Real Madrid, Aston Villa top soccer summer transfer window?

The summer soccer transfer window can feel like a nonlinear movie. The plot bounces around, and we don’t know everything we need to know until it ends. Just a few weeks into this year’s window — and not too long after the end of two major continental tournaments, Euro 2024 and the Copa America — some teams haven’t really done much yet.

Last year’s top three English clubs — Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool — have done very little thus far (especially Liverpool), but we know that will change. Barcelona have expressed interest in virtually every player in Europe, but have made one minor move. Real Madrid made two enormous moves before the window even opened, acquiring Kylian Mbappé weeks before and teenage star Endrick months earlier, but have done nothing since.

We indeed don’t know everything we need to know, in other words. But with the hours-long offseason already over, and with training camps and preseason tours kicking up, let’s look at the clubs that have made moves.

Which clubs have done the most interesting things in the transfer market thus far?

Real Madrid

• 2023-24 finish: first, LaLiga
• Notable additions: FW Kylian Mbappe (PSG), FW Endrick (Palmeiras)
• Notable departures: FW Joselu (Al-Gharafa), DF Nacho (Al-Qadsiah), MF Toni Kroos (retirement)

There’s nothing like winning the Champions League and then immediately announcing you’re signing the best free agent in the world.

It made sense for Real Madrid to try to spruce up their attack a little bit considering how reliant they were on Jude Bellingham’s torrid (and unsustainable) finishing to carry them to an easy LaLiga title. He scored 19 league goals from shots worth just 11.1 xG, and Real Madrid overachieved its xG totals by 20% for the season. The actual value of their shot creation was merely good … and not amazing.

(Source: TruMedia)

Granted, Vinícius Júnior played only 55% of Real Madrid’s league minutes in 2023-24 due to injury, and the club had already signed Endrick to add to a young crew of attackers that includes Turkey’s 19-year old Arda Güler, a fan favorite at Euro 2024. They didn’t have to swing big, but when you can land Mbappe, you do so.

It will be fascinating to see how Carlo Ancelotti manages both minutes and alignment up front, as both Vinícius and Mbappe work best on the left, while both Endrick and Guler need minutes in order to keep developing. (It will also be interesting to see how Ancelotti chooses to generate some sort of buildup pressure since Mbappe does almost no pressing whatsoever.)

So what’s next? What else will they do? Will club president Florentino Perez & Co. stand pat? Will they ramp up their pursuit of Bayern’s Alphonso Davies to add speed on the left? Are they happy with what they have at center-back? Are they just going to hold onto valuable backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin with Thibaut Courtois healthy again?

Even if they don’t do another thing between now and Aug. 30, Real Madrid have already won the transfer window, but they could be involved in quite a few more plot lines in the coming weeks.

Bayer Leverkusen

• 2023-24 finish: first, Bundesliga
• Notable additions: MF Aleix García (Girona), FW Martin Terrier (Rennes), DF Jeanuël Belocian (Rennes)
• Notable departures: DF Josip Stanisic (end of loan)

This time last year, Bayer Leverkusen put together the perfect transfer window. Working primarily with the transfer fee they received for Moussa Diaby’s move to Aston Villa, they added veteran midfielder Granit Xhaka and winger Jonas Hofmann, brought in full-back Alex Grimaldo on a free transfer, and added young attackers Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella. With the roster both transformed and led by Xabi Alonso — whose next career move as a manager will be his first — they rolled to one of the greatest Bundesliga campaigns ever, going unbeaten in league play, winning the domestic double and reaching the Europa League final. They lost once all season.

So how do you top perfection? You don’t, obviously, but even without bringing in any major transfer fees yet (veteran center-back Jonathan Tah has been a steady source of rumors but remains with the club for now), Leverkusen have managed to make some fun and relatively thrifty moves. Terrier is more of a connector than a shooter up front, and Belocian, 19, is probably a project for the future. But in Garcia, 27, they added one of last season’s best LaLiga midfielders.

(Source: TruMedia)

Garcia ranked second among LaLiga midfielders in progressive passes, and he was fifth in assists, progressive carries and ball recoveries and seventh in defensive interventions. He’s a high-level pivot man with attacking upside, and Bayer Leverkusen needed only a transfer fee of €18 million to land him.

Bayern Munich

• 2023-24 finish: third, Bundesliga
• Notable additions: FW Michael Olise (Crystal Palace), MF João Palhinha (Fulham), DF Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), FW Nestory Irankunda (Adelaide United), manager Vincent Kompany (Burnley)
• Notable departures: MF Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)

It’s been a while since we got to see an angry, scorned Bayern in action: after all, it’s hard to generate good, scorned energy when you’re winning 11 Bundesliga titles in a row. But with the title streak over, and in the first offseason of a new regime led by sporting director Max Eberl and manager Vincent Kompany, it feels like the club is trying to build both a full lineup of hardened veterans and a full lineup of thrilling pre-prime up-and-comers at the same time.

The former lineup already included Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Thomas Müller, Konrad Laimer, Eric Dier, Raphaël Guerreiro and oft-injured wingers Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. Now they’ve added the 29-year old Palhinha, the defensive midfielder whom former manager Thomas Tuchel forever craved.

The latter, younger lineup already included midfielder Jamal Musiala, forward Mathys Tel, defenders Aleksandar Pavlovic, Sacha Boey and Bryan Zaragoza, plus early-prime pieces like full-back Alphonso Davies, center-back Matthijs de Ligt and utility defender Josip Stanisic. Now they’ve added 22-year-old winger Olise, one of the Premier League’s breakout youngsters, and 25-year-old full-back Ito, a veteran of three seasons with Stuttgart. They also nabbed a fascinating 18-year old in Irankunda, who produced 14 combined goals and assists in Australia’s A-League and has already scored for Bayern II.

It seems they’re looking to dump at least one center-back (de Ligt is mentioned the most in exit talk) and add at least one more young attacker (they’re in a heated battle with PSG for 19-year old Rennes attacking midfielder Désiré Doué). This is a very interesting experiment, though we’ll see if Kompany can merge these two lineups into something cohesive.

Borussia Dortmund

• 2023-24 finish: fifth, Bundesliga
• Notable additions: FW Serhou Guirassy (Stuttgart), DF Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart)
• Notable departures: MF Marco Reus (free agency), DF Mats Hummels (free agency), DF Marius Wolf (free agency), DF Ian Maatsen (end of loan), FW Jadon Sancho (end of loan)

It’s a season of change on the Ruhr. Four of the 15 players who saw the pitch for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid in the 2023 Champions League final are already gone, as is manager Edin Terzic. And like Bayern, BVB seem to be trying to figure out whether they’re a young team or an older one.

For now, at least, they still have fun 22-and-under players like playmaker Gio Reyna, forwards Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Youssoufa Moukoko, along with the tantalizing (but oft-injured) Julien Duranville; many of those players have been subjects of recent transfer rumors, but we’ll see which moves actually take place. Meanwhile, to a lineup that already included 31-year-old Niclas Füllkrug, 30-year-olds Marcel Sabitzer, Emre Can and Sébastien Haller and 28-year-olds Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle, they added two more 28-year-olds in Anton and the injury prone Guirassy.

Both are excellent — Anton is one of the best defenders in Germany when it comes to buildup play, and even while starting only 25 of 34 league matches last season, Guirassy scored a whopping 28 goals — but it’s possible new manager Nuri Sahin fields one of the oldest lineups in a Big Five league this season.

It might go without saying, but that’s not what we’ve come to expect from Borussia Dortmund.

Juventus

• 2023-24 finish: third, Serie A
• Notable additions: MF Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), MF Khephren Thuram (Nice), DF Juan Cabal (Hellas Verona), manager Thiago Motta (Bologna)
• Notable departures: FW Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa), FW Moise Kean (Fiorentina), MF Enzo Barrenechea (Aston Villa)

It’s like Thiago Motta was created in a lab with the specific purpose of managing Juventus. The former defensive midfielder spent a few years in Serie A during his playing days, and in a couple of seasons at Bologna, he crafted a unique combination of modern passing and steady buildup principles with the defensive organization that brought Juventus approximately one million trophies through the years.

(Source: TruMedia)

Bologna qualified for their first Champions League appearance since 1964-65 — and their first European tournament of any kind since 1999-00 — with Motta at the helm, and now he’s made his way to Turin, where an attractive and aggressive new midfield awaits him.

Of all midfielders in Europe’s Big Five leagues, Luiz was 12th in goals (nine), ninth in xG created from set pieces (4.5, with two goals) and top-40 in progressive carries and pass completions. And in about 900 fewer minutes, Thuram nearly matched Luiz’s progressive carry total (246) and was one of Europe’s more willing 1-on-1 guys.

We’ll see what other moves are to come — they are rumored to be going pretty hard after BVB’s Karim Adeyemi, and have long been trying to move American midfielder Weston McKennie — but this is going to be an awfully new and awfully interesting Juve.

Chelsea

• 2023-24 finish: sixth, Premier League
• Notable additions: MF Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City), MF Renato Veiga (Basel), DF Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United), FW Marc Guiu (Barcelona), DF Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham)
• Notable departures: DF Ian Maatsen (Aston Villa), FW Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich), DF Thiago Silva (Fluminense)

On one hand, it’s easy to be pretty cynical about Chelsea’s summer transfer activity — oh, hey, look, they added another five 18- to 20-year olds to go with all the others from recent years that they had no idea what to do with. On the other hand, at least a couple of these new additions could actually help what was close to being a downright solid Chelsea team last year.

Dewsbury-Hall, 25, was brilliant for new coach Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City squad last season, scoring 12 goals with 14 assists and ranking in the league’s top 10 in fouls suffered and expected point value added from on-ball actions (xPVA). He’s got a couple of seasons’ worth of Premier League experience, too. And while Guiu is only 18, he scored twice in only 182 minutes in all competitions for Barcelona last season and, at 6-foot-1, 182 pounds, already looks the part. In his first action in a Chelsea shirt — in Wednesday night’s exhibition with Wrexham — Guiu assisted a Christopher Nkunku goal and completed a pair of 1-on-1s in the box.

Taking anything from exhibitions is a fool’s errand, but hey, when it confirms your assumptions and priors, you run with it!

Chelsea’s defense was mediocre last season, yet they just basically traded Thiago Silva for the inconsistent (but younger) Adarabioyo. However, Maresca’s first Premier League squad could theoretically feature the brilliant Cole Palmer, a healthy Nkunku, the speedy Nicolas Jackson (who might actually turn xG into goals at a higher rate), an aggressive Dewsbury-Hall, whatever Raheem Sterling has left, and the boundless (and sometimes directionless) energy of Mykhaylo Mudryk.

If Guiu can add some sturdiness at center-forward as well, this will be one of the most entertaining teams in the Premier League. (For the record, giving up goals: also entertaining.)

Manchester United

• 2023-24 finish: eighth, Premier League
• Notable additions: DF Leny Yoro (Lille), FW Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna), FW Jaden Sancho (end of loan)
• Notable departures: FW Mason Greenwood (Marseille), DF Willy Kambwala (Villarreal), DF Alvaro Carreras (Benfica), MF Donny van de Beek (Girona), DF Raphaël Varane (free agency), Anthony Martial (free agency), MF Sofyan Amrabat (end of loan)

Despite their impressive and shocking FA Cup win over Manchester City, it’s fair to say Manchester United were genuinely mediocre last season. Finishing eighth in the Premier League was a bit of an upset considering their negative xG differential, and the fact that they allowed the third-most shot attempts and seventh-highest xG of any team in Europe’s Big Five leagues.

United were at least decent in attack, and thanks to the hatchet-burying exercise between Sancho and manager Erik ten Hag, they just re-added an attacker good enough to have helped to power Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final last season. (Whether Sancho remains in Manchester after the transfer deadline is evidently still up in the air, buried hatchets or not.)

I’m not sure Zirkzee is the type of player to take their attack to another level — the 23-year old energetic and fast, but he doesn’t actually shoot much and ranked just 64th in Serie A in combined goals and assists per 90 minutes — but if he can add a little bit more ball pressure up front, that might help, as opponents encountered almost no resistance in moving into the attacking third last season. Zirkzee’s energy, combined of course with Yoro’s incredibly sturdy play at a young age (he won’t turn 19 until November), could yield a net gain, especially combined with some of the salaries they’ve already dumped (Varane, Martial) and could still shed this summer (Casemiro and maybe Sancho?).

Adding youngsters and keeping ten Hag instead of taking a huge swing at some hot new name at manager suggests Manchester United might actually be thinking long-term in their roster construction for once. Granted, they still have a few weeks to do something foolishly short-term, but so far, so good.

Aston Villa

• 2023-24 finish: fourth, Premier League
• Notable additions: MF Amadou Onana (Everton), DF Ian Maatsen (Chelsea), FW Cameron Archer (Sheffield United), FW Jaden Philogene (Hull City), FW Samuel Iling-Junior (Juventus), FW Lewis Dobbin (Everton), MF Enzo Barrenechea (Juventus), MF Ross Barkley (Luton Town)
• Notable departures: MF Douglas Luiz (Juventus), FW Moussa Diaby (Al-Ittihad), MF Tim Iroegbunam (Everton)

Say this much for the Villans: They don’t stand still. They used a flurry of moves to jump from 14th to seventh in the Premier League in 2022-23, then added center-back Pau Torres, midfielder Youri Tielemans and winger Moussa Diaby while climbing to fourth last season.

Now, as they prepare for their first Champions League action since falling to Juventus in the 1982-83 quarterfinals, they’re doing what they do: Make moves. They earned €111 million in transfer fees in the deals for Diaby and Luiz, and they’ve already sent €176m in transfer fees out the door. Knowing they needed some defensive upgrades, they brought in sturdy, young defensive midfielders (22-year old Onana and 23-year old Barrenechea) and in the 22-year old Maatsen, they landed one of the main cogs of Borussia Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final. He had a couple of costly mistakes in the final against Real Madrid, sure, but they probably wouldn’t have gotten there without him.

If one of Philogene (12 goals and six assists in the English second division), Iling-Junior (one goal and two assists in 984 minutes in all competitions) or Dobbin (one goal in 286 minutes) can provide more oomph in the left side of the Villa attack — none of which is guaranteed — this could end up a transfer window that made Villa both younger and better. Regardless, Onana and Maatsen should provide upgrades, and they’ll need it as they try to balance a Champions League campaign with holding their place in England’s top four.

Marseille

• 2023-24 finish: eighth, Ligue 1
• Notable additions: MF Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur-on loan), FW Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), MF Ismaël Koné (Watford), DF Bamo Meïté (Lorient), DF Lilian Brassier (Brest-on loan), manager Roberto de Zerbi (Brighton)
• Notable departures: MF Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio), FW Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Al-Qadsiah), FW Vitinha (Genoa), FW Iliman Ndiaye (Everton), MF Pape Gueye (Villarreal), FW Konrad de la Fuente (Lausanne-Sport)

Two stretches of dismal play — a one-win-in-nine-game run in the fall and a five-match winless streak in the spring — doomed Marseille’s league season even as they made a run to the Europa League semifinals. But they’re making lots of changes for de Zerbi. Out went Guendouzi and Aubameyang, and in came a seasoned veteran midfielder with experience in possession-heavy systems (Hojbjerg), one of Canada’s brightest up-and-comers (Kone), a steady defender from overachiever Brest (Brassier) and, against the Marseille mayor’s wishes, Greenwood.

Greenwood led LaLiga in both shot attempts and successful 1-on-1s in the box during an image rehabilitation stint with Getafe; that was evidently worth the PR hit Marseille took on in adding the 22-year old. Taking optics and PR off the table — something that can be awfully hard to do — these moves should make l’OM better, at least.

Lyon

• 2023-24 finish: sixth, Ligue 1
• Notable additions: FW Saïd Benrahma (West Ham), FW Georges Mikautadze (Metz), MF Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest), DF Moussa Niakhaté (Nottingham Forest), FW Ernest Nuamah (RWD Molenbeek), DF Abner (Real Betis), DF Duje Caleta-Car (Southampton)
• Notable departures: MF Skelly Alvero (Werder Bremen), FW Tino Kadewere (Nantes)

Lyon had one of the wildest years you’ll ever see in 2023-24; as of Dec. 9, they were in last place with a grisly seven points from 14 matches. But from that point forward, they generated the most points in Ligue 1, charging past Marseille, among others, to snare sixth place and a spot in the Europa League.

Now that they’re past some of the debt issues inherited by new owner/president John Textor, OL are on a bit of a transfer spree. They were able to secure previous loanees Benrahma, Mangala and Caleta-Car to permanent deals, and in the 23-year-old Mikautadze, they added both one of Ligue 1’s most successful 2023-24 attackers (sixth in combined goals and assists, seventh in successful 1v1s in the box) and one of Euro 2024’s leading goalscorers.

(Source: TruMedia)

The team transformed after the mid-season addition of veteran midfielder Nemanja Matic; we’ll see how much he’s able to continue offering at age 35, but he’ll have both exciting youngsters (midfielder Maxence Caqueret, Mikautadze, Nuamah and, for now, attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki) and fellow veterans (Benrahma, Niakhate, Caleta-Car, Alexandre Lacazette) around him.

Fenerbahce

• 2023-24 finish: second, Turkish Super Lig
• Notable additions: FW Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla), FW Allan Saint-Maximin (Al-Ahli), DF Caglar Söyüncü (Atletico Madrid), MF Rade Krunic (AC Milan), FW Cenk Tosun (Besiktas), FW Oguz Aydin (Alanyaspor), manager Jose Mourinho
• Notable departures: FW Michy Batshuayi (Galatasaray)

If I were ranking teams on pure interesting-ness, Fenerbahce might be No. 1. Now coaching in a country known as much as he is for sideline drama, Jose Mourinho promised to both “defend Fenerbahce” and bring eyeballs to Turkish football. And the club is trying as hard as it can to bring exciting players to Istanbul as well.

En-Nesyri, still only 27, scored at least 18 goals in all competitions for three of his last four seasons at Sevilla; he’s a one-trick guy (he’s never topped two assists in a season), but scoring is an awfully useful trick. It’s something that the 33-year old Tosun can also do from time to time. Meanwhile, Saint-Maximin (also 27) returns to Europe following a four-goal, nine-assist campaign in Saudi Arabia, and the club was able to secure permanent deals for 2023-24 loanees Soyuncu and Krunic.

The hire of Mourinho promises drama in a league already full of it, and in his first official match, Fenerbahce were both flawed and spectacularly entertaining. Neither En-Nesyri nor Saint-Maximin were in uniform, but 38-year-old Edin Dzeko scored a hat trick as Fener beat Lugano 4-3 on the road in Champions League qualification. If they can see out the win in the home leg on July 30, they’ll face Lille in what amounts to a qualification semifinal.

Translation: We’re that close to having Mourinho back in the Champions League.

Como

• 2023-24 finish: second, Serie B (promoted)
• Notable additions: FW Andrea Belotti (Roma), GK Pepe Reina (Villarreal), DF Alberto Moreno (Villarreal), DF Alberto Dossena (Cagliari), FW Gabriel Strefezza (Lecce)
• Notable departures: none

Declared out of business and put on auction just seven years ago, Como has since made an incredible and rapid rise from Serie D to Serie A, and they earned promotion last season with a familiar face leading the way.

Cesc Fabregas, 37, was named permanent manager after a successful interim stint. He finished his playing career there in 2022-23, and he has delightfully called up some players close to his age to help him out. Reina, 41, came over from Villarreal, as did the 32-year old Moreno. Belotti, 30, isn’t as much of a scoring threat as he once was but still contributed 10 goals and two assists in all competitions for Roma and Fiorentina (on loan) last season.

These obviously aren’t the moves you make if you’re aiming to reach the Champions League, sure but if you’re trying to draw attention and build a team capable of avoiding relegation? That’s a different story. Como should be both recognizable and competitive in 2024-25.

OTHER INTERESTING TEAMS

Atalanta

• Notable additions: MF Charles De Ketelaere (AC Milan), MF Nicolò Zaniolo (Galatasaray-on loan), DF Ben Godfrey (Everton), MF Ibrahim Sulemana (Cagliari)

The Europa League champs — and the only team to beat Bayer Leverkusen last season — secured a permanent deal for De Ketelaere after a successful loan, added a strong crosser in Zaniolo and solidified their defense with Godfrey. And they’ve thus far held onto star goal-scorer Ademola Lookman, too. (That could change, but it will take a hefty transfer fee.)

Benfica

• Notable additions: FW Vangelis Pavlidis (AZ Alkmaar), DF Jan-Niklas Beste (Heidenheim), DF Alvaro Carreras (Manchester United), FW Benjamín Rollheiser (Estudiantes)

Landing Pavlidis for just €18m was a coup – yes, the Eredivisie produces inflated stats for good attackers, but he scored 32 goals in all competitions last year and has proven to be a very willing presser too. Beste, meanwhile, was one of the more interesting left-sided guys in the Bundesliga last year. He’s either a left wingback with a brilliant attacking streak, or a left wing who defends like crazy. Either way, Benfica got him for €8m. Great business.

Brighton

• Notable additions: FW Yankuba Minteh (Newcastle), MF Mats Wieffer (Feyenoord), FW Ibrahim Osman (Nordsjaelland)

What do you do after you slip to 11th in the Premier League and let your up-and-coming manager (Roberto de Zerbi) walk? You trust the process. Brighton brought in another batch of intriguing 18- and 19-year-olds, with one exception (the 24-year-old Wieffer) and even brought in one of the youngest managers around in 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler.

Inter Milan

• Notable additions: MF Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), MF Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), FW Mehdi Taremi (Porto), DF Carlos Augusto (Monza), FW Marko Arnautovic (Bologna), GK Josep Martínez (Genoa)

All the financial uncertainty in the world couldn’t keep Inter from making loads of astute moves and rolling to the Serie A title in 2023-24. This time around, they’ve made last year’s Frattesi, Augusto and Arnautovic loans permanent, landed two steady veterans (Zielinski and Taremi) on free transfers and in Martinez, they’ve signed a successor for veteran keeper Yann Sommer. Very Inter moves.

Ipswich

• Notable additions: FW Omari Hutchinson (Chelsea), DF Jacob Greaves (Hull City), FW Liam Delap (Manchester City), GK Arijanet Muric (Burnley), DF Ben Johnson (West Ham)