Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for £198m not only broke the transfer record by an enormous distance, it provided a further jolt an already inflated transfer market. The clubs in Europe’s top five leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – have now been involved in more than 1,300 transfers this summer, worth more than £3.4bn, and while many of them have been over-priced there are a few good-value deals that should not be overlooked.
At the start of the summer window we launched this transfer interactive, detailing every transfer in those five leagues, day by day and club by club, and now we have been through all of them to find the best deals of the window so far.
Leonardo Bonucci, from Juventus to Milan for £35.2m
“At first I thought it was a joke,” admitted the Milan director Massimiliano Mirabelli recently. “I was talking to the agent about other players and he kept on making jokes about Bonucci. I didn’t even tell our CEO, Marco Fassone, about it.” But it was no joke. Bonucci had fallen out with the Juve manager, Max Allegri, and wanted out. OK, £35.2m is not exactly cheap but Bonucci is one of the best defenders in the world while over in England Southampton want £60m for Virgil van Dijk and Manchester City paid £50m for Kyle Walker. Marcus Christenson
Youri Tielemans, Anderlecht to Monaco for £21.6m
Given he has been a key player at Anderlecht for around four years now, it is strange to think Youri Tielemans only recently turned 20 – and that there was not more competition for him. Premier League sides seemed uninterested as Monaco pounced. It did not take long for the Belgian to introduce himself in France with a sensationally weighted first-time pass to find Djibril Sidibé’s run in the Trophée des Champions against Paris Saint-Germain, putting the Frenchman straight through on goal. Monaco will expect more of that this season and the Belgian will look to add goals and assists as well after playing in a more advanced role for Anderlecht last season. He got 18 goals and 12 assists in all competitions but even those numbers sell Tielemans somewhat short: the box-to-box midfielder is incredibly intelligent off the ball and unusually complete for his age. Priya Ramesh
Dani Ceballos, Real Betis to Real Madrid for £14.5m
Such was the demand for Ceballos after a series of brilliant performances that led to his being voted player of the tournament at the European Under-21 Championship this summer, the scheming midfielder moved to the Bernabéu for more than his release clause. Having made his first-team debut for Betis three years ago, the 21-year-old has plenty of experience with 102 appearances in the Primera and Segunda Divisións, scoring seven goals and providing nine assists. With Toni Kroos and Luka Modric to contend with, however, he and his Spain Under-21s team-mate Marcos Llorente – recalled after starring for Alavés on loan last season – may take some time to establish themselves as first choices under Zinedine Zidane. Ed Aarons
Cengiz Under, Basaksehir to Roma for £11.7m
“I’m not the Turkish Paulo Dybala, I’m Cengiz. Also, my idol is Francesco Totti.” With that comment, delivered at his Roma unveiling, Under killed two birds with one stone: he distanced himself from a Juventus player and paid respect to a Giallorossi legend. This summer, Under became the most expensive Turkish player to leave the Super Lig but he could yet prove a bargain. He is still only 20 and has enjoyed a rapid rise from playing second-tier football at Altinordu to being the star of the show in a Basaksehir side that defied the odds and finished second in the league last season. Add two goals in two starts for Turkey and it is obvious that Roma have a huge talent on their hands. Well done, Monchi. Emre Sarigul
Terence Kongolo, Feyenoord to Monaco for £11.4m
“He is a really physically strong defender with a lot of pace,” is how Ronald Koeman, who gave Terence Kongolo his debut, described him in 2012. Although Kongolo only truly established himself in the Feyenoord first team at the tail end of the 2013-14 season, his performances earned him a spot as one of the youngest members of Louis van Gaal’s 2014 World Cup squad. Considering how full-backs seemed to have taken a more significant role in the football discourse this summer, with City spending big on Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, smart scouting from Monaco means that the impact of losing the latter will be significantly reduced. Equally comfortable at centre-back or left-back, Kongolo is a naturally adept defender, with strength and style. The Varkenood product looks up to Sergio Ramos and Pepe, describing them as “destroyers” in an interview with Elf Voetbal. He sees himself as more of “a sniper”. “I put in precisely targeted tackles for the ball; that is what I am best at.” PR
Marco Benassi, Torino to Fiorentina for £9m
After a very difficult summer transfer window, Fiorentina’s sporting director, Pantaleo Corvino, pulled off a remarkable deal by signing Marco Benassi for £9m, an absolute bargain in today’s market. The Viola had already lost arguably their biggest star in Federico Bernardeschi to Juventus and also saw two of their starting midfielders, Borja Valero and Matías Vecino, join Internazionale. Corvino will be delighted that he has given the new manager, Stefano Pioli, such a talented player. Also, the Italy Under-21s captain is three years younger than Vecino and cost half what Inter paid for the latter. Despite being only 22, Benassi has appeared in more than a 100 Serie A matches and has been called up to the senior Italy squad by both Antonio Conte and Gian Piero Ventura. Fiorentina were able to take advantage of the fact that despite Benassi’s obvious abilities, he was not a natural fit for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s tactics. Benassi is a modern midfielder who has a complete set of skills; he is dynamic, a good passer and has a good shot from distance. He should be an excellent complement to Fiorentina’s up-and-coming star Federico Chiesa and could form a strong Italian core in the midfield with Riccardo Saponara. Fabrizio Romano
Bertrand Traoré, Chelsea to Lyon for £8.8m
While it is not the biggest shock that Chelsea let one of their younger players leave, that they let Bertrand Traoré go for just £8.8m, after years of his being overlooked and loaned out, is almost preposterous given the current market, in which their 30-year-old back-up goalkeeper left for £10m. To be fair to Chelsea, though, they have a buy-back clause. Traoré’s best season arguably came in 2014-15 for Peter Bosz’s Vitesse Arnhem, where as a striker he used his pace to capitalise on space behind defences. Last season, on loan at Ajax, he added further depth to his game, linking up well with Hakim Ziyech. José Mourinho called the Burkina Faso international “a great talent” when he signed for Chelsea in 2014, and Traoré completes an exciting and entertaining young quartet in attack for Lyon, with the similarly talented players Memphis Depay, Nabil Fekir and Mariano Díaz. If all that individual potential can be synergised into a collective, this could prove an enjoyable season for the French club, even after losing Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette. PR
Andy Robertson, Hull City to Liverpool for £8m
Not the most high-profile signing of the summer but could prove to be one of the best. Needing back-up for/an upgrade on James Milner and Alberto Moreno, and having surveyed the market, Liverpool decided that the Scottish international would make an excellent addition to the squad and were able to sign him for only £8m. Eyebrows were raised when the news of Liverpool’s interest in the 23-year-old filtered through but he was impressive on his competitive debut against Crystal Palace last weekend. Everybody can now see how good Robbo can be, especially in offensive situations. His crosses are a real threat,” Jürgen Klopp said after the Palace game but it remains to be seen if the German trusts him in games when Liverpool have to do more defending. MC
Valère Germain, Monaco to Marseille for £7m
With all the attention on the multimillion-euro deals that have seen Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy and Tiémoué Bakayoko leave Monaco, the departure of Germain – son of the former France striker Bruno – to Marseille went under the radar somewhat. He excelled as Monaco’s back-up striker last season behind Radamel Falcao and Kylian Mbappé, scoring 10 goals in Ligue 1 as Leonardo Jardim’s side beat PSG to the title. But with only one year left on his contract and an ambitious Marseille, where his father starred during two spells in the late 80s and early 90s, keen to make him a fulcrum of the side, Germain took the plunge, scoring a hat-trick on his home debut in the Europa League qualifier against the Belgian club Oostende. EA
Ryad Boudebouz, Montpellier to Real Betis for £6.3m
Surprisingly, given his outstanding season in Ligue 1 in which the Algeria international scored 11 goals and registered nine assists despite Montpellier only just avoiding relegation, the expected battle for Boudebouz’s signature failed to materialise. His absence for the start of the season with a knee injury may have had something to do with that, as reported interest from Newcastle, West Ham, Sevilla and Besiktas came to nothing and the 27-year-old instead joined Betis. Like his international colleague Rachid Ghezzal – who left Lyon for Monaco on a free transfer having been linked with Everton in January – Boudebouz is a versatile attacking presence who should thrive in La Liga. EA
Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Bayer Leverkusen to Hamburg for £5.8m
The Greek centre-back has been around for a while now but is still only 25 and could be about to reignite his career. He had three years at Schalke and three at Leverkusen before ending up at Hamburg on loan last season. Hamburg were desperate to sign him on a permanent basis and finally managed to do so for a cut-price £5.8m. “He takes on a lot of responsibility despite being only being 25,” said the Hamburg sporting director, Jens Todt. “He is an absolute win for us – on and off the pitch.” Already a vice-captain at the club. MC
Sandro Ramírez, Málaga to Everton for £5.3m
An absolute steal at £5.3m, his ludicrously low buyout clause. He scored 16 goals in 31 appearances for Málaga last season and there was interest from other clubs – notably Atlético Madrid and West Ham – but the 22-year-old was impressed by the plans Ronald Koeman had for him and the rest of the team and signed a four-year deal at Goodison Park. He scored his first goal for the club within a minute in the friendly against Sevilla and could be one of Steve Walsh’s best coups yet. “I think the Premier League is perfect for me,” he said. MC
Sead Kolasinac, Schalke to Arsenal on a free
There was a moment during Arsenal’s first Premier League game of the season when Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez picked up the ball. His path towards the Arsenal goal was blocked by the enormous Kolasinac, however, and it did not matter how much the Algerian twisted or turned, there was no way forward. Instead, like a rugby scrum, Mahrez was pushed backwards and in the end conceded a throw-in. Theo Walcott has already labelled Kolasinac “an absolute tank” and “an animal” and how Schalke let the 24-year-old’s contract run out is a mystery. MC
Dani Alves, Juventus to Paris Saint-Germain on a free
Written off after leaving Barcelona at the age of 33, he signed for Juventus and played a big part in the Italian side’s progress to the Champions League final. Against Monaco in the semi he scored one and assisted three goals in the 4-1 aggregate win. The “free” in the transfer is deceptive as PSG are paying the Brazilian a whopping £230,000 a week (almost twice as much as Manchester City offered) but then he also helped bring Neymar to the club so all in all not a bad signing. MC
Sebastian Rudy, Hoffenheim to Bayern on a free
One of Bayern’s more low-profile signings in recent seasons but the 27-year-old looks like an excellent addition. After seven years at Hoffenheim, Bayern pounced and agreed a three-year deal with the Germany international in January. Rudy can play in central midfield but also on the right and at right-back. He produced a man-of-the-match performance for Bayern in the Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund and is determined to improve further. “I have not reached my limit. Far from it – and that’s why I moved to Bayern,” he says. Bayern’s former technical director Michael Reschke called him “the most underrated player in Germany” and he will apparently challenge Thomas Müller for the title of best golfer at the club. MC
Dan-Axel Zagadou, Paris Saint-Germain to Borussia Dortmund for a tribunal fee
“I made a conscious decision in favour of BVB because this huge club always succeeds in integrating young players into the team and developing them at the highest level,” said the teenager when his move from the French capital was announced. Zagadou never made a first-team appearance for his hometown club but, like his fellow France youth team star Jean-Kévin Augustin, who joined RB Leipzig for €13m, he opted to continue his career in the Bundesliga having almost joined Manchester City last year. Already a towering 6ft 5in despite only celebrating his 18th birthday at the start of June, he is tipped to one day replace Mats Hummels at the heart of Dortmund’s defence. EA
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