Complete List of 2024 Transfers

Highlights

• Premier League clubs could begin trading among themselves on 14th June, while most European sides had to wait until their window opened on 1st July.
• The summer transfer window closes across the continent on 30th August 2024.
• Atletico Madrid are responsible for the most expensive move during the off-season so far, signing Julian Alvarez from Manchester City for £82m.

In the news-hungry world of modern football, transfers – whether fanciful or fully formed – are gold. It can feel as though some fans spend the long stretches between the official transfer windows impatiently wading through matches before the relentless sequence of buying and selling begins once again.

While the Premier League’s summer transfer window opened as early as 14th June, most European leagues had to wait until 1st July to complete any deals in which money exchanges hands. Now that the summer is in full swing, clubs from every corner of the continent can trim and tweak their squads.

Prodigious teenagers, legendary veterans and every type of professional in between have been involved in the churn of personnel this year. Here’s a closer look at each and every deal between clubs from Europe’s top leagues during the 2024 window.

August 21

Chelsea’s rollercoaster summer hurtled around another loop after completing a partial swap deal with Atletico Madrid. Life-long Blues fan and academy poster boy, Conor Gallagher was sold to the Spanish giants for a sum in the region of £33m, representing ‘pure profit’ in the eyes of owners seemingly intent on offloading homegrown talent. Atletico’s misfit forward, Joao Felix, moved in the opposite direction for £45m, returning to Stamford Bridge a year after spending the first five months of 2023 on loan at Chelsea.

Felix scored four goals and played under three different head coaches during his 20-game spell in west London. The fourth most expensive player in football history registered more red cards (one) than assists (zero) in Chelsea’s colours.

August 20

Southampton have been ambitious in this summer’s window, splurging more than £80m on a fleet of new arrivals. But most of these acquisitions are familiar with the demands of English football. Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downs were both on loan at Southampton last season, while the likes of Cameron Archer, Ben Brereton Diaz and Adam Lallana are all English-born players. Mateus Fernandes represents the club’s most expensive foreign recruit this year.

The 20-year-old Portuguese midfielder set to join the Saints caught the eye during a loan spell with mid-table Estoril last season and has been described as a “huge talent”. Southampton boss Russell Martin insisted that Fernandes is a signing for “here and now” but the player himself warned that there would be an adaptation period. “I want to help the team,” he said, “but I’m new in England so I need help from them too!”

August 19

Fabian Hurzeler may be the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history, but Brighton have certainly shown a lot of faith in the 31-year-old with an enormous outlay. The acquisition of former Leeds United forward Georginio Rutter broke the club’s transfer record for a second time this summer, activating the 22-year-old forward’s £40m release clause. Leeds, losers in the Championship play-off final, bitterly insisted that they made “every effort” to keep Rutter at Elland Road in the face of Brighton’s financial might.

Hurzeler enjoyed a perfect start to life in the Premier League, overseeing a thumping 3-0 victory away to Everton. The young coach warned: “It’s a good start, nothing more. It’s important to stay humble after a win like this.” Rutter’s arrival should keep the club’s existing forwards on their toes.

August 18

Not every day in the transfer window can be a winner. The middle Sunday of August was laced with matches across the continent as most European leagues kicked off the 2024/25 campaign. The Bundesliga is one of the few divisions that had not yet got underway, ensuring that Eintracht Frankfurt could focus on bringing in the Belgian international Arthur Theate on loan from Rennes.

Atalanta’s recruitment department had to multitask. In between a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup and their Serie A opener against Lecce, La Dea snapped up Udinese’s talented midfielder Lazar Samardzic on an initial loan which could be made permanent next summer.

August 17

As a club legend and senior advisor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been at the epicentre of AC Milan’s transfer recruitment this summer. The typically outspoken Swedish legend has focused on some unorthodox qualities of the club’s arrivals, hailing new manager Paulo Fonseca as “elegant” and with “more hair” than his bald predecessor, Stefano Pioli. In the eyes of Zlatan, the “handsome” Alvaro Morata was a fitting addition to “a good-looking team”.

Youssouf Fofana escaped any cosmetic compliments after his £21.3m transfer was belatedly confirmed following weeks of speculation. Ibrahimovic did describe the France international as “a complete player” who has completed the squad.

August 16

Aston Villa have been one of the most active Premier League clubs in this summer’s transfer window and Cameron Archer has felt the full force of that policy. The Villa academy graduate moved to Sheffield United last August in a deal worth £18m. Villa included a £14m buy-back clause in that contract, which they exercised at the end of July only to ship him off to Southampton for a £1m profit less than five weeks later.

Archer is not the only striker on the move in England’s top flight. Bournemouth broke the club’s transfer record by bringing in former Porto forward Evanilson, handing the Brazilian the number nine shirt vacated by Tottenham-bound Dominic Solanke.

August 15

Marco Reus has not worn the colours of any club other than Borussia Dortmund for more than a decade. The Dortmund-born forward came through BVB’s academy before going to Rot Weiss Ahlen and Borussia Monchengladbach in search of first-team opportunities. When Reus rejoined his boyhood club in 2012, David Beckham was still playing for LA Galaxy.

The iconic MLS franchise have now acquired a player who boasts a right foot almost as impressive as the one Beckham wielded. Reus may have endured more setbacks than success, but he ended his 12-year stint at Dortmund as “a living legend”, to borrow the words of his last manager, Edin Terzic.

August 14

Brighton have chiselled out a well-deserved reputation as transfer market experts, making vast profits on hidden gems plucked from obscurity for minimal fees before departing for swollen sums. Last summer alone, the Seagulls banked more than £160m by selling the likes of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister.

This year has been a case of reinvestment. Brighton broke the club’s transfer record by bringing in Yankuba Minteh from Newcastle United earlier this summer and the £25m arrival of Brajan Gruda has taken the total spend to more than £100m for the first time in club history. Based on Brighton’s stellar track record, the value of these costly recruits may very well rise in the years to come.

August 13

Erik ten Hag set about overhauling Manchester United’s entire backline in one day. A few hours after Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s departure to West Ham United was confirmed, the Red Devils unveiled two new defenders who had arrived from Bayern Munich for a combined fee north of £50m.

Both Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui worked extensively with Ten Hag at Ajax and joined the swollen list of former players to join United under the Dutchman’s supervision. This familiar pairing has been drafted in to plug the gaps in a porous defence. Across the 2023/24 campaign, United conceded a staggering 660 shots – the second most of any team in the division. The infamous Derby County side from 2007/08, which collected a record-low 11 Premier League points, only faced 630 shots that season.

August 12

Manchester City are not the only club losing a member of the Alvarez family this summer. While Julian completed a hulking £82m move to Atletico Madrid, his two brothers said goodbye to the non-league side, Abbey Hey, which they had been playing for over the past two seasons. The World Cup-winning Alvarez was even known to attend these park games when there was space in his hectic schedule.

Although for Alvarez, he was never busy enough. Despite racking up more Premier League minutes than Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland last season, the Argentine international admitted that it was “annoying to get left out of important games”.

August 11

Pedro Neto joined a Chelsea side boasting unprecedented squad depth. The jet-heeled Portugal international became the club’s 14th forward, leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee in the region of £54m to compete with the likes of Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke for a starting spot on the flanks.

The Blues are also blessed with plenty of left-backs – which is why the US teenager Caleb Wiley was sent on loan to sister club, Strasbourg – but have a significant shortage of right-backs. On the same day that Neto’s move was announced, captain Reece James suffered another hamstring injury, leaving Malo Gusto as the club’s only fit right-back ahead of the impending Premier League campaign.

August 10

Tottenham Hotspur lost the club’s greatest-ever striker in the summer of 2023 without signing a replacement, but scoring was not an issue. Ange Postecoglou managed to coax more league goals out of his new side (74) than Spurs had recorded during Harry Kane’s final campaign (70). Dominic Solanke has been brought in to fill the void left by the team’s former talisman and offers so much more than just goals.

The one-cap England international racked up 19 Premier League goals last season for a Bournemouth side who pressed feverishly under the watchful gaze of Andoni Iraola. Solanke’s diligent work off the ball will have been just as attractive as his prolific return for Postecoglou. No wonder the Australian sanctioned a deal worth £55m initially alongside £10m in add-ons.

August 9

Dani Olmo spent seven years in Barcelona’s revered Masia academy before moving to Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb as a 16-year-old in 2014. A decade later, the Euro 2024 Golden Boot winner has finally returned to Catalonia.

RB Leipzig lured Olmo away from Croatia in 2020 and will receive as much as £51m for the 26-year-old. Barcelona inserted a €500m (£429m) release clause into the deal to ensure that their recruit doesn’t go anywhere any time soon. This is the first major arrival of Hansi Flick’s tenure and Barcelona’s new coach will be well aware of Olmo’s talents from his time in charge of Leipzig’s Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.

August 8

Chelsea have enjoyed – or some would say endured – another dizzying transfer window. The big-picture specialists at BlueCo have sanctioned a nine-digit outlay, most of which has been gambled on future potential. The 26-year-old free agent, Tosin Adarabioyo, is the oldest recruit, while Aaron Anselmino became the fourth teenager signed by the big spenders.

Manchester United had been hot on Anselmino before he opted for Stamford Bridge, but the highly-rated 19-year-old will not join up with Enzo Maresca’s squad until the 2025/26 campaign, spending the upcoming season back on loan at his current employer, Boca Juniors. Whether Maresca will still be at the helm by the time the Argentine centre-back arrives, remains to be seen.

August 7

In a financial landscape governed by increasingly strict profit and sustainability rules, signings have to be balanced by outgoings. Often for Premier League sides, this reshuffle comes in the form of loan deals for promising youngsters. Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea all leaned upon this familiar solution at the start of August, making space in the squad for potential additions.

Chelsea’s Alfie Gilchrist made his Premier League debut in December 2023 and had inched his way into Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team plans by the end of the campaign. New manager Enzo Maresca didn’t have the same confidence in the 20-year-old and sanctioned his loan move to freshly relegated Sheffield United.

August 6

West Ham United became the second Premier League club to spend more than £100m, breaking the nine-digit barrier after Aston Villa’s wild spending spree. Guido Rodriguez’s arrival did not contribute to that swollen total, but the free transfer could still be an important addition to Julen Lopetegui’s new-look squad.

The Argentine World Cup winner is a reliable – if slightly immobile – holding midfielder. Before confirming his departure from Real Betis, Rodriguez consulted West Ham’s existing defensive pivot, Edson Alvarez, his former teammate at the Mexican side, Club America. Alvarez enjoyed a promising debut campaign in English football last term, but West Ham are still trying to plug the gaps left by Declan Rice’s sale to Arsenal a year ago.

August 5

At Niclas Fullkrug’s West Ham unveiling, the burly German striker was bursting with optimism. “I have a very good feeling,” he grinned, exposing the uneven and endearing space between his teeth which earned him the nickname, ‘Lucke’ – Gap.

While the £27m arrival from Borussia Dortmund may be positive, West Ham fans have seen this all before. Fullkrug is the 59th forward signed by the club since David Gold and David Sullivan became majority owners in 2010. Of that swollen tally, the worst are used as perennial punchlines, while those that escape into forgotten obscurity are among the most fortunate. Whether Fullkrug will continue to flash his trademark smile remains to be seen.

August 4

Nicolas Pepe endured an underwhelming Arsenal career. Emerging as a prolific inverted winger for Lille, the Ivory Coast international was snapped up by the Gunners for a club-record fee of £72m in the summer of 2019. Pepe insists that this hulking sum tainted anything he did on the pitch. “When I first joined,” he explained, “the fans weren’t really judging my performances, they were judging the price tag.”

There will be no lofty expectations after Pepe arrived at Villarreal on a free transfer this summer. The former goalkeeper – who only moved outfield as a 14-year-old – continues to rebuild his reputation after solid, if not spectacular, spells at Nice and Trabzonspor since leaving Arsenal.

August 3

Atletico Madrid have a long history of legendary strikers. Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao and Diego Costa have all worn the famous red and white stripes over the years. Alvaro Morata struggled to consistently live up to that illustrious company and was sold to AC Milan after scoring three league goals in the second half of last season.

Alexander Sorloth rattled in four goals during one game against Real Madrid in May, finishing the campaign with 23 in Spain’s top flight for a mid-table Villarreal side. After flirting with Girona’s top scorer, Artem Dovbyk, for much of the off-season, Atletico have recruited Sorloth to lead the line for 2024/25.

August 2

Most clubs would be thrilled to receive £34m for an attacking midfielder who amassed just four starts and zero goals across the last two seasons. But Emile Smith Rowe’s move to Fulham has been treated like a death in the family by Arsenal’s grieving fanbase.

The injury-ravaged 24-year-old lived the dream of every fan when he broke into the first team of his boyhood club during the COVID-19 campaign of 2020/21. By the time supporters were allowed back into stadiums, the Gunners faithful had immortalised Smith Rowe with a popular chant that hailed the Hale End graduate. It remains to be seen whether he can stay fit for long enough to win the hearts of Fulham’s fanbase.

August 1

Pascal Gross is perhaps the greatest success story of Brighton’s transfer model. Arriving from Ingolstadt, a tiny club that had just been relegated from the Bundesliga, in the summer of 2017, the £3m acquisition didn’t inspire much excitement. By then, Gross was 26 and had spent the majority of his career outside the German top flight. But in Brighton’s analytics department, it was treated like the steal of the year.

Despite playing for the second-worst team in the Bundesliga, Gross led the division in chances created, racking up 98 for his inefficient teammates. For comparison, Neymar – who would move in the same summer for £198m – only created 91 chances for Barcelona. Gross spent seven glorious years on the south coast, scoring more goals and providing more assists in the Premier League than any other Brighton player. The Seagulls watched him join his boyhood club Borussia Dortmund with a heavy heart – and still made a £5m profit on the best investment in the club’s history.

July 31

AC Milan made some significant moves at the end of July. Under the stewardship of Paulo Fonseca, who had replaced Stefano Pioli in mid-June, the Italian giants snapped up the highly-rated 23-year-old centre-back Strahinja Pavlovic from RB Salzburg. On the same day that Milan brought in this promising young recruit, they let a famous name go.

Daniel Maldini is the third generation of his family to play for the Rossoneri. After his grandfather, Cesare, spent a decade in the club’s backline, Daniel’s father, Paolo, established himself as one of the best defenders of all time during a trophy-laden spell at San Siro. But while his relatives both captained Milan to European Cup triumphs, Daniel has struggled to even get into the first team. Almost 70 years on from his grandfather’s Milan debut, the youngest Maldini was allowed to join Monza on a free transfer.

July 30

Several Premier League clubs bolstered their squads with exciting young talents on the same day in July 2024. While Everton and Bournemouth brought in a pair of giant centre-backs in the form of Jake O’Brien and Dean Huijsen respectively, Chelsea snapped up Villarreal’s 22-year-old goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.

As is the case with most young players, all three have endured fluctuating performances during their embryonic careers. Southampton are painfully aware of the volatility of junior talent after tumbling out of the top flight with a squad stuffed full of unproven potential in 2023. The newly promoted Saints have turned to the slightly more experienced figure of Ben Brereton Diaz. During his six-month loan spell at Sheffield United last term, the Chile international rattled in six goals – more than Tottenham’s Son Heung-min or Liverpool star Mohamed Salah over the same period.

July 29

After almost a month of delays, Mikel Arteta finally got his man. Riccardo Calafiori had attracted interest from Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich and any other club interested in snagging a composed and cultured defender following his impressive displays at Euro 2024. But Arsenal – and Arteta specifically – were always Calafiori’s first choice.

In the wake of the 22-year-old’s arrival, Arteta revealed that the former Bologna centre-back was “adamant” that north London would be his next destination. “Let me know when you are ready, my bags are ready, and I just want to come to Arsenal,” Calafiori told the Gunners boss.

July 28

Raphael Varane had already turned down the advances of one legendary World Cup winner at the start of his career, he wouldn’t be so unresponsive in the twilight of his time as a professional footballer. As a studious teenager, Varane infamously hung up on Zinedine Zidane when he tried to sign him for Real Madrid because he was revising for his university entrance exams.

Cesc Fabregas had more luck. The former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea playmaker is in charge of newly promoted Serie A side Como, who can count Premier League icon Thierry Henry among their minority shareholders. Varane had struggled with injuries during his final season with Manchester United before signing off with a triumphant appearance in the FA Cup final.

July 27

“Never forget your roots” is the bio for Robin Le Normand’s X account. Even after making a high-profile move to Atletico Madrid for a fee in excess of £25m, there is little chance of the centre-back ever overlooking the influence Real Sociedad had on his career.

After coming through Brest’s youth system in his native France, Le Normand had been afforded just one appearance for the senior side as he approached his 20th birthday. A scout from La Real spotted the upright centre-back and quickly brought him to the Basque country. Following an adaptation period in the club’s B team, Le Normand has made himself a first-team regular in the last five years while breaking into Spain’s national side.

July 26

Jesper Lindstrom was hot property in 2023. Fresh from enjoying the most prolific season of his Bundesliga career, the Europa League winner with Eintracht Frankfurt was attracting interest from the best teams in the world. Liverpool were part of the chasing pack. Despite growing up as a fervent fan of the Reds, Lindstrom turned down the Premier League giants to join Napoli in search of minutes. “I am at an age now where I have to play football,” he explained.

It did not go to plan. The Dane was afforded just two Serie A starts as the defending Italian champions slumped to 10th place. A loan move to Everton, Liverpool’s main rivals, offers Lindstrom the chance to “come back on track”, to use his own words.

July 25

Between the big-money moves and high-profile sagas, each transfer window throws up some surprising deals. Oli McBurnie’s arrival in Las Palmas, swapping freshly relegated Sheffield United for the sunny climes of Gran Canaria, was not on many people’s bingo cards.

The Blades paid £20m for McBurnie’s services in the summer of 2019 but are not entitled to any compensation as the striker’s five-year contract has expired. The Scot will have to brace himself for a significant cultural shift on and off the pitch. Sheffield United recorded the lowest passing statistics in the Premier League last season, while Las Palmas pride themselves on keeping the ball – only Barcelona had a higher share of possession in the 2023/24 La Liga campaign.

July 24

Aston Villa’s busy summer continued with the sale of Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad. Unai Emery has embarked upon a full-scale squad overhaul, spending and receiving more than £100m before August. If Villa have been unusually active, the Saudi Pro League is only belatedly creaking into action.

After a record-breaking summer in 2023, when clubs in the revamped division spent more than £800m collectively, Saudi sides have been more cautious this year. Diaby’s £51.9m move to Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad is the first transfer in excess of £15m this window. The French winger will be one of the highest-paid players in the lucrative division, boasting a reported annual salary of £20m.

July 23

Bologna were Serie A’s surprise package during the 2023/24 campaign. Led by the lateral thinker Thiago Motta – who infamously championed a 2-7-2 formation – the fallen giants shocked the Italian top flight by qualifying for the Champions League with a fifth-place finish. As is so often the case in modern football, elite clubs from across the continent have gutted the inspiring underdogs.

Motta and star striker Joshua Zirkzee have both been whisked away, while Riccardo Calafiori has one foot out of the door. The rebuilding process was boosted by the arrival of Toulouse’s prolific striker Thijs Dallinga. Torino also enjoyed a promising campaign and have added Che Adams to their roster. The former Southampton striker is the first Scotland international to play for the club since the legendary Denis Law enjoyed a brief spell in Turin during the 1961/62 campaign.

July 22

Aston Villa’s £50m acquisition of Amadou Onana ensured that the summer of 2024 will go down in club history. The Midlands giants had already purchased seven players before the arrival of the Belgium international took the club’s total spend to almost £150m – Villa have never recorded a bigger outlay in any transfer window across their 149-year history.

Unai Emery hasn’t been given a blank chequebook. Onana has been bought to help fill the void left by Douglas Luiz, who joined Juventus before the soft deadline of 30th June for a fee in the region of £42.4m. Villa are also operating on a budget inflated by Champions League prize money for the first time in the club’s history.

July 21

Real Madrid announced the purchase of Brazilian wonderkid Endrick all the way back in December 2022. Fast forward 18 months and the Spanish champions have finally got their man – now that he is legally considered to be a man. FIFA regulations prohibit the international transfer of players under the age of 18, so Endrick’s move could only be confirmed once he hit that landmark birthday on 21st July 2024.

The prodigious Brazilian was part of his senior national team’s underwhelming appearance at the 2024 Copa America. Starting the quarter-final against Uruguay in the absence of his new teammate Vinicius Junior – who was serving an ill-timed suspension – Endrick infamously only managed to complete one pass (the kickoff) during his 90 minutes on the pitch before Brazil were eliminated on penalties.

July 20

Operating under strict financial regulations as the eagle-eyed enforcers of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules scrutinise each deal, Newcastle have approached the transfer window with caution this year. Eddie Howe has described it as “a real summer of work”, hailing the club’s new sporting director, Paul Mitchell, as “outstanding”.

Mitchell oversaw the arrival of Miodrag Pivas. The Serbian teenager, who can operate in midfield or as a centre-back, has made less than 50 senior appearances throughout his career. After impressing in the third tier of Austrian football and Serbia’s second division, Pivas may take some time to break into Newcastle’s first team.

July 19

Two names etched into the history of the European Championship were on the move in mid-July. Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 captain, Alvaro Morata, sealed an £11m transfer to AC Milan, adding to his swollen tally of cumulative transfer fees. Without ever establishing himself as the leading man at any of his glittering array of clubs, Morata has managed to amass almost £200m in combined sums.

The details of Kacper Kozlowski’s deal have not been released but will come nowhere near the lofty price tags Morata is used to. The Poland international became the youngest player in Euros history when he earned a brief cameo at Euro 2020 – a record that Morata’s teammate Lamine Yamal would break in 2024 – and was snapped up by Brighton. Kozlowski never made a senior appearance for the Seagulls and has been shipped out to Turkish side Gaziantep for an undisclosed fee.

July 18

On the same week that England suffered through the hottest day of the year so far, the transfer window caught fire. Both Manchester United and Manchester City completed marquee purchases, snagging the talented and youthful duo of Leny Yoro and Savinho respectively. While United had to outmanoeuvre reigning European champions Real Madrid to confirm their £52m acquisition of the 18-year-old French centre-back, City’s negotiations for Savinho were more straightforward.

The fleet-footed Brazilian winger has been on the books of Troyes since 2022. The French lower-league side is part of the City Football Group, which also includes Girona – the team that Savinho represented so impressively during a loan spell last season – and, of course, Manchester City.

July 17

The recruitment team at Ipswich Town have longer memories than most football fans. For many casual observers, Arijanet Muric will forever be remembered for scoring one of the worst own goals in Premier League history. Aside from that spectacular blunder against Brighton in April 2024, the former Burnley shot-stopper did enough to stay in the Premier League with Ipswich in a deal which could rise as high as £15m.

Over the last 10 years, only four players had ever moved directly between Atalanta and Cagliari in Italy’s Serie A. The two clubs struck a quadruple trade on the same day in July 2024. While the Ghana international Ibrahim Sulemana was bought by Atalanta for £6.7m, three players from La Dea moved to Sardinia.

July 16

Southampton have been desperate to sign Flynn Downes all summer. The 25-year-old midfielder made a positive impression during his loan spell on the south coast last season, establishing himself as a regular in Russell Martin’s exciting team which won promotion to England’s top flight.

As GIVEMESPORT exclusively revealed in mid-June, Southampton were always in ‘pole position’ to prise Downes away from West Ham. The Saints got their man a month later for the princely sum of £18m. The former England under-20 international represents the club’s eighth arrival since securing promotion via a play-off final victory over Leeds United in May.

July 15

During Manchester United’s defensive injury crisis last season, Erik ten Hag was forced to draw upon every corner of his squad. Willy Kambwala hit double digits for appearances across all competitions but turned down a contract extension to move to La Liga side Villarreal in search of more consistent first-team opportunities. United baked a buy-back clause into a deal for the 19-year-old centre-back which could rise to £9.6m.

Neither Nuno Tavares nor Albert Sambi Lokonga have been able to break into Arsenal’s senior side. The talented pair of 24-year-olds spent last season out on loan at Nottingham Forest and Luton Town respectively, and will be on their travels again this term. While Tavares has moved to Lazio on an initial loan agreement which includes an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met, Lokonga is also keen to make his temporary stay at Sevilla permanent.

July 14

After weeks of speculation, Joshua Zirkzee finally agreed a five-year deal with Manchester United. One year after splashing £72m on Rasmus Hojlund, United have committed another considerable sum on a young striker based in Serie A who does not boast a reputation as a prolific finisher.

More adept at dropping deep and dribbling past opponents with a deceptively low centre of gravity for a 6’4 forward, Zirkzee scored nine non-penalty league goals for a Bologna side that upset the odds of qualifying for the Champions League last season. The 23-year-old Dutch international will be limited to the Europa League at United next season after completing a £36.5m move.

July 13

Shortly before the 2022 World Cup, Mehdi Taremi’s father broke down in tears on Iranian TV. “I regret that this boy did not go to European football much earlier,” he spluttered. “It’s all my fault.” The prolific forward only moved to Portuguese side Rio Ave in 2019 when he was 27. Shortly before turning 32, Taremi is preparing for his first season in one of Europe’s top five leagues with Inter Milan after coming to the end of his contract with Porto.

Liam Delap’s father has not been forced into a public sobbing by his kid’s career trajectory just yet. The son of the Premier League’s iconic long-throw specialist Rory Delap has been prised away from Manchester City’s bench by promoted outfit Ipswich Town.

July 12

Renato Veiga’s versatility is his greatest strength. The left-footed Portugal under-21 international can not only seamlessly switch positions on the pitch, but is just as comfortable slipping into any of the five languages which he speaks fluently. In a hastily constructed, cosmopolitan Chelsea squad, Veiga’s multilingual talents will be priceless.

The Blues coughed up around £12m for the services of a player who came through Sporting CP’s academy and thrived in midfield and defence at Swiss side Basel last term. Chelsea had been keen on Bologna’s progressive centre-back Riccardo Calafiori at the start of the summer. The Italian’s impressive displays at Euro 2024 cranked up his potential price tag, prompting Chelsea to pivot to Veiga.

July 11

Thomas Tuchel spent much of the summer of 2023 publicly broadcasting Bayern Munich’s desperate need for what he described as “a real defensive midfielder”. The Champions League-winning coach wanted someone “who thinks very defensively, takes care that nothing happens at the back and who is more concerned with defence than attacking the opposition box”. The £42.3m arrival of Joao Palhinha from Fulham perfectly fits that brief – but Tuchel is no longer in Bavaria.

The combative Portuguese midfielder was on the cusp of joining Tuchel in Munich last summer, only for the deal to fall through at the last minute. Vincent Kompany is now at the Bayern helm and will reap the rewards of a player who made exactly 300 tackles across his two seasons in the Premier League, per FBref. No other player in the division made more than 191 over the same period.

July 10

Only two players in the history of football have ever commanded a larger fee than Philippe Coutinho. The former Liverpool playmaker eventually cost Barcelona £142m when he swapped Anfield for Iberia in the biggest sale ever made by a Premier League club. After forcing through a dream move which had been delayed for six months in January 2018, Coutinho emphatically failed to live up to his hulking fee.

Aston Villa made the surprising decision to snap up the ageing Brazilian after a moderately successful six-month loan spell in 2022 for £17m. But once again, the ephemeral midfielder struggled for consistent form. Following a season-long loan in Qatar with Al Duhail last season, Coutinho will temporarily return to his boyhood club Vasco da Gama this term.

July 9

Moise Kean has accumulated more than £65m in transfer fees – and that’s not including the two tractors that Juventus promised but failed to deliver to his father. The former Everton misfit secured an £11m move to Fiorentina in a deal decidedly lacking in any mention of farmyard machinery.

In all of Kean’s various transfers, he has never ended up at Nottingham Forest. In that sense, the Italian international is in the minority. Forest have bought and sold a swollen glut of players since returning to the Premier League in 2022. Every area of the pitch has been bolstered on multiple occasions, but the Tricky Trees have stockpiled goalkeepers like few other clubs. The towering 6’8 figure of Carlos Miguel is the eighth shot-stopper Forest have signed in three years.

July 8

It’s been a summer of upheaval for Borussia Dortmund. The surprise Champions League finalists parted ways with head coach Edin Terzic and said goodbye to the legendary figures of Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. Waldemar Anton’s £19m move from Stuttgart represents the first transfer of Nuri Sahin’s reign. Hailed by Germany’s national team manager Julian Nagelsmann as “an extremely stable defender with a big heart”, Anton captained Stuttgart to second place in last season’s Bundesliga, finishing three places and 10 points above his new employers.

Over the last two seasons, Arsenal’s promising young striker Mika Biereth played for three different clubs and still didn’t earn a single minute for the Gunners. Without a clear route into the first team, Biereth has made his final loan spell at Sturm Graz permanent, moving to the Austrian club for a record fee of £4m.

July 7

The race for Michael Olise’s signature has been fierce for several years. While Manchester United and Arsenal sniffed around, Chelsea came as close as agreeing personal terms with the fleet-footed winger in June. But Bayern Munich eventually emerged as Olise’s long-awaited next destination.

After signing a deal worth an initial £45m before various add-ons could take it to £50.8m, Olise explained that he had plumped for Bayern to “win as many titles as possible”. The record Bundesliga champions relinquished their domestic crown last season to Bayer Leverkusen, ending the 2023/24 campaign without a single trophy for the first time since 2012.

July 6

When Wolverhampton Wanderers plucked Max Kilman out of non-league football in August 2018, Maidenhead United received £40,000 for the towering centre-back. Less than six years later, Wolves sold the same player for 1,000 times that fee. The Midlands club won’t bank all the money from Kilman’s £40m move to West Ham as Maidenhead cleverly included a sell-on clause in the initial deal for the defender.

Kilman only missed one of Wolves’ 23 Premier League games with Julen Lopetegui in charge and will get to link up with the Spanish manager again in east London. “He’s a top-class coach and someone I learned a lot from,” Kilman explained upon his arrival at West Ham, “and I am confident I will continue to improve as a player under his management here.”

July 5

Brighton’s technical director David Weir has been very busy in the opening weeks of the summer transfer window. The astutely run club have appointed a new manager and splashed more than £70m on three new arrivals. Mats Wieffer became the latest transfer when his £26.5m move from Feyenoord was announced on 5th July. Only missing out on the Dutch squad at Euro 2024 through injury, the 24-year-old has been hailed as “one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe” by Brighton’s Weir.

The Seagulls’ south coast rivals Southampton have been just as active in the early off-season after securing promotion back to England’s top flight. Nathan Wood arrived from Swansea City as the club’s third new centre-back in a deal worth £3m.

July 4

Arsenal’s first arrival of the summer is a familiar face. David Raya won the Golden Glove with the Gunners last term, keeping an unrivalled 16 Premier League clean sheets as Mikel Arteta’s side narrowly missed out on their first top-flight title in 20 years. That parsimonious record – which owed as much to the 10 outfield players as the goalkeeper himself – was achieved during Raya’s initial loan spell. To avoid overspending in last summer’s window, Arsenal struck a deal with Brentford to ensure that they would only have to pay Raya’s £27m release clause this year.

Lille didn’t pay a penny to acquire the services of Ethan Mbappe. Kylian’s 17-year-old brother left Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract in the same summer as his sibling. While Mbappe Sr made his long-awaited switch to Real Madrid, Ethan stayed in Ligue 1, joining up with a Lille side that has a history of trusting young talent.

July 3

Everton have been surprisingly active in the early days of the transfer window. After freeing up some funds through the sales of Lewis Dobbin and Ben Godfrey, Sean Dyche has been allowed to bring in Marseille’s versatile forward Iliman Ndiaye for a hefty sum of £16.9m. Now an established Senegal international, the French-born dribbler previously plied his trade in England’s fifth tier with Boreham Wood.

On the same day that Marseille cashed in on Ndiaye, the French club under the stewardship of former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi brought in Brest’s Lilian Brassier on loan. The French centre-back scored as many league goals as Ndiaye could muster last season (three).

Much like Ndiaye, Southampton’s new centre-back Ronnie Edwards has experience in the lower reaches of England’s football pyramid. The 21-year-old came through at Barnet but convinced the newly promoted Saints to pay £3m after an impressive campaign for Peterborough in League One.

July 2

In an uncharacteristically proactive move from Daniel Levy’s Tottenham Hotspur, the north London outfit reached an agreement with Leeds United to secure the services of Archie Gray. The prodigious 18-year-old was also pursued by Brentford, but Spurs won the race for the England under-21 international, forking out an initial fee of £25m on the teenager. Leeds released a tear-stained statement explaining how everyone at the club was “heartbroken to see one of our own depart” after Tottenham triggered Gray’s release clause.

Leicester City were reluctant to lose their manager Enzo Maresca to Chelsea in the summer and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has followed the same path. The 25-year-old English midfielder helped Leicester win the Championship with a team-high 14 assists last term and will now go up against his boyhood club in the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.

July 1

As the summer transfer window opened across the continent, the cash began to flow far more liberally. The Premier League trio of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Chelsea went to great pains to generate as much income as possible before the soft deadline of 30th June. They didn’t wait long to start buying again.

Aston Villa spent more than £23m on three players to kickstart July. The prodigious talents of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea arrived from Juventus while the more senior option of Ross Barkley was prised away from Luton Town. Newcastle splashed £28m on Lewis Hall alone, making the 19-year-old’s loan deal permanent despite an underwhelming debut campaign on Tyneside. Chelsea may have lost one teenager but added another in the form of Barcelona’s academy graduate Marc Guiu.

June 30

The first, unofficial deadline of the summer transfer window was a busy one. Newcastle United were the most active of several Premier League clubs desperately scrambling to secure the funds needed to avoid any breaches of the division’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) ahead of the end of the financial year.

The Magpies banked £65m from the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, sneaking both deals through just before July began. Chelsea also cashed in on their promising young academy product Omari Hutchinson, selling the 20-year-old to newly promoted Ipswich Town for an initial fee of £20m. Aston Villa parted ways with a more established figure, sanctioning the departure of star midfielder Douglas Luiz to Juventus for £42.4m.

June 29

Aston Villa’s 18-year-old academy product Omari Kellyman had been afforded less than 200 minutes of senior football, yet was still able to command a sum of £19m when moving to Chelsea this summer. The towering attacking midfielder impressed in the Premier League’s under-21 division, racking up seven goals in 11 appearances last season, but his hefty price has come as a surprise to many.

Sergino Dest didn’t cost PSV Eindhoven a penny. The US international never settled at Barcelona after moving to Catalonia from Ajax in 2020 under the express demands of manager Ronald Koeman. After the Dutch coach was sacked, Barcelona couldn’t find another club willing to commit a transfer fee to the acquisition of Dest. PSV snapped the 23-year-old up once his contract with the Spanish side expired.

June 28

Ian Maatsen started the summer wracked by devastation. After losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid, a game in which he gifted the Spanish giants their second goal, Borussia Dortmund’s Chelsea loanee was left out of Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands squad for Euro 2024. Before the end of June, Maatsen had earned a spot on the Dutch roster, replacing the injured Frenkie de Jong, and was the subject of a £37.5m move to Aston Villa.

Hakim Ziyech is all too aware of how quickly things can change in football – particularly at Chelsea. The Moroccan playmaker had a deadline day move to Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023 fall through due to an administrative error. Ziyech eventually secured a loan to Galatasaray and will permanently join the Turkish champions this summer.

June 27

Five years after scoring fewer goals for Newcastle United than Ciaran Clark, two years on from watching Real Madrid as a fan in the stands and 12 months after suffering a second consecutive relegation, Joselu fired his boyhood club to the La Liga and Champions League titles. “My dreams are not as beautiful as today has been,” he gushed after Madrid’s triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.

Real Madrid made Joselu’s loan move from Espanyol permanent on 27th June, exercising a £1.3m release clause in his contract. One short day later, the 34-year-old striker was sold to Qatari side Al-Gharafa for the same fee.

June 26

Despite acting as the goalkeeper for a Sheffield United side which broke the record for the most goals conceded in a single Premier League season, Wes Foderingham managed to stay in the division after securing a move to West Ham United once his contract with the Blades ended in June. The beleaguered shot-stopper didn’t have much protection, facing an average of almost seven shots on target per game last term.

If Foderingham’s move was a surprise, Bayer Leverkusen’s capture of Andrea Natali promises to be a coup. The highly rated 16-year-old Italian centre-back was lured away from Barcelona to the Bundesliga champions after contract discussions stalled. Barcelona’s financial offer for Natali was, in the words of his agent Vincenzo Raiola, “very, very far from what many teams in Europe proposed”.

June 25

As Toni Kroos was afforded a grand farewell from Real Madrid, Nacho Fernandez watched on in envy. The club captain hadn’t yet finalised his move to Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League and so couldn’t officially confirm his departure. “I would have loved to say goodbye to the Bernabeu like Kroos had,” Nacho later sighed.

Plans are in the works for an understated farewell at Madrid’s training ground, which is more befitting the career of a long-serving academy graduate who was never considered to be an undisputed first-choice option at the club. But that perennial status as a reliable utility player didn’t stop Nacho from lauding his own career. “I consider myself one of the best,” the defender claimed. “I give myself a 10.”

June 24

Jack Harrison wasn’t short of reasons for extending his loan spell at Everton this summer. “I think the club in general,” the Leeds United winger explained, “the fans, the staff, the manager, my teammates.” Everton’s delicate financial position is one glaring explanation as to why the Toffees haven’t made the move for Harrison permanent.

Romain Perraud hasn’t played for Southampton since they suffered the cruel fate of relegation in the summer of 2023 and won’t reap the rewards of the club’s return to England’s top flight this year. After an underwhelming loan spell at Nice, the French left-back only started two league games for the side with the best defence in Ligue 1, Perraud has moved to Real Betis in a £3m deal.

June 23

One day after Everton spent £9m on Aston Villa’s Tim Iroegbunam, the Midlands club returned the favour by coughing up £10m for one of the Toffees’ scarcely used academy products. Lewis Dobbin was the subject of this particular example of creative accounting. Unlike Iroegbunam, Dobbin did manage to have an impact on the past campaign, emerging off the bench to double Everton’s lead in a spirited 2-0 victory over Chelsea in December.

Sean Dyche seemed to be more enamoured with the “very authentic manner” of Dobbin’s celebration, which did not include any “silly dances”. If Iroegbunam does get a goal at Goodison Park, he would be best advised to choose his next move very carefully.

June 22

Despite being in such dire financial straits that they were deducted eight points for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, Everton were able to fund a £9m move for Aston Villa’s Tim Iroegbunam. Part of the same talented generation which produced Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka, Iroegbunam was limited to just one Premier League start during the 2023/24 campaign. As a homegrown player, the deal represents ‘pure profit’ for Villa.

This was the first of numerous exchanges of academy graduates between English clubs trying to balance their books ahead of 30th June – the end of the financial year. Arsenal didn’t demand a fee when they let long-serving goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo make his loan move to Wrexham permanent.

June 21

Marseille’s all-time record signing Vitinha – the Portuguese striker rather than Paris Saint-Germain’s creative midfielder – never settled in the south of France. Responsible for just six goals in 43 appearances, Vitinha was offloaded to Genoa in January. Despite an injury-riddled six months which only produced two goals, the Serie A side made that deal permanent in June. Marseille lost half of their £27m investment on Vitinha in 18 underwhelming months.

Built in the same mould as Germany’s Euro 2024 striker Niclas Fullkrug, Tim Kleindienst scored as many Bundesliga goals last season for newly promoted Heidenheim as the Borussia Dortmund forward (12). Borussia Monchengladbach only boasted one double-digit scorer last term and so secured Kleindienst’s services in the off-season.

June 20

Rober Gonzalez’s loan spell in the Eredivisie with NEC Nijmegen didn’t get off to the best start, to say the least. The Real Betis academy product came on for the final 25 minutes in the opening home game of the season while his new employers led Excelsior 3-2. Gonzalez watched on as the visitors scored twice to steal three points.

A sticky period of adaptation gave way to a windfall in the second half of the season. When NEC travelled to the home of Dutch giants Ajax, it was Gonzalez who scored a 95th-minute equaliser to secure a famous 2-2 draw. The Spaniard’s tally of 10 goals helped NEC climb up to sixth place, the club’s highest league finish in more than two decades. Despite reports of some reticence from Gonzalez, NEC made his loan deal permanent in June.

June 19

Never let it be said that Luca Waldschmidt is not a trier. The slight German forward promised to “give 111%” to his new employers, FC Koln. A former senior international, who was tipped to have a big future after excelling for Freiburg shortly before the pandemic, never lived up to the £12.7m fee which Benfica coughed up in 2020. Injuries have plagued Waldschmidt since he returned to Germany with Wolfsburg and now the 28-year-old has been forced to drop into the second tier to help Koln return to the Bundesliga. Bayer Leverkusen’s promising teenager Noah Mbamba is also preparing for a campaign in 2. Bundesliga, but has only signed for Fortuna Dusseldorf on loan.

June 18

AC Milan and Stuttgart, runners-up in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively, quickly secured loan deals for a pair of promising youngsters. While Marko Lazetic will hone his craft in Serbia with FK TSC, Stuttgart’s teenage midfielder Laurin Ulrich heads to freshly promoted SSV Ulm in Germany’s second tier.

Tete Morente was the master of his own future. The Elche fan favourite ended his time with the Spanish club after four years in Alicante. Snapped up on a free transfer by Serie A outfit Lecce, the fleet-footed forward may have a new home but will never forget the side that gave him his first taste of top-flight football. “From a distance, you will have one more Elche native forever,” Morente wrote on social media.

June 17

Chelsea never waste any time wading into the transfer market under the volatile ownership of BlueCo. The capital club were thought to be closing in on Brazilian right-back Pedro Lima only to be gazumped by Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite finishing eight places and 17 points behind Chelsea in the 2023/24 Premier League season, Wolves managed to convince the Sport Recife defender to move to Molineux. While the deal was confirmed by the Brazilian second-tier club on 17th June, Lima cannot officially join Wolves until turning 18 on 1st July.

Sergio Ramos is a defender emphatically at the other end of his career. The World Cup champion – who is more than two decades older than Lima – confirmed that he had left Sevilla for a second time ahead of a potential move to MLS.