As the yearbook enters the threshold of the summer months of July and August, aside money well on spent sultry destinations. The excitement at the finale of Wimbledon is past, the official football transfer window takes over, conveying intense guesswork as teams do their up-most to prepare the best squad available.
May
May saw early transactions as both Norwich City and Fulham wrapped up duo signings before intruders could snare their desired targets. Norwich traded in striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel for an undisclosed fee whilst ensuring former Manchester City left back Javier Garrido signed a permanent contract following a successful loan spell last term from Lazio.
Fulham on the other hand purchased highly rated Athletic Bilbao defender Fernando Amorebieta, who has played for Spain in his youth but has eight caps for Venezuela. The Cottages also acquired the services of former Arsenal and Spurs target Derek Boateng. The thirty-year-old landed on 22 May from Ukraine outfit Dnipro Dniprpetrovsk.
Other May transfer dealings:
Razvan Rat – Shakhtar Donetsk to West Ham United
June
Although the window hadn’t officially opened, June proved to be a busy month for traders. Notable signings included Manchester City’s £44.5m spend on Brazilian Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk along with Spanish World Cup winner Jesus Navas from Sevilla.
City have been left with only two formal strikers due to the £10m exit of want-away Argentine Carlos Tevez who caught a flight to Turin to sign for Serie A champions Juventus.
Andy Carroll secured his everlasting switch to West Ham to put an end to his nightmare Liverpool career, whilst in replacement the Reds purchased young Spanish blood in Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas to add a different dimension to their attack. The impressive Simon Mignolet also joined the ranks at Anfield to provide competition for Jose Reina, arriving from Wearside to sure up the future of their goalkeeping options.
Chelsea began their hunt for fresh blood by splashing the cash on well rated German winger Andre Schurrle, a long term target for the club with the burden on mass expectation following his £18m price tag. Talented keeper Thibaut Courtious opted for a third consecutive loan stint at Atletico Madrid aside worries of toppling long serving goalkeeper Petr Cech to the number one jersey.
Further notable June transfers:
Brett Holman – Aston Villa to Al Nasr
Nicklas Helenius – Aalborg to Aston Villa
Antonio Luna – Sevilla to Aston Villa
Maarten Stelekenburg – Roma to Fulham
Curtis Davies – Birmingham City to Hull City
Ahmed Elmohamady – Sunderland to Hull City
Maynor Figuroa – Wigan Athletic to Hull City
Guillermo Varela – Penarol to Manchester United
Danny Simpson – Newcastle United to Queens Park Rangers
Wayne Bridge – Manchester City to Reading
Roysten Drenthe – Alania Vladikavkaz to Reading
Dejan Lovren – Lyon to Southampton
Erik Pieters – PSV Eindhoven to Stoke City
Jose Canas – Real Betis to Swansea City
Jonathan De Guzman – Villarreal to Swansea City (Season Long-Loan)
Andrey Arshavin – Arsenal to Zenit St Petersburg
July
Although the month of July has not since long hatched, it bids to offer thirty-one days of giant promise across the market. Amid eighty-plus signings were made across the English aisles in the first week of the month with some heavy departures and noteworthy arrivals.
July’s biggest signing takes us to the cockerel gates of North London as Tottenham confirmed the £17m acquisition of Confederation Cup winner Paulinho on Saturday 6th from Corinthians. The Brazilian had been linked with a move to the San Siro but in its place signals a positive sign of intent for the marching Spurs next season.
Nicklas Anelka marked his return with a bombshell contract agreement at The Hawthorns. The much travelled Frenchman signed a one-year deal to fill the void left by Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku following short spells in Shanghai prior to playing for Juventus in Italy.
Chelsea confirmed their second arrival of the market by luring in midfielder Vitesse defender Marco van Ginkel, not a household name but labelled as a marquee addition for the future at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool surprised a few by allowing Swansea to dip into Anfield to filch 21-year-old Jonjo Shelvey for £5m. Discussions have proclaimed Liverpool seemingly failed to concede to the England U21s strengths and positional fondness.
Other completed moves in July:
Chris Samba – Queens Park Rangers to Anzhi Makhachkala
Yaya Sanogo – Auxerre to Arsenal
Andreas Cornelius – Copenhagen to Cardiff City
Allan McGregor – Besiktas to Hull City
Djibril Cisse – Queens Park Rangers to Kuban Krasnodar
Kolo Toure – Manchester City to Liverpool
Marc Muniesa – Barcelona to Stoke City
Modibo Diakete – Lazio to Sunderland
Vito Mannone – Arsenal to Sunderland
Scott Carson – Bursaspor to Wigan Athletic
Marc-Antoine Fortune – West Brom to Wigan Athletic
James Perch – Newcastle United to Wigan Athletic
Oversees transfers
European football has also provided the game with some regal signings, branding the game with gold bars to entice clubs to sale. Some of the world’s most productive talent have already secured their futures to some of Europe’s paramount destinations.
Barcelona began the party with news of a £49.5m agreement to sign Brazil’s next superstar. Neymar proved his qualities with sumptuous displays on home turf in the Confederations Cup this summer and eventually decided to vacate his beloved Santos for a move to the most successful European side in the last decade.
Also in Spain, Los Blancos, Real Madrid secured the services of the most wanted youngster in Europe, confirming Malaga’s Isco on a five-year contract, becoming the first signing of newly-appointed manager Carlo Ancelotti
French Ligue 2 champions AS Monaco have taken leaps and bounds to assure their presence on world football. Having taken stimulus from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain and co, the heavens of Monte Carlo have spent massively and are planning further additions.
Firstly, they stole Portugal’s two biggest stars from Porto by signing home grown Joao Moutinho and Colombian James Rodriquez in a mouth-watering deal. This was followed by more drama as they left the media dumbfounded with the £60m swoop for Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid from under the noses of some of Europe’s biggest counterparts. The fourth recognisable addition saw Ricardo Carvalho depart the Santiago Bernebeu for the panoramic view of La Condamine and the wrath of the Monte Carlo casinos within in a empire that boasts the world’s highest nominal capita. Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev’s latest buy has seen Jereme Toulalan hop aboard sure up their midfield. The 29-year-old joined on June 6 on a two-year deal.
In Italy, the transportation of players has been a little more inadequate in terms of large expenditure. Aside Carlos Tevez’s move to Turin and Fernando Llorente’s pre-agreement to join the ranks at Juve, Antonio Cassano has stepped down a peg from Inter to Parma whilst a few deals have seen loans turn into permanent transfers, including Mattia Destro from Genoa to Roma and Cristian Zapata from Villarreal to AC Milan. Other recognizable names on the move have seen Luca Toni’s demise from the limelight shimmer once more as he departed the province of Florence to join newly promoted Verona whilst Joaquin traded Spain for Fiorentina and Napoli drafted in the impressive Dries Mertens from PSV Eindhoven.
The Bundesliga saw one of the most controversial switches in modern football as treble winning Bayern Munich transferred £33m into the bank account of nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund for 21-year-old Mario Gotze. Dortmund have spent wisely following their Champions League final defeat to Bayern by securing deals for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Saint-Etienne and sturdy defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Werder Bremen. News has also erupted that the Bundlesliga runners-up have seen-off Liverpool to the signing of Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan in a £21.5m swoop from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Other transfers from around Europe:
Bojan Krkic – Barcelona to Ajax (Loan)
Simon Kjaer – VfL Wolfsburg to Lille
Dimitri Payet – Lille to Marseille
Sylvain Armand – Paris Saint Germain to Rennes
Igor Denisov – Zenit St Petersburg to Anzhi Makhachkala
Jose Manuel Jurado – Schalke 04 5o Spartak Moscow
Tino Costa – Valencia to Spartak Moscow
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk – Bayern Munich to Zenit St Petersburg
Bruno Alves – Zenit St Petersburg to Fenerbahce
Miralem Sulejmani – Ajax to Benfica
Dani Carvajal – Bayer Leverkusen to Real Madrid
Massimo Ambrosini – AC Milan to Fiorentina
Oleksandr Iakovenko – Anderlecht to Fiorentina
Transfer Clockwatch: England and overseas yet to be settled:
Gonzalo Higuian – Real Madrid to Arsenal
Stevan Jovetic – Fiorentina to Arsenal/Napoli
Tom Ince – Blackpool to Cardiff City
Victor Wanyama – Celtic to Cardiff City/Southampton
Edinson Cavani – Napoli to Chelsea/Real Madrid
John Ruddy – Norwich City to Chelsea
Charlie Austin – Burnley to Hull City
Alvaro Negredo – Sevilla to Manchester City
Thiago Alacantra – Barcelona to Manchester United
Ezequiel Garay – Benfica to Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid to Manchester United
Gary Hooper – Celtic to Norwich City/Hull City/Queens Park Rangers
Jozy Altidore – AZ Alkmaar to Sunderland
David Villa – Barcelona to Tottenham/Arsenal
Robert Lewandowski – Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich
Oscar Cardozo – Benfica to Fenerbahce
Mario Gomez – Bayern Munich to Napoli/Fiorentina