Despite the impact of the pandemic placing a stranglehold over football finances and the transfer market, there have already been plenty of high-profile transfers so far this summer. Due to the reduced revenues caused by empty stadiums over the past year, many clubs have targeted free agents with expiring contracts. Nevertheless, there has also been plenty of money spent by the top teams across Europe, so here are some of the biggest confirmed moves of this transfer window.
5. Georginio Wijnaldum to PSG
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Gini Wijnaldum was on the verge of joining Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia at Barcelona before PSG swooped in at the last minute to sign the Dutchman. PSG have reportedly doubled Wijnaldum’s salary and offered him a 3-year contract till 2024.
Having excelled as a box-to-box midfielder with Liverpool and as an attacking midfielder with Holland, Wijnaldum offers plenty of versatility and experience to the team. PSG were overrun in midfield in the Champions League semi-final last season, but adding Wijnaldum into the mix alongside Verratti, Paredes and Idrissa Gueye provides more balance to Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
4. Ibrahima Konate to Liverpool
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Following Liverpool’s centre-back catastrophe last season, they had to bring in reinforcements at the back this summer and have signed Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig. Konate, 21, was bought for £36 million from the German team and will fit in excellently alongside Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip at Liverpool.
Following the injury crisis at Merseyside last season, Jurgen Klopp was forced to play a central defensive pairing of Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips for the majority of last season. The addition of Konate – an extremely high-rated young defender – will beef up their squad in this area of the pitch and allow the likes of Joe Gomez and Van Dijk to ease into the season following their long injury lay-off.
3. Memphis Depay to Barcelona
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At number three is another free agent signing made by Barcelona as Memphis Depay joins the Catalan (link Depay joins Barcelona) club following his five seasons in Lyon. Depay was one of the standout stars in Ligue 1 last season, scoring 20 goals and adding another 12 assists in only 33 starts for the club.
The Dutchman is a significant coup for Barcelona, but there are already some question marks whether Depay fits into the Barcelona system considering the talent already available to the Catalan outfit. Depay, like Messi and Antoine Griezmann, prefers the ball played to his feet and operates from that central attacking midfield position. Unfortunately, with Messi and Griezmann already performing those roles at Barcelona, it is difficult to see where the ex-Manchester United man fits in at the Camp Nou.
2. David Alaba to Real Madrid
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Having bid goodbye to Sergio Ramos after 16 years, Real Madrid have replaced the veteran centre-back with David Alaba. The Austrian was signed on a free transfer after his contract with Bayern Munich expired and has signed with Real Madrid on a monster salary worth €12 million net annually over the next five years. Alaba provides excellent versatility to Los Blancos and can play at left-back, centre-back or in midfield. At 29, Alaba is in the prime of his career and will be a major part of this new looked Carlo Ancelotti side.
1. Dayot Upamecano to Bayern Munich
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The man who replaced David Alaba at Bayern Munich is RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano. Bayern have made it a habit of cherry-picking the best talent from the Bundesliga and this summer they have signed the highly-rated French defender for £38.5 million. Upamecano, 22, is a Rolls-Royce of a defender, possessing every quality a modern centre-back needs to be successful.
The Red Bull academy product is quick, aerially dominant and is excellent with the ball at his feet. With the Frenchman at the centre of their defence, Leipzig conceded the fewest goals in the Bundesliga last season and Upamecano is set to be a mainstay in the Bayern defence for the next decade.
[Image Credit: Gini Wijnaldum]
Shivaan Shah