The 2024 summer transfer window was full of big-money deals, with a clear emphasis on younger players as the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United splashed the cash
They say recruitment is everything in football. Well, actually, they say a lot of things are everything.
But signing or selling just one player has been the make-or-break element of countless clubs’ seasons. Sometimes a marquee signing can transform a team – or plunge them into chaos.
To no one’s surprise, Chelsea and Manchester United spent big during the 2024 summer transfer window. Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly continued to sanction expensive signings while INEOS wanted to kick-off their co-ownership of United with a bang.
The Premier League has gained a reputation for being biggest-spending league in recent years, although half of the top 10 most expensive signings – based on initial fees, not add-ons – last summer came on the continent.
We’ve taken a look back to see how they’re doing.
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10. Teun Koopmeiners – £43.7m
Starting off with a saga, Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners went public all the way back in March 2024 to confirm that he wanted to leave Atalanta. The Netherlands international, previously linked with Liverpool, had made himself a star in Serie A after three excellent seasons with the current Europa League holders.
But Koopmeiners, like most of Atalanta’s best players in recent years, wanted to leave for a so-called bigger club. After months of speculation and fraught negotiations, plus the obvious transfer request, Juventus stumped up an initial £43.7million and another £5.9m in potential add-ons.
The 27-year-old was a mainstay in Thiago Motta’s midfield, making 37 appearances under the Juve boss. We say ‘was’ because Motta is reportedly on the verge of being sacked during the international break.
Koopmeiners, known for his attacking output, is on just three goals and three assists for Juventus, not what fans were hoping for. The Turin club were dumped out of the Champions League play-offs by PSV Eindhoven and sit sixth in the Serie A table. They’re also out of the Coppa Italia after losing on penalties at home to Empoli.
Work to do for Koopmeiners and his team-mates.
9. Michael Olise – £45m
Having been close to joining Chelsea in 2023, it was Bayern Munich who eventually snapped up Michael Olise from Crystal Palace for £45m plus £5m in add-ons. Making the right-wing spot his own under Vincent Kompany, Olise’s talents have been on show across the Bundesliga and Champions League.
With 13 goals and 10 assists in all competitions, the Frenchman has handled the pressure well in Munich and earned Kompany’s trust. Olise will be hoping to mark his first season at Bayern with at least one major title, with his team boasting a six-point lead in the Bundesliga title race and due to face Inter Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals.
8. Dani Olmo – £47m
This has been a saga even after signing. Having graduated from Barcelona’s famous ‘La Masia’ academy, Olmo was made to show his boyhood club what they were missing after leaving them to join Dinamo Zagreb and then RB Leipzig.
After winning Euro 2024 with Spain, Barca coughed up an initial £47m and another £6m in potential add-ons to bring the midfielder back home. Olmo was forced to wait to make his debut due to a registration issue which reared its head again in January.
Barcelona are still fighting to have him permanently signed up amid their financial woes, with Olmo and team-mate Pau Victor only eligible until April as things stand. When the 26-year-old has played, he’s been influential.
Seven goals and five assists have helped Barcelona lead the LaLiga title race, reach the Champions League quarter-finals as one of the favourites and make the last four of the Copa del Rey. Olmo will be hoping that there are no more off-the-pitch issues to blight his season.
7= Joao Neves – £50m
Paris Saint-Germain haven’t got the best record in the transfer market, but it seems like they chose well when splashing the cash to sign young midfielder Neves from Benfica last summer. The 20-year-old may only be 5ft 7in, but what he lacks in stature he more than makes up for in tenacity and technical ability.
Neves has already racked up four goals and nine assists from 38 games across all competitions, having become a mainstay of Luis Enrique’s new-look PSG side. The Portugal international oozes class and has formed a great understanding with his compatriot Vitinha in the middle of the park.
“He adapts perfectly to my idea of the game: his style of play, his physical strength, his intelligence, his relationships with his teammates,” Enrique said in September. “He has one important characteristic: he doesn’t lose the ball He adapted to the team very quickly. He and the other players who arrived have a good connection with the rest of the team.”
7= Amadou Onana – £50m
Onana was courted by Manchester United, but instead ended up trading Everton for Aston Villa last summer. The 23-year-old is a real presence in central midfield and has the physical capabilities to play Unai Emery’s style of football, although he’s yet to really explode at Villa Park.
The Belgium international has four goals in 22 games in all competitions, with a hamstring injury having hampered his debut campaign in the Midlands. Emery told Sky Sports in September that they will have to be patient with Onana. “The gap is at the beginning big, bigger than we analysed,” he said.
“But we are confident to increase his level in this gap to get to the level where we can think of him as a very good player in the future. He is [already] a very good player but we think he can improve and get to a high level as a player and help us a lot in this way.”
5. Moussa Diaby – £50.4m
Diaby’s move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad in the summer was one of the main reasons why Aston Villa could afford to splash the cash on Onana. The Frenchman surprised many with his decision to leave the Premier League at the age of 25, but – whatever you think of the level in Saudi Arabia – things are going pretty well so far.
Al-Ittihad sit top of the Saudi Pro League and Diaby has already racked up two goals and 13 assists in 20 matches. He is playing alongside his compatriot Karim Benzema and ex-Tottenham and Ajax winger Steven Bergwijn, with former Lyon playmaker Houssem Aouar pulling the strings and silverware looks likely in his first campaign.
4. Pedro Neto – £51.4m
Chelsea won the race to sign Neto from Wolves, adding the pacey Portuguese winger to their collection of exciting young attackers. Neto has had to compete with Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk and Tyrique George, but his hard-working style has seen him preferred by Enzo Maresca.
Neto, 25, fits into Maresca’s youthful in-progress Chelsea and has been forced to play as a No.9 in recent matches. He has a modest return of five goals and seven assists in 34 games so far, but there is confidence that more is to come.
3. Leny Yoro – £52.1m
Yoro’s price tag lumped him with a huge amount of expectation right off the bat at Manchester United, with Rio Ferdinand among those to hype up the young centre-back. United stole him from underneath Real Madrid’s nose to further inflate his reputation before disaster struck: Yoro suffered a foot injury in pre-season and required surgery.
The 19-year-old Frenchman has recovered and has featured 21 times so far for United with mixed results. His talent is there for all to see, but playing in a struggling side, who often leave their backline exposed, isn’t the best for a youngster. Yoro is clearly still learning and has been given the run-around on a few occasions; the hope is those experiences will mould him into a better player.
2. Dominic Solanke – £55m
Solanke became Tottenham’s record signing – and the biggest transfer in the Premier League – last summer when he left Bournemouth for north London. His impressive season with the Cherries in 2023/24 and career history, as Chelsea starlet and Liverpool disappointment, perhaps prepared him for the pressure of being Spurs’ big hope and he has generally looked the part.
Knee and ankle injuries have hampered his availability, leaving Ange Postecoglou short up front, but when he has played Solanke has been dependable, if not explosive. His return of 11 goals and eight assists in 33 games so far is a respectable return.
1. Julian Alvarez – £64.4m
Many fans were surprised to see Pep Guardiola cash in and sell Alvarez to Atletico Madrid last summer, given the Argentina World Cup winner had contributed 36 goals and 17 assists in 103 games for Manchester City, providing a more than useful back-up to goal machine Erling Haaland. It took until January for City to buy a replacement in the form of Omar Marmoush and Alvarez has continued his upward trajectory in Madrid.
The 25-year-old’s career progression has been near-flawless so far, having banged in goals with regularity for River Plate, City and now Atleti, as well as his national side. He has 23 goals and five assists for Diego Simeone’s side, who are still in the La Liga title race, sitting four points off Barcelona and Real Madrid.
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