Rating smartest signings of summer transfer window (Part II)
The summer transfer window has been a dramatic one so far. There has been over £500m spent by Premier League clubs alone as they look to strengthen their already powerful sides. The overall value of transfers across Europe has surpassed the £1bn mark.
While there has been such a massive amount spent on transfers, not all of them are likely to be the smartest or most logical ones.
There are, however, some signings that look to be guaranteed to be success stories and a masterstroke for the clubs involved (see Part I).
Some are big-money deals, while other big-value transfers are because players signed for fees much lower than their values. With that being said, in Part II of our series, we’ll rate a few more of the smartest transfers in the summer window so far.
Erling Haaland to Man City – 9.5/10
Man City hit the jackpot when it comes to finding a suitable Sergio Aguero successor, winning the race for goal machine Erling Haaland. They Citizens paid a £51m fee, with the entire operation costing them upwards of £100m. Despite the major finances involved, it’s still a really good deal for City.
Haaland has been one of the best strikers in the world in recent years and is on an upwards trajectory. The 22-year-old scored 85 goals in 88 appearances for Borussia Dortmund and produced some incredible performances.
The Norway international is an elite goal-scorer who will just need to adapt to Pep Guardiola’s system and once he does that, expect him to rip apart Premier League defences and help City dominate for years to come.
Lewandowski to Barcelona – 9/10
Barcelona might be undergoing a “financial crisis” due to their €1bn debt, but that isn’t stopping them from pulling off some impressive transfers.
Their biggest signing of the summer is the recent acquisition of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich for just over £40m. To be sure, that is a major fee to pay for a 34-year-old who is nearing the final years of his career.
Barcelona believes Lewandowski is still going very strong and he remains one of the best players in Europe. He scored 50 goals for Bayern last season, proving just that.
Lewandowski will be the one to elevate Barça to compete for the La Liga and Champions League titles next season and win trophies again. He should take the La Liga by storm, score a lot of goals and re-ignite that Camp Nou magic that disappeared with Lionel Messi’s departure.
Most economic of transfers: Rudiger to Real Madrid – 8.5/10
In probably one of the best free transfers of the summer, Antonio Rudiger joined Real Madrid as a free agent. The German defender is one of the best in Europe, with his aggressiveness and crunching defensive style helping him stand out from the others.
Rudiger has been on song in recent seasons, and he played a major role in helping Chelsea win the Champions League in the 2020/21 campaign. The 29-year-old was impressive last season too. He made 54 appearances, helping the Blues keep 25 clean sheets. He also scored 5 goals ands provided 4 assists, so he’s valuable at the other end too.
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The centre-back averaged 1.6 aerial duels, 1.4 tackles and 2.6 clearances (stats via WhoScored) in the Premier League last season. Rudiger’s bullish defensive style, impressive passing ability and tendency to come up with clutch challenges should make him a nice fit at Real Madrid. No doubt, he’ll prove to be one of the best buys of the summer.