Ranking the World's Top Leagues After 2014 Summer Transfer Window
Which European leagues had the most impressive transfer windows?
Is the Premier League the best competition in Europe again? What about La Liga? Where does the Bundesliga rank?
The transfer business of the top five European leagues will be subjectively ranked via:
- Transparency
- Economic efficiency
- Players' upside
5. Ligue 1
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Most Expensive Transfer [1] | David Luiz: Chelsea → Paris Saint-Germain (€49.5/£39.2M)
The performances of Luiz, 27, at Chelsea varied from world class to League One.
The Brazilian international showed more promise in midfield than at the back.
If PSG had a German clique instead of a Brazilian one, he would still be at Chelsea.
Best Transfer and Cash Cow Transfer [2] | Lindsay Rose: Valenciennes → Lyon: (€1.5/£1.2M)
Rose, 22, averaged 2.5 and 3.2 interceptions per game, respectively, in his last two seasons for Valenciennes.
The French centre-back has world-class upside.
If he can stay fit and play out an entire season, he will be on the radar of Barcelona, a club that have signed former Lyon players (Edmilson and Eric Abidal).
Smartest Loan | Serge Aurier: Toulouse → Paris Saint-Germain (Loan)
Aurier, 21, can play as a centre-back, wing-back and full-back.
The Ivorian international is so dangerous in the attacking half that he should start in an advanced role, like Gareth Bale and Juan Cuadrado.
Summary | PSG are in a league of their own. The rest of Ligue 1 is in the business of selling.
[1] Most expensive transfer IN, not OUT of Ligue 1.
[2] What about Marseille signing Doria, 19, from Botafogo?
Don't know anything substantial about the Brazilian centre-back.
"Doria is right among the very best.
A tall left-footer with a broad frame and good speed, he has the basic attributes to reach the very highest levels of the game in the years ahead.
At Marseille, that potential could well be unlocked. ...
Off the pitch, Doria has a close relationship with his father who has helped guide him to this point in his career, while he married his childhood sweetheart late last year.
By all accounts, he is a wise head on young shoulders and it was partly that maturity that saw some, including former manager Oswaldo de Oliveira recommending him for World Cup inclusion.
"
4. Serie A
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Most Expensive Transfer | Juan Iturbe: Hellas Verona → Roma (€22/£17.3M)
Iturbe, 21, has gone from being the main man at Verona without any pressure to a contributor at Roma, where every touch will be scrutinised.
Can the Argentine handle the pressure?
During Roma's 2-0 win over Fiorentina, Iturbe gradually moved from the right to a central position.
Was this planned?
Or was it an instinctive reaction to get away from Fiorentina's overly physical left-back, Marcos Alonso?
Iturbe needs to be productive if he wants to live up to his transfer fee.
Best Transfer and Cash Cow Transfer | Kingsley Coman: Paris Saint-Germain → Juventus (Free Transfer)
If Coman, 18, ends up having an average career, it would mean the Frenchman underachieved.
When you watched Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as teenagers, it was obvious they were special.
It's the same with Coman, who is on course to be the breakout Serie A star of the season.
Juve signed Coman and Paul Pogba on free transfers and will be cashing in big time.
Smartest Loan | Omar El Kaddouri: Napoli → Torino (Loan)
El Kaddouri, 24, is one of the most underrated players in Europe.
Given the Belgian-born Moroccan's attack-driven mindset, he has the capacity to score 10 goals and register 10 assists in a season.
Summary | Public service announcement to UEFA President Michel Platini
Instead of threatening to ban Franck Ribery for his lack of patriotism, please review these two Serie A transfers.
- Tonny Sanabria: Barcelona → Sassuolo → Roma
- Maxime Lestienne: Club Brugge → Al-Arabi → Genoa
There are weird transfers in Serie A—"you help me out, I help you out" deals and an influx of obscure and mediocre foreigners.
3. La Liga
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Most Expensive Transfer | Luis Suarez: Liverpool → Barcelona (€81/£64.7M)
Like NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Barca compromised its integrity.
What happened to "more than a club"?
As soon as Suarez, 27, one of the best footballers in the world, became available, Barca threw money at the Uruguayan international.
That said, Suarez will help lessen the work of Barca deep-lying forward Lionel Messi.
El Clasico is going to be another can't-miss event.
Best Transfer | Ivan Rakitic: Sevilla → Barcelona (€18/£14.2M)
Rakitic, 26, is a world-class passer, and the Croatian international has already made a positive impression at Barca.
He completes 93.4 percent of his 106 passes per game in La Liga.
He can play various midfield roles: deep-lying playmaker, box-to-box midfielder and central attacking midfielder.
Cash Cow Transfer | Ricardo Horta: Vitoria Setubal → Malaga (€800/£639K)
In pre-season, Horta, 19, was noticeably a step above the Perth Glory players.
The Portuguese's snap-shot goal was awesome, his control was instant, he dribbled well and flashed brilliance in a short period of time.
You would expect that because he is a rising star whereas Glory are filled with modest pros.
Horta has not set La Liga alight (yet), but he has been lively on the right side.
Smartest Loan | Fausto Rossi: Juventus → Cordoba (Loan)
Rossi, 23, is entering his second La Liga season, and he is a class act.
The Italian is an accurate passer, he can create scoring chances for his teammates, and he controls the pace of play.
Summary | La Liga is the China of European football.
Absurdly wealthy one percent while the rest live off scraps.
Without the Bosman ruling, how would the large majority of La Liga clubs survive?
2. Premier League
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Most Expensive Transfer | Angel Di Maria: Real Madrid → Manchester United (€74.9/£60M)
Di Maria, 26, is one of the best footballers in the world.
A breakdown in the Argentine international's relationship with Real cleared the way for a move to United.
With 17, six, 15 and 11 assists in his last four La Liga seasons, Di Maria will be an assist king.
He can play on the right, cutting in on his left, or operate in a central midfield role where he pressurises opposing players into turnovers and is a creative outlet from a central position.
Best Transfer | Diego Costa: Atletico Madrid → Chelsea (€40/£32M)
Chelsea will go as far as Costa, 25, goes.
The more goals the Brazilian-born Spaniard scores, the more likely Chelsea will compete on all fronts. He plays with intensity and is confident in front of goal, unlike Fernando Torres.
Though the one worry with Costa is his body breaking down.
Cash Cow Transfer | Eric Dier: Sporting Lisbon → Tottenham Hotspur (€5/£4M)
Dier, 20, can interchange from right-back to centre-back, is physically impressive and averages 3.7 tackles per game.
Considering that "Money, Money, Money" is blasting from the office of United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward, you can guarantee that Dier will be targeted in the next two transfer windows.
Spurs are sitting on a gold mine as Dier's transfer stock is automatically inflated due to being English.
Smartest Loan | Javier Manquillo: Atletico Madrid → Liverpool (Loan)
Manquillo, 20, is ambitious, indefatigable and an incessant tackler.
The Spaniard is the antithesis of Glen Johnson, whose deterioration has seen him morph into a walking liability for the Reds.
Signing Manquillo on loan is a master stroke.
Summary | Financially Reckless
The Premier League is No. 1 in entertainment, marketing and worldwide appeal, but their transfer policy is spend, spend and spend.
The Premier League is a paradise for agents.
- Manchester City: Eliaquim Mangala, 23, is not a €40/£32 million-valued defender. Yes, the French international can jump out of the gym, but he is so mistake-prone. Isn't this David Luiz all over again? You can make a case that for parts of Mangala's career, he has been better scoring goals than defending.
- Manchester United: Luke Shaw, 19, only offers upside to justify his staggering €37.5/£30 million transfer fee. The English international needs to either become the greatest left-back of his generation or turn into a superstar in another position, a la Gareth Bale.
- Liverpool: Adam Lallana, 26, is two-footed and a seasoned professional whose playing style is more alike to a Spaniard than an Englishman. But it is representative of the Premier League's out-of-control spending that the Reds paid €31.3/£25 million for a player not guaranteed to start 90 percent of the club's games.
- Arsenal: Danny Welbeck, 23, is worth €20/£16 million despite scoring 10 goals in his last two Premier League seasons. There is logic behind the gamble, as the Gunners see the English international as their answer to Daniel Sturridge.
- Southampton: Shane Long, 27, plays a blue-collar style of football and is distinctly average. It is astonishing that a club would value the Irish international at €15/£12 million.
1. Bundesliga
5 of 5Most Expensive Transfer | Mehdi Benatia: Roma → Bayern Munich (€26/£20.8M)
Benatia, 27, is one of the world's best centre-backs, having helped Roma to the second-best defensive Serie A record last season (25 goals conceded in 38 games).
Bayern signed the Moroccan international at a fair price, as he is substantially cheaper than Manchester City spending €40/£32 million on Eliaquim Mangala.
Best Transfer | Robert Lewandowski: Borussia Dortmund → Bayern Munich (Free Transfer)
Lewandowski, 26, opted out of his contract at Dortmund and signed for loathed rivals Bayern. The word you are looking for is "Judas."
The Polish international has scored 20 goals or more in three successive Bundesliga seasons.
Cash Cow Transfer | Abdul Rahman Baba: Greuther Furth → Augsburg (€2.5/£2M)
Can Baba, 20, go on to emulate Wolfsburg left-back Ricardo Rodriguez?
Baba's attacking prowess was evident with two assists against Dortmund.
If he tightens up his defensive positioning, he can develop into an elite left-back and be an invaluable contributor to the Ghanaian national team for years to come.
Smartest Loan | Tin Jedvaj: Roma → Bayer Leverkusen (Loan)
Jedvaj, 18, is not just another young Croatian wunderkind making strides in an elite European league, but it again reinforces how prescient Roma's scouting system is.
He reads play excellently, constantly swooping up loose passes from right-back.
While he does move like a centre-back, he probably will not get a run in that position since Kyriakos Papadopoulos is the backup centre-back to Emir Spahic and Omer Toprak.
Jedvaj is a viable alternative to Giulio Donati for Leverkusen.
Summary | Financially Responsible
If you comb through every single Bundesliga transfer, there is no glaringly bad transfer where the transfer fee is highly disproportionate to the player's quality.
Forget about the leading Bundesliga teams; mid-tier and minnow clubs have acquired cash cows in the past summer transfer window.
That is how great Bundesliga executives are.
- Freiburg: Roman Burki, 23, flew under the radar, having signed from Grasshoppers for €1.8/£1.4 million. The Swiss goalkeeper has outstanding reflexes, is a passing outlet from the back and is currently the highest-ranked goalkeeper in the Bundesliga, per Kicker. Can he keep up his form?
- Hannover 96: Hiroshi Kiyotake, 24, possesses masterful technique. The Japanese international is an incisive passer who is substantially worth a lot more than €4.3/£3.4 million.
- Koln: Kevin Vogt, 22, is an imposing German midfielder with an all-round playing style. His transfer fee was just €1.8/£1.4 million, which is the amount Premier League teams doll out for academy players.
- Paderborn: Elias Kachunga, 22, is a direct German centre-forward. Manchester United deep-lying forward Wayne Rooney earns more in a week than what Paderborn spent on Kachunga (€300,000/£237,000). Kachunga has scored in successive league games, a feat Rooney has yet to achieve in the Premier League this season.
- Stuttgart: Filip Kostic, 21, moves like Arjen Robben. Kostic is a calculated gamble at €6/£4.8 million. But if the Serbian wide-forward can replicate Robben's productivity, Stuttgart will once again be selling one of their players to a major European team (Aleksandr Hleb, Fredi Bobic, Giovane Elber, Jurgen Klinsmann, Mario Gomez, Matthias Sammer, Sami Khedira, et al.)
The Bundesliga know how to win in the transfer window, which is why their talents are highly sought-after by foreign leagues.
Statistics via WhoScored
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