The Spanish clubs have made the headlines this summer by doing all the big businesses in this transfer window. At the beginning of the transfer window, Real Madrid signed Eden Hazard for £88million, then Barcelona and Atletico Madrid eclipsed that price-tag by landing two big players. Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United also showed their financial muscle to snap up some star players.
It’s also safe to say the Premier League clubs didn’t sit back in this transfer window. Manchester United agreed an £80m deal to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester City.
Harry signs on a six-year contract, with the option to extend for a further year. The 26-year-old England international joined Leicester in 2017 and has made 76 appearances, scoring five goals.
Joao Felix – Atletico Madrid (£113million)
Many top European teams wanted to sign Joao Felix but only Atletico Madrid splashed a huge sum that convinced Benfica to part with their star player. Atletico Madrid paid a world record £113m fee which is the 5th highest ever paid for a player.
After Kylian Mbappe, Joao Felix has now become the second most expensive teenager in the world. Atletico Madrid garnered a hefty amount when they sold Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona, and that’s why they could meet Benfica’s asking price.
Joao Felix surprised the whole world by his performances for Benfica in his debut season. He netted 20 goals in 43 games which included even a hat-trick against Frankfurt in the Europa League.
Joao Felix looks like the best replacement Atletico could have got for Antoine Griezmann. He will be wearing the same #7 shirt which was previously worn by Griezmann.
Antoine Griezmann – Barcelona (£108million)
Antoine Griezmann was a constant performer for Atletico Madrid. He netted 133 times in 256 matches during the five years at the club. His move to Barcelona had long been talked about, yet it finally happened in July this year.
Atletico Madrid would get £108million for Griezmann, though the Spanish club doesn’t look very happy with this amount. They claim that they should have got more because a deal was struck between Griezmann and Barcelona before the release clause dropped from £180million.
Eden Hazard – Real Madrid (£88million)
Chelsea won’t be able to find a good replacement for Eden Hazard who remained a consistent performer for them. Last season, he hit the best figures when he netted 16 goals and made 15 assists.
He scored the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over Frankfurt, and then he struck twice in the Europa League final against Arsenal. After the final match, he hinted that he would probably not be at the club by the next season.
Real Madrid signed Hazard for an approximately £88million fee which made him the second most expensive player by Los Blancos. He will be wearing the shirt No. 7 previously worn by players Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez.
Lucas Hernandez – Bayern Munich (£80million)
Besides Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid also saw the departure of another high profile player in the form of Lucas Hernandez. Hernandez was part of their youth academy who worked himself up to break into the senior team in 2014. He went on to make 100 appearances for Atletico Madrid and proved himself as one of the best defenders in Spain.
He was part of France’s winning squad at the 2018 World Cup. Bayern Munich snapped him up for £80million to maintain their domestic supremacy and to do well at the European front. They have greatly bolstered their defense by signing such a strong defender like Lucas Hernandez.
Nicolas Pepe – Arsenal (£72million)
Arsenal completed a £72 million club-record deal to sign the highly-rated Ivorian winger from Ligue 1 side this month – making him the fourth most-expensive player signed by a Premier League club, according to BBC.
According to Football Weeks sources, likes Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Liverpool, Manchester United were linked with the winger in the summer besides the Gunners, following his blistering performances for the Great Danes last term, where he scored 22 league goals in 38 games.
However, the 24-year-old chose Arsenal to make his mark ahead of Napoli and other interested suitors, who also met the Ligue 1 club’s asking price for his signature.
Gérard López, Lille president, told Sky Sports:
“There were two things he was looking for.
“Either he was going to play Champions League right away or he was going to be part of something that could play Champions League, but was going to be big, where his impact would not only be in terms of goals, but on the club.
“There were two clubs that had that for him – Napoli and Arsenal. Napoli playing Champions League and Arsenal one of the big clubs in the Premier League.
“He did choose the Premier League and Arsenal because that’s where he wants to leave his mark.”
Pepe made his debut appearance for Arsenal in their opening Premier League games against Newcastle United as a second-half substitute on Sunday in which the Gunners recorded an away win.
The Ivorian will hope to make his first start for under Unai Emery come this weekend when the Gunners take on Sean Dyche’s Burnley side in their next Premier League game.