Also – Kolo Muani for 95 million euros and Fati – in Brighton.
Work was in full swing last night in most of the offices of the European giants. Not everyone managed to complete the transfer campaign early – some stayed last. And in the final hours before the summer window closed, clubs managed to finalize a number of transfers. Let’s talk about each.
Joao Felix has made a dream come true
In the same direction and with similar conversations, striker Antoine Griezmann moved from Atlético to Barça. Only in 2019 did the Blaugrana change completely, and the Frenchman is now a world star who makes the difference in the Madrid club.
The transition of the young Portuguese has a different motive. The unjustified expectations of the “mattresses”, the desire of Joao himself to escape Diego Simeone’s goals and the awareness that after the return of Griezmann himself, Felix will not be the first violin led to the deal.
In the winter, the Portuguese had already gone to London and played for Chelsea for six months – he said that he had more freedom in this team. It was not possible to play for hire – and in the summer, the striker already said that since childhood he had dreamed of playing for Barcelona.
It was just as difficult for the Catalans to conclude an agreement: Atletico nevertheless asked Chelsea for 100 million euros for a full transfer, and such amounts are not available to the Blue Garnets. Yes, and Xavi believed that the team’s forward line was complete. Over the past two weeks, the Catalan bosses managed to convince the coach of the need for Felix and persuade Real Madrid to lease.
Second Joao in Barcelona
Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo is traveling with Felix to Catalonia. He, like the Atletico striker, lost the thread of understanding with the coach, so he spent the second half of the last season on loan – played for Bayern. He scored good statistics (a goal and 4 assists in 15 Bundesliga matches), but the Munich team did not arrange a full-fledged transfer.
Cancelu’s relationship with Guardiola remains tense and the Blaugrana option reappears on the horizon. Most interestingly, it was reported that without sales or leveraged cash flows, the Portuguese defender would be unavailable. Then the president of the club, Joan Laporta, guaranteed his personal funds.
Xavi released Faty
Paradoxically it is Barcelona, despite the financial problems, the main protagonist of the last days of the transfer market. Even earlier they separated from Griezmann, Dembele, Kessier, Dest, Busquets, Alba, Umtiti and many others. Now, in addition to the two entry operations, a transition to exit has been made.
The young Catalan pupil Ansu Fati will spend this season at Brighton. Many have said that after the injury the winger wasn’t the same anymore: he lost speed, he started detaching his legs. The Blue Garnet paid for the desire to revive the Spaniard’s career, to make him the second Messi. Although, despite the rumors about the club’s desire to sell the player (plus the father of the leaning player), Xavi and Ansu himself wanted to continue the cooperation.
The rent at Brighton is non-refundable, the Seagulls will cover 80% of the winger’s salary. Among the advantages: a rich championship, a lot of playing practice, the possibility of regaining confidence. Of the minuses – the level of endurance is much higher, for which only a recovered young artist may not be ready.
The finishing touch in the center of the Liverpool pitch”
In the spring, the Merseysiders were preparing for a generational change in the central axis, so they released Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Milner. They were replaced by McAllister, Endo and Soboslai. But there were still more losses – there was the finishing touch. It was Ryan Gravenberh, who the Reds had been keeping an eye on even before his move to Bayern.
In the spring, the castling of the Munich coaches took place and Thomas Tuchel, who came, did not need Gravenberh. Despite this, the deal ended at the finish line. Liverpool paid Bayern 40 million euros – now they have young and responsive midfielders.
Manchester United – two exchanges
They lost Mason Greenwood and signed Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina. As for the former, the story of his girlfriend’s false allegations of rape ruined the career of a young Englishman – despite the fact that Mason was found not guilty, the Mancunians did not return him to the initial clip. Now the full-back will have to revive his career in Spain – he was leased from Getafe.
It was a difficult test for Greenwood: he played completely different football with the Red Devils, solved fundamentally different tasks. Now we have to fight for survival with the middle club. Although the closed style of play of the blues can be advantageous: in building the attack, the team will rely on the speed of the Englishman, who will become the main character.
As for Amrabat, it was rumored that without outgoing transfers, the Mancunians would not have been able to find an agreement with Fiorentina. At the same time, the Moroccan disappeared from the application of the “violets” and decided to wait until the last. Due to the financial fair play situation Manchester United agreed a lease for 10 million euros – at the same time the agreement provides for the right to purchase for 20+5 million euros.
Eintracht negotiated 75+15 million euros for Colo-Muani
Others can’t – PSG it will help. The Germans did not want to part with their main asset for less than 100 million euros. In 32 matches in the previous Bundesliga, the Frenchman scored 15 goals and provided 14 assists.
At the same time, there was a real roller coaster: Eintracht was not going to let Randal go without finding a replacement for the top scorer. The save was by Hugo Ekitike PSG. However, at the last moment, the French completely refused the transition, which is why there were insiders about the failure of the deal. However, the Parisians improved the offer to a record 95 million euros for the “eagles”. And then the Germans still agreed.
