It has been another record-breaking summer of spending in the transfer market, with Premier League’s outlay alone incredibly surpassing the £2.5 billion ($3.4bn) mark. And there is still the ever-frantic deadline day to come.
Plenty of big names have been on the move, with Trent Alexander-Arnold heading to Real Madrid, Florian Wirtz swapping Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool in a huge £116 million ($156m) deal and Viktor Gyokeres choosing Arsenal after a drawn-out transfer saga at Sporting CP.
But what about the deals that have gone under the radar but have helped to make up those astonishing numbers? In a record-breaking summer, here are 20 transfers you might have missed…
It has been another record-breaking summer of spending in the transfer market, with Premier League’s outlay alone incredibly surpassing the £2.5 billion ($3.4bn) mark. And there is still the ever-frantic deadline day to come.
Plenty of big names have been on the move, with Trent Alexander-Arnold heading to Real Madrid, Florian Wirtz swapping Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool in a huge £116 million ($156m) deal and Viktor Gyokeres choosing Arsenal after a drawn-out transfer saga at Sporting CP.
But what about the deals that have gone under the radar but have helped to make up those astonishing numbers? In a record-breaking summer, here are 20 transfers you might have missed…
Tammy Abraham has become something of a forgotten man, especially when you consider he is a full England international. He was on the move this summer, leaving Roma after a relatively fruitless loan at AC Milan.
The Chelsea academy product risks drifting further into obscurity, too, after joining Besiktas in Turkey, although he looks capable of getting his career back on track, scoring six goals in seven appearances so far, albeit the majority of those have come in Conference League qualifying.
After just one season in Saudi Arabia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is back in Europe and back at Marseille – the club he left to join Al-Qadsiah in the Gulf State a year ago.
There are clearly no hard feelings, with the striker given a hero’s welcome on his return to Stade Velodrome, and he has hit the ground running by bagging a brace and assist against Paris FC on his second full debut.
Perennially linked with Liverpool since emerging as an exciting talent in the Netherlands, PSV winger Johan Bakayoko was finally on the move this summer – but not to the Premier League giants.
It was said he would have cost the Reds in the region of £42m ($56.5m), so it’s perhaps a reflection of the premium that English clubs pay that the Belgium international signed for RB Leipzig for just £19m ($25.5m).
Hardly the most inspiring signing, but Luuk de Jong’s free transfer from PSV to Porto was truly under the radar as the Portuguese giants somehow kept the move under wraps before a shock unveiling in front of a full stadium.
The 35-year-old workhorse proved in the Netherlands that he can still score goals in Europe’s second-tier leagues, but the striker is yet to get his name on the scoresheet in three appearances for the Dragoes so far as he plays second fiddle to Samu Aghehowa.
Some proof that romance isn’t dead in football, as Angel Di Maria made an emotional return to boyhood club Rosario Central in Argentina after a glittering career in Europe, where he shone with Benfica, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Aged 37, he’s back where it all began – and he’s gotten off to a flier in his home country, scoring three times in five games, including a sensational match-winning free-kick against Newell’s Old Boys.
Veteran striker Edin Dzeko isn’t finished at the top level yet, sensationally returning to Serie A from Fenerbahce to join Fiorentina on a free transfer earlier in the summer at the age of 39.
Having netted 21 goals in 2024-25 in Turkey, the ex-Manchester City and Roma man clearly still has plenty to offer in what could be his swansong in Italian football.
Former Liverpool favourite Roberto Firmino has been on the move this summer, leaving Al-Ahli and the Saudi Pro League behind after a somewhat underwhelming spell for another adventure in the Middle East.
The 33-year-old Brazilian has headed to the Qatari capital Doha to join Al-Sadd, having been brutally omitted from Al-Ahli’s squad in the second half of last season to make way for new signings. He was still crucial as his side won the AFC Champions League, provding 13 goal contributions in 12 games.
Premier League legend Olivier Giroud is back in Europe at the age of 38, making a surprise return to his home country after a single season in MLS with LAFC, where he has been replaced by Son Heung-min.
The veteran ex-Arsenal and Chelsea striker was hardly prolific in the U.S., but he’s made a flying start to life back in Ligue 1 with Lille, bagging two goals in as many games to begin the campaign.
Another new arrival in Marseille, former Manchester United man Angel Gomes reportedly turned down plenty of Premier League interest to join OM after his contract with Lille expired
Now a full England international, the smooth-operating 24-year-old forms part of a midfield overhaul at the Velodrome following the dressing room bust-up involving Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe, and he is set to grace the Champions League with his new club.
Dutch winger Noa Lang has been around for some time and has always been held in fairly high regard, but no leading European club had taken a punt on him, until now.
The 26-year-old has left PSV in his homeland to join Antonio Conte’s Scudetto winners Napoli, and he will be determined to prove he is capable of making the step up in one of the continent’s top-five leagues.
It seemed for all the world that Enzo Millot – one of the breakout stars of the Bundesliga in recent seasons – would be heading to Atletico Madrid this summer, but a dramatic late twist saw the Frenchman head to Saudi Arabia instead.
The attacking midfielder has joined Al-Ahli, replacing someone else further down this list, and has made a flying start, starring in the Saudi Super Cup triumph with a goal and assist in two games, with the latter coming against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
The growing cohort of Englishmen plying their trade abroad has a new member after Liverpool academy graduate Tyler Morton finally left his boyhood club for France on a permanent basis.
The midfielder has made the leap to Lyon, where he should get the first-team minutes he craves at a high level after previous loans in the Championship and subsequently being unable to break through at Anfield, with a host of top talents ahead of him in the pecking order.
Sunderland’s business in this transfer window has been mightily impressive, with many backing them for Premier League survival after a £150m+ spending spree which has seen them strengthen across the board.
Big-name signing Granit Xhaka might have stolen the headlines, but it’s Nordi Mukiele who could prove to be their shrewdest piece of business. The versatile defender cost just £12m ($16m), bringing considerable pedigree after stints with PSG, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen.
You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Vitor Reis was ever at Man City. Part of the influx of new players at the Etihad Stadium in the January transfer window, it very quickly became clear that the young Brazilian would not be a starter as he made just one league appearance.
Concerned about his prospects of regular game time ahead of the new campaign, Reis reportedly sought out a loan move and was subsequently shipped out to City’s sister club Girona in La Liga for the season.
You might not know it, but Serie A’s top scorer in 2024-25 has left Italy for the riches of Saudi Arabia, with Atalanta cashing in on Mateo Retegui in a big-money deal worth €68m (£59m/$79m).
The capocannoniere has replaced Aubameyang at Al-Qadsiah after plundering 25 league goals for La Dea, with the Italian side once again demonstrating their shrewdness in the transfer market having paid less than half that sum for the striker a year ago.
The fallout from Rowe’s dressing room bust-up with Marseille team-mate Rabiot has been swift and brutal, with both players suspended and subsequently transfer listed.
English forward Rowe – who scored the winning goal for Lee Carsley’s Under-21s in the Euros final back in June – has been shipped off in double-quick fashion, with the French giants selling him to Serie A side Bologna after Roberto De Zerbi deemed his continuation at OM untenable. Drama.
After Allan Saint-Maximin’s loan move from Saudi club Al-Ahli to Fenerbahce last season ended in a caustic war of words with head coach Jose Mourinho, who labelled the winger ‘overweight’, the former Newcastle favourite was on the move again earlier this summer.
Still just 28, the Frenchman has resumed his exile from European football by heading to Mexico to join Club America. He’s made a pretty explosive start, scoring a late winner on his debut in a dramatic victory over Atlas.
Remarkably, ex-wonderkid Renato Sanches is still a PSG player and still has two years still to run on his contract as he heads out on another loan, this time in Greece, in what has become a journeyman career.
Now 28, the Portugal midfielder has joined Panathinakos for he season, following spells at Benfica and Roma. He will probably regret ever leaving Lille, where he had gotten his career back on track.
Remember Gabri Veiga?! The midfielder dominated gossip columns in the summer of 2023 after emerging as a real talent at Celta Vigo, but despite links with Liverpool, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs, Napoli AND Real Madrid, the then-20-year-old stunned everyone by joining Saudi side Al-Ahli.
Now, after a mixed spell in the Middle East that wasn’t helped by injury, Veiga is back in Europe, although he hasn’t joined one of those big hitters, instead taking a huge pay cut to sign for Porto for around half what the Saudi side had paid, where he will probably hope to get his career back on track in hope of securing another big-money move.
Marco Verratti is clearly enjoying his time making big bucks in Qatar. Any hope that the classy Italian midfielder might finally grace Serie A for the first time in his career was extinguished as he swapped one Qatari side for another this summer.
The 32-year-old has left Al-Arabi for Al-Duhail two years after he left PSG behind, joining on a free transfer. The latter become just the fourth club he has played for in his illustrious career after Pescara, PSG and Al-Arabi.
