By Dante Zugman
From July 27th to October 5th, Soccer had its summer transfer window. These were some of the most important transfers this summer:
Kai Havertz – From Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea for 93 million dollars:
After being unable to purchase any new players because of a transfer ban last year, Chelsea have spent big money this summer. Chelsea’s most expensive signing, and the overall second most expensive signing of the summer, was Kai Havertz. The 21 year-old German comes from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen after a phenomenal season where he scored 18 goals and assisted 9 times. In the attack, he will join Christian Pulisic, fellow German Timo Werner (also new signing), and Hakim Zyech (another new signing). This young squad will be coached by Frank Lampard who will fight for the Premier League and the European Champions League.
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Victor Osimhen – From Lille to Napoli for 95 million dollars
After Being linked with transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea, Victor Osimhen has decided to join Italian club Napoli for a reported 95 million dollars. The 21 year-old center forward arrives in Italy just one year after joining Lille for around 14 million dollars. He had an excellent season in France, scoring 13 goals and having 5 assists in 27 appearances. He also played five games in the Champions league – managing to score two goals. Napoli bring in the forward to compete for the Serie A: which Juventus has won for the last 9 seasons in a row.
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Arthur and Miralem Pjanic – Swap deal between Juventus and Barcelona
Arthur and Miralem Pjanic, two center midfielders, have switched clubs this summer. Juventus, who is receiving Arthur, gave Barcelona their Bosnian midfielder Pjanic + 15 million dollars. For me, the winner in this trade is clear – Juventus got the better deal. Not only is Arthur skillful and confident going forward, but he is also 6 years younger than Pjanic. In this day and age, 24 years old vs 30 years old for a soccer center mid makes an enormous difference. The additional 15 million dollars that Juventus spent was well worth it, and in the climate that the soccer market is seeing now, 6 additional years for Arthur’s quality is worth more than money that they gave Barcelona. It will be interesting to see how the midfielders can impact their respective teams goal of winning the Champions League.
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Ruben Dias – Benfica to Manchester City for 80 million dollars
Since Pep Guardiola became Manchester City’s manager in 2016, the team has spent over half a billion dollars on defenders. The 23 year-old Portuguese from Benfica is just the latest addition to that list of expensive signings. He will join a number of talented defenders who will compete to win the English Premier League and their biggest objective: The Champions League. For this year’s Champions League group stage, Man City have been placed with Greek team Olumpiacos, French side Marseille, and Portugese side FC Porto.
Inside Sports Journal 