the game and he has certainly started well for the Turin club. Nicolas Gaitan (Benfica to Atletico Madrid €15.5million) Mr Gaitan was one of those players forever linked with a move to Old Trafford, however it is Atletico Madrid that will enjoy the Argentinean wingers talents. Atletico have pulled off quite a transfer window, with strength now in depth and more importantly keeping their best players, Gaitan provides even more quality to the squad. Big things are expected of him now he is in a bigger and better league. The winger will be expected to provide more chances for the strikers this season. Samuel Umtiti (Lyon to Barcelona €20million) Barcelona purchased Umtiti from Lyon before the European Championships started. They clearly knew something that others did not. Umtiti went and had a blinder in defence for France during the tournament, so much so that the price of $20million appears a steal. Barcelona has a long term quality defender on their hands, finally replacing the Puyol shaped hole in that centre of defence. He is going to be a world class defender. Alvaro Morata (Juventus to Real Madrid €30million) It was a very quiet window for Real Madrid, with many thinking they would enter the race to sign Paul Pogba. However, their only signing of the close season was actually the re-signing of Alvaro Morata from Juventus. The assumption was that they would quickly on sell the striker for a profit but it seems as if Zidane rates the Spaniard enough to give me a chance. He will have to improve on the goal ratio of 7 to 34 matches to be a hit at Madrid, the fans won’t be forgiving if he fails to covert the kind of chances Ronaldo, Bale, Kroos and Modric will serve up. He will likely have to play second fiddle for the time being though, with Benzema still very much the number one striker at Real, quite a lot of cash for a backup striker really. Nani (Fenerbahce to Valencia €8.5million) The ex-Manchester Utd winger had a stellar European Championships, helping Portugal to the cup and that earned Nani a move to La Liga with Valencia. The Valencia faithful will be hoping for the performances of Nani in the Portugal shirt rather than the erratic version many other teams have experienced. His ability is not in question but the consistency is. If he can bring that into his game then Valencia will have a steal. Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax to Napoli €36million) Napoli were quick to replace the Juventus bound Higuaín with the young Polish striker, Milik, from Ajax. Milik was expected to play second fiddle over the summer to his more well-known compatriot (Lewandowski) in the Poland team at the Euros. However, Milik went and showed he was a quality player, putting in some top performances at the Euros. It promoted Napoli to part with €35 million, the hope is that he can provide the goals needed to keep the in the European hunt. He has hit the ground running already, with 2 goals in a 4-2 win over AC Milan. Andre Schurrle (Wolfsburg) €30million & Mario Gotze €26million (Bayern Munich) both to Dortmund. In fact Dortmund’s entire window Ok, I am going to throw several players together here. People can be forgiven for thinking that Dortmund would struggle this season after losing two midfielders the quality of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan and also losing their best defender in Matt Hummels to Munich. However, Dortmund quickly went and brought in the highly sought after Mario Gotze and also the former Chelsea winger Andre Schurrle. Both quite happily replace the loss and based on the pre-season and the start of this season both look quite happy at Dortmund. Oh and Dortmund also replaced Hummels with Marc Bartra from Barcelona. They also went and bought Ousmane Demeble from Rennes as well, another very sought after youngster. Nice work Dortmund, nice work, thats why they are joint top of the league at the time of writing. Breel Embolo (Basel to Schalke €20million) The Swiss youngster was highly sought after, Manchester Utd showed interest in the teenager, before Schalke swooped and picked up one of the best young players in Europe. A powerful and fast striker, he was in the Swiss squad for the European championships. Although he has stated that Mario Balotelli was one of his inspirations. He may need to review that now that his stock has raised a lot higher than Balotelli. Renato Sanches (Benfica to Bayern Munich €35million) Another Portuguese player in this list, Sanches was probably the most sought after youngster in Europe. Bayern Munich was the lucky club to sign him. The skilful youngster is assured on the ball and loves a good dribble, as evidenced from the Euros. He will be aiming to break into a strong Munich side but will Carlo Ancelotti at the Bavarian club he will likely get plenty of opportunity to impress. The Italian manager is great for giving youth a chance. Keep an eye out for this lad, the boy is going to be a star. Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla to PSG undisclosed) Krychowiak isn’t likely to be an immediate household name for many but the signing from Sevilla to PSG is somewhat of a coup for the French Champions. They had lost several big name players over the summer but the signing of the Polish International when some EPL teams were sniffing around will be seen as a statement in France. A powerful defensive midfielder who helped Sevilla to another Europa League victory last season, PSG will be hoping his combative style will help push them further in Europe this season. What other big transfers caught your eye over the summer; let us know in the comments. |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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