Who went where? A Summer 24 Transfer Review

The transfer window slammed shut across Europe’s major leagues at the end of August so the chance to remodel or tweak a team for the upcoming season is now over, barring free transfers.

Outgoing transfers tricky

Once again, one of the biggest issues has been the ability to move certain players on, with many on large wages proving tough to shift, especially if they have been underperforming. Therefore, the mark of a successful transfer window is not just about bringing players in but also about getting certain players out of a club. One such club which did quite well in this respect was Manchester United, who managed to get Varane and Martial off the books as their expensive contracts expired and another player, Jadon Sancho, has also left the club, taking his hefty wage demands to Chelsea. Another interesting aspect this season is the emergence of the policy of swapping young players between clubs for inflated fees. This workaround allows clubs to satisfy Financial Fair Play demands, although it is a loophole that will surely be closed soon as it is tough to justify an unknown youth player being sold to another club for €30 million. 

Big moves in the English league

Once again it was the PL clubs that spent the vast majority of cash this summer as the richest league in the world continues to flex its muscle. There was less of an impact from Saudi Arabia this time around, perhaps a sign that players are finding it less attractive to move there unless they are in the twilight of their careers. The English PL clubs spent over €2 billion this summer, but that was still 10% less than last year, perhaps a sign that some of the restrictions are having an effect. Chelsea and Manchester United were the biggest spenders, with the former continuing with their policy of buying and selling more players than anyone else. The most expensive transfer of the summer was in fact a player departing England’s top flight, Julian Alvarez deciding to leave Manchester City to join Atletico Madrid in a deal worth around €80 million. Next up was Dominik Solanke’s move from Bournemouth to Tottenham, the north London team realising they need a recognised striker in their squad. Chelsea obviously make an appearance in the top ten with Pedro Neto joining from Wolves, the third most expensive move of the summer, Manchester United are in fourth place with the signing of young French defender Leny Yoro from Lille. 

European transfers

The first non-PL transfer on the list is Dani Olmo, who moves to Barcelona from RB Leipzig following his impressive Euro 2024, although his new club had an issue to actually register him due to financial restrictions in place on them. The most expensive transfer out of Europe was Moussa Diaby’s move from Aston Villa to Al-Ittihad, one of the few top level transfers to Saudi this summer. In Germany, the top transfer in was Michael Olise, who joined Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace for €60 million, joining Vincent Kompany’s new look side hoping to win back the Bundesliga title. Over in Italy, the top move was Teun Koopmeiners’ move from Atalanta to Juventus, boosting the latter’s chances of making a serious title challenge this season. The top transfer into Ligue 1 in France was Joao Neves, the Portuguese youngster joining PSG from Benfica.

Transfer Window Winners

There are a number of other big name players who have been on the move so it is interesting to look at who might have had the best transfer window overall. Most of the more settled teams haven’t needed to make major changes, with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool only tweaking their sides. Only six PL sides made a profit this summer, with Manchester City coming out on top due to the sale of Alvarez, whereas Brighton were the biggest net spenders, £139 million overall. Title challengers Arsenal added Raheem Sterling to their ranks, on loan for the season, along with Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino, so their squad certainly looks deeper. Aston Villa look stronger, as do Brighton and Fulham, Manchester United and West Ham. The likes of Wolves, Bournemouth and Everton as well as Newcastle might be slightly concerned by the activity, or lack of it,  over the summer. 

The three big teams in Spain look stronger with Atlético Madrid in particular looking like they have invested well in the likes of Alvarez, Conor Gallagher and Robin Le Normand. One of the star moves of the summer was actually a free transfer for Kylian Mbappe, who finally got his move from PSG to Real Madrid to join the star-studded team and he is joined by another young star, Brazilian Endrick. 

Juventus can claim the top two incomings in Italy with Koopmeiners joined at Juventus by Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa. Romelu Lukaku finally moves to Italy on a permanent basis after multiple loans as he signed for Napoli from Chelsea. The result of this was that Victor Osimhen left Napoli, although some will be surprised he went to Galatasaray for a one season loan after being linked with the biggest clubs around Europe as well as Saudi. Napoli not only added Lukaku but also David Neres from Benfica and Scott McTominay from Manchester United as they look to return to being title challengers again this season.

Ligue 1 was dominated by comings and goings at PSG with Joao Neves, Desire Doue and Willian Pacho all joining last season’s winners and Manuel Ugarte departing to join Manchester United. The top transfer didn’t involve PSG though, surprisingly, as Leny Yoro’s move from Lille to Manchester United was the costliest.

Dani Olmo was the top transfer involving a Bundesliga club as he left RB Leipzig to move to Barcelona. The top incoming player was Michael Olise’s move to Bayern followed by another player from the PL, Joao Palhinha, who also moved to the Bavarian giants. Moving the other way were Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Niklas Fullkrug, who all moved over to the English top division. 

With so many moves and so little time in pre pre-season it will take some time for the new players to get integrated into the new surroundings. Their new clubs will certainly hope they can make a positive impact as soon as possible and that most of the signings will be ‘hits’ rather than ‘misses’. Time will tell, as we will look back at the end of this season to see who forked out way over the odds for a player or who might have found a hidden gem. 

Last Updated: 06.09.2024