August 4 – It’s been a quiet week for big spending in Europe, with the top deal coming from Saudi club Al-Hilal’s inflated signing of Malcom from Zenit St Petersburg for €60 million.
Al-Hilal shelled out double the money of Malcom’s market value to secure his signature, despite little opposition for the player.
Huge bids upwards of €250 million €120 million were also rumoured to be placed by Al-Hilal this week for unsettled PSG star Kylian Mbappe (pictured) and Nigerian Striker Victor Osimhen respectively. Both offers were rejected by the players, who have indicated they wanted to stay amongst Europe’s elite.
AC Milan have continued their Tonali-funded rebuild, further reinforcing their new-look attack with Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal. The transfer follows the new additions of Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor last week to create a wealth of options for Pioli to line up beside first-name-on-the-teamsheet Rafael Leao.
Further building on last week, pace seems to be a quality that clubs are looking for. Sadio Mane, Allan Saint-Maximin, Malcom, Iliman N’diaye and particularly Sam Chukwueze have the pace managers are looking for players that can beat the in-fashion high defensive line being employed by Europe’s elite.
The Saudi Pro League overspent on players by €50 million collectively, when comparing the fee paid against each player’s Transfermarkt value. The only deal in the green was for Saint-Maximin, who moved from Newcastle to Al-Ahli. Newcastle United are 80%-owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The week marked an out-of-character display from serial spenders in the Premier League. The league lost five big name players (Mahrez, Fabinho, Saint-Maximin, Salisu and N’diaye) and gained the least valuable transfer on the table in Calvin Bassey. This marks the first time in the window that more high-value assets have left the league than joined it over a seven day period.
The table only references players with a market value higher than €15. million according to Transfermarkt.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1714266398labto1714266398ofdlr1714266398owedi1714266398sni@o1714266398fni1714266398