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The summer transfer window of 2021 is definitely the hottest transfer season of recent times.
Plenty of big names were on the move as the two months of the transfer window were full of drama. The pandemic had halted all clubs financially that directly and indirectly contributed to clubs being active in the market. Let us take a look at the biggest transfers of the summer.
The game changers
The two biggest transfers of the window were definitely the ones of the best players of this era- Messi and Ronaldo. While Messi’s dramatic departure from Barcelona dominated the headlines during the first week of August, Ronaldo’s move to the red side of Manchester was the biggest talking point of the last week of the month.
Messi’s move to PSG came as a surprise as the Argentine was pretty much confirmed of renewing his contract at Camp Nou before the last minute debacle came up regarding the financial fair play rules.
Ronaldo’s nostalgic move back to Old Trafford seemed out of the cards when the speculation leading up to the transfer was that he would be joining Manchester City. And now, at the twilight of their careers, both the stalwarts are embarking on new journeys.
Big names on the move
A lot of stars have found new clubs this season. Donnarumma, Ramos, Wijnaldum, and Hakimi joined Messi in PSG as Nasser Al Khelaifi is leaving no stone unturned to win the elusive Champions League.
Manchester United ended the 18 months long Sancho saga as they finally were able to secure his signature. He joined Varane and Ronaldo as the star signings for Manchester United this summer.
Manchester City bolstered their already strong attack with the purchase of Grealish from Aston Villa for a whopping £ 100 million.
Lukaku has made a return to his former club Chelsea as Tuchel continues his mission to grow his young Chelsea team. Arsenal purchased the likes of Odegaard and Ben White in hope of improving their last season’s performances. Their north London rivals, Tottenham were busy as well as they brought in Christian Romero and Emerson Royal.
Barcelona, after a hectic transfer window managed to sign and register Depay, Aguero and Eric Garcia. It came at the cost of sending Griezman back to Athletico Madrid.
Simeone’s team also completed the signing of Argentine midfield engine Rodrigo De Paul to strengthen their midfield. Real Madrid signed David Alaba to replace the outgoing duo of Ramos and Varane. They also managed to bring in French WonderkidCamavinga from Rennes.
So Close, yet so far
Manchester City’s hunt for a number 9 was crushed as Tottenham was adamant about keeping Harry Kane at the club. Madrid’s mammoth late bids for Mbappe were both rejected by PSG as the fantasy of seeing Mbappe, Messi and Neymar in the same team still lives on. Kounde, Chelsea’s summer-long target also stays put in Sevilla.
What does 2022 behold?
It remains to be seen what will happen to Kylian Mbappe. Will he sign and extend his contract at PSG or will he finally get his dream move to Real Madrid?
Erling Haaland’s £64 million release clause that is to be activated in 2022, has already prompted bidding wars for the Norwegian striker. Paul Pogba is on the cards as he will be a free agent. The 2022 transfer window is already shaping up to be a very exciting one; who knows, it might eclipse the drama of 2021.