With the market having closed on Friday in Europe’s remaining leagues, Goal runs the rule over the biggest success stories and failures.
WINNERS: BARCELONA
The summer window could not have gone much better for Barcelona, who successfully hijacked two transfers, as well as persuading Everton to take on most of their dead wood.
While Inter should probably bear most of the blame for Arturo Vidal rocking up at Camp Nou given the way the Nerazzurri got distracted by the enticing prospect of signing Luka Modric from Real Madrid, the way in which Barcelona stole Malcom away from Roma undeniably killed off the Blaugrana’s ‘Mes que un club’ image once and for all.
Clement Lenglet has also arrived to strengthen the centre of defence and his €36 million (£32m/$42m) transfer was almost completely covered by the remarkable sale of Yerry Mina to Everton for a €30m (£27m/$35m), a staggering fee for a player who struggled horribly after arriving in Catalunya in January for just €12m (£11m/$14m).
The Toffees also handed over €20m (£18m/$23m) for reserve left-back Lucas Digne, and €2.25m to take the confidence-sapped Andre Gomes on loan for a season.
Sevilla stumped up an additional €8.5m (£8m/$10m) for Aleix Vidal, while Sassuolo paid an initial €6m (£5m/$7m) for Marlon, making this an incredibly lucrative summer for Barca, who needed to balance their books ahead of the commencement of the redevelopment of Camp Nou next year.
Paco Alcacer’s departure for Dortmund leaves Barca without an obvious Luis Suarez understudy but, all in all, this is a deeper and better-balanced squad than the one that recorded a double last season.
WINNERS: LIVERPOOL
When Liverpool broke the transfer record for a goalkeeper in July, just six months after breaking the transfer record for a defender, Jurgen Klopp was mocked in some circles over his previous comments on rivals essentially trying to buy success: “Do I have to do it differently to that? Actually, I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.”
So, why then, did he sanction the acquisitions of Alisson and Virgil van Dijk for £56m ($73m) and £75m ($97m), respectively? For the same reason that he also paid a grand total of £57m (£74m) for Naby Keita, who also arrived this year – because Liverpool were short in quality in three key areas.
And, as Klopp explained, “Quality costs a specific price.” And nobody is querying the size of those transfer fees now, with Liverpool having made a 100 per cent winning start to the 2018-19 season, and without conceding a single goal to sit top of the Premier League.
The Reds finished fourth last season and reached the final of the Champions League with a top-heavy squad overly reliant on the brilliance of attacking trio Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane but with Alisson, Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri (who should allow Klopp to rotate his front three with greater regularity) now on board, they look a far more balanced outfit.
Whether Liverpool will end up as champions of England remains to be seen but they are undoubtedly one of the winners of this summer’s transfer market.
LOSERS: REAL MADRID
When Real Madrid fans saw Cristiano Ronaldo follow Zinedine Zidane out of the Santiago Bernabeu, they fully expected club president Florentino Perez to replace the Portuguese superstar with a marquee name.
Thibaut Courtois has arrived from Chelsea but the Belgian hardly represents a significant upgrade on Keylor Navas, just named UEFA’s goalkeeper of the year and still in possession of a starting spot under new coach Julen Lopetegui, while Mateo Kovacic was allowed to move in the other direction.
Luckily, Luka Modric was prevented from absconding to Inter but the wait went on for Perez’s late Galactico. But not one of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Eden Hazard or Harry Kane arrived in the Spanish capital.
Instead, Real will begin their bid for a fourth successive Champions League with Mariano Diaz as their new No.7, the same Mariano Diaz that the Blancos had sold to Lyon a year ago for just €8m (£7m/$9m).
Granted, the 25-year-old enjoyed a fine season in Ligue 1, netting 18 times in 34 appearances, but he was not the signing that the Real supporters wanted to see their side make before the close of the summer transfer window.
In truth, Perez didn’t even want Mariano, at least not initially, according to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas: “Mariano said to me that he wished to go to Madrid and that is why he rejected the Sevilla offer.
“I informed Florentino Perez but his response was that Mariano was not the player they were in the market for, before making the offer.”
LOSER: JOSE MOURINHO
It was amusing to hear Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho demanding greater respect from reporters after Monday night’s 3-0 loss at home to Tottenham, given he has never had the courtesy to afford rivals or referees any throughout his coaching career.
However, the Portuguese’s increasingly petulant and often downright bizarre behaviour is no laughing matter at Old Trafford, where chaos and confusion reigns, on and off the field.
The reason for Mourinho’s discontent is, of course, Ed Woodward’s refusal to sign a centre-half during the summer transfer window and he certainly has grounds for complaint if United’s executive vice-chairman did indeed counter by claiming that there were no centre-halves out there better than United’s current crop of calamities.