Featured image courtesy of Reuters
The Summer transfer window is in it’s final month and clubs around the world have already spent millions re-enforcing their squads. Juventus made Gonzalo Higuain the third most expensive player of all time whilst Arsenal have spent £34 million on midfielder Granit Xhaka.
In the midst of all this spending there have been several transfers that have gone under the radars. Some transfers were overshadowed by EURO 2016 whilst others, potential bargains, just haven’t made the headlines.
So here are five summer signings you may have missed.
1)Raphael Guerreiro – Lorient to Borussia Dortmund (£9.5m)
An injury to Fabio Coentrao meant Guerreiro went into the Euros as the first choice left back and he went on to play a starring role in Portugal’s EURO 2016 victory, featuring in all but one of the games and appearing in the team of the tournament. Before that however he was largely unknown, having spent his entire career in France with Caen and Lorient. He was a stand out performer for Lorient last season, and that earned him a regular place in the Portugal squad. His impressive performances also caught the eye of Dortmund, who brought Guerreiro for £9.5m during Portugal’s average group stage run. The move was largely under the radar, with many fanbases calling for their team to buy Guerreiro fllowing the end of the tournament, only to discover he’d already signed for Dortmund.
2) Viktor Fischer – Ajax to Middlesborough (£3.8m)
Fischer stormed onto the world football scene as an 18 year old, winning Danish young player of the year in 2012 and Ajax talent of the year for the 2012-13 season. He was tipped to be yet another graduate from the Ajax youth ranks to become an international star but the following seasons he struggled severely with hamstring injuries. Davy Klaassen and Anwar El Ghazi quickly became the new stars at Ajax and last season the Dane expressed dissatisfaction with his role in the club. Fischer was in the last year of his contract and Ajax quickly cashed in, selling him to Middlesborough back in May. He’s still 22 and has every chance of becoming a bargain if he shows the potential he had at Ajax.
3) Naldo – Wolfsburg to Schalke (Free)
Unlike the previous signings on this list, Naldo is a well known name to football fans, having starred in the Bundesliga for 10 years. He formed a formidable partnership with Per Mertesacker in the Green and White of Werder Bremen, before swapping Die Werderaner for the Green and White of Wolfsburg in 2012. So for many it will be a surprise when he’s in the Blue of Schalke next season. The Brazilian quietly agreed to join the Gelsenkirchen outfit back in May, making the move once his contract expired on July 1st.
4) Andre Gomes – Valencia to Barcelona (£46m)
A signing that happened recently in the window, unlike the others on this list, Andre Gomes to Barcelona came out of nowhere. There was no speculation or intense negotiations, Luis Enrique simply paid the asking price and got the deal done. Even the deal announcement came as a surprise. Fans who missed the announcement likely missed the transfer as the was no knowledge of a deal happening in the first place. There’s a good chance when Gomes lines up for Barcelona in La Liga this season people will be wondering when this transfer happened.
5) Grzegorz Krychowiak – Sevilla to PSG (£21m)
PSG’s transfer business has been dominated by the speculation surrounding and the eventual departure of Zlatan Ibrhaimovic, so it comes to no surprise that their astute buy of Polish international Krychowiak has gone largely unnoticed. The 26 year old has been linked to the Premier League over recent years but the defensive midfielder is now back in France, joining his former Sevilla boss, Unai Emery. He joins the infamous Hatem Ben Arfa and Thomas Mounier, who impressed in a pre season victory against Real Madrid, as Emery looks to win the Ligue 1 title in his first season.
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