Ranking European Clubs on Their Transfer Activity so Far This Summer
The 2017 summer transfer window officially opens on July 1, but as usual, hundreds of clubs have used the fallow June period to conduct business and get ahead of the game.
The result has been a number of high-profile transfers sealed ahead of time, with hundreds of millions splurged already. Bayern Munich, Everton, AC Milan, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund are just five of many who've begun revamping early.
Here, we've taken a look at each team in Europe's top five leagues and judged their transfer activity (both purchases and sales) so far, forming a top 15.
15-11
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15. Fiorentina
The Viola have been extremely busy this summer, sealing permanent deals for no fewer than five players. Carlos Sanchez (permanent) and Sebastian Cristoforo bolster the midfield on the cheap, while Vitor Hugo and Nikola Milenkovic come in at centre-back. It might be a little quantity over quality, but that's enough for a spot on this list for now.
14. Borussia Monchengladbach
Ever get the impression European clubs have identified underutilised, English-based talent as a blindspot in the market for value? Gladbach have replaced the loan of Andreas Christensen with the loan of Reece Oxford and have signed Denis Zakaria to bolster their midfield following Mahmoud Dahoud's exit.
13. Marseille
Marseille have secured Florian Thauvin permanently, and while Premier League fans may scoff, he looked a world-beater at times last season on loan. Also arriving is Valere Germain for a measly €8 million, fixing the striker issue that threatened to haunt the side all summer.
12. Manchester United
United's business so far (Victor Lindelof in) has been fine, but it's not quite enough to see them land in the top 10 just yet. In comparison to the clubs in our top order, they're still a little lacking.
11. AFC Bournemouth
Eddie Howe's made three moves already, and they're all damn good: Asmir Begovic, for £10 million, is a steal and fixes one of the Cherries' major weaknesses in one fell swoop, while Jermain Defoe is the type of striker they've been crying out for and Nathan Ake cost a lot but but starred for them last season on loan.
10. Juventus
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In: Juan Cuadrado, Rodrigo Bentancur, Medhi Benatia
Out: Kingsley Coman, Simone Zaza
The big story with regard to Juventus right now is Alex Sandro. Per the Daily Mail's Matt Barlow, the Brazilian is set to join Chelsea for £61 million—a world-record fee for a defender. But that deal hasn't quite been struck yet, so we can only judge the Bianconeri on what's been signed and sealed.
Coman's two-year loan with Bayern Munich has been made permanent, and Zaza has been shipped to Valencia for €18 million after spending the second half of last season on loan there.
In come Cuadrado and Benatia permanently—two very good players, as Juve know well—and Bentancur will join up with the group after sealing a transfer back in April.
9. Chelsea
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In: None
Out: Juan Cuadrado, Bertrand Traore, Asmir Begovic, Christian Atsu
So far, Chelsea have raked in over £40 million in sales. Cuadrado, Traore, Begovic and Atsu were either away from the club or on the fringes in 2016-17, so to lose them is no blow.
As it stands, that's all that's happened, but it's enough to nab them a place in the top 10 anyway. Transfer activity, our metric here, is measured not just by purchases, and the reason the Blues are never flustered by financial fair play is because they balance their books so well via fringe player sales.
According to The Sun's Duncan Wright, Tiemoue Bakayoko is nearly a Chelsea player, and Sandro could soon follow. Sadly for the Blues, they've not been signed as of yet, so that cannot boost their ranking.
8. Everton
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In: Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen
Out: Tom Cleverley
Pickford for £30 million ripped the eyebrows off some, but in all honesty, we're going to be seeing deals akin to this all summer long. Everton even made a similar one in 2016, snagging Yannick Bolasie for £25 million rising to £30 million with bonuses.
The former Sunderland goalkeeper is an immediate panacea to what was the Toffees' clear biggest problem last season. They cycled through Joel Robles and Maarten Stekelenburg in hope one would find form, but neither did.
Klaassen excelled for Ajax last season under Peter Bosz, and while his fee (€27 million) is a little on the eye-watering side, too, he's a midfield runner and a clear signal to Ross Barkley: We don't need to rely on you any longer.
7. RB Leipzig
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In: Yvon Mvogo, Bruma
Out: Davie Selke
Rumours continue to swirl that Naby Keita could be poached by Liverpool. According to Bild, the price tag has been set at £70 million.
So long as the east German outfit are firm on their valuation, they can't really lose. Keita is incredible, so if they keep him he'll be a key asset in a Champions League season; if they sell him, they land a truckload of money that, knowing the RB organisation, will be spent very wisely indeed.
In terms of confirmed transfers, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Co. have already made three good moves. Selke is a good prospect, but he wasn't flourishing in Leipzig, while Bruma and Mvogo can come in and bolster a pretty thin squad.
6. Villarreal
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In: Ruben Semedo, Enes Unal, Andres Fernandez
Out: Mateo Musacchio
Villarreal are known in some circles as the centre-back kings, and this summer they've once again proved why. The long-awaited departure of Musacchio threatened to leave a void, but they filled it fast with the signing of Semedo.
In Semedo, they get a guy three years younger than Musacchio, and one who hasn't already experienced several bad injuries during his career so far. They've also made a small profit on the exchange.
Unal enjoyed a great season in the Eredivisie in 2016-17 and gives the Yellow Submarine an extra element in attack.
5. Liverpool
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In: Mohamed Salah, Dominic Solanke
Out: Andre Wisdom
Liverpool's net spend is going to have to be pretty high this summer. They don't have many players in their squad to sell off, and they're gunning for big targets to seriously enhance the starting XI ahead of a Champions League campaign.
In that, they've made a good start. Signing Salah for £35 million is a strong move that fleshes out the wing corps. The Reds appeared genuinely toothless without Sadio Mane at times last season, so this at least attempts to solve that.
Solanke has plenty to prove, but he destroyed defences at youth level and showed signs of improvement in his overall game at the Under-20 World Cup. He represents a steal if the suggested tribunal fee—£3 million, according to BBC Sport's Phil McNulty—is accurate.
4. Borussia Dortmund
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In: Maximilian Philipp, Omer Toprak, Mahmoud Dahoud
Out: Adrian Ramos
So far, so good for Borussia Dortmund. Murmurs of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang exit persist, but at the time of writing he's still a BVB player, so the most notable exit is the expendable Ramos.
Toprak and Dahoud were both secured pre-Bosz, but there's no doubt he'll make use of them, with Dahoud set to provide the kind of energy and drive in midfield Dortmund have been missing since Ilkay Gundogan left the club.
The only first-team acquisition to date during Bosz's tenure, Philipp, is exactly the sort of support striker the club were expected to target. He cost a fair bit—£17 million—but he'll be worth it.
3. Manchester City
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In: Bernardo Silva, Ederson Moraes
Out: Enes Unal, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Jesus Navas
At the time of writing, Manchester City have only officially confirmed the signings of Silva and Ederson.
It's a grand start, but if you're wondering why they're not even higher up on this list, it's because the likes of Benjamin Mendy and Dani Alves—heavily linked to the club, per The Telegraph's James Ducker—aren't technically City players yet.
But Silva and Ederson are still good enough for a top-three placing. The former is an absolute wizard and joins for a pretty reasonable price given the circumstances, while the latter looks like he'll be the goalkeeping solution Pep Guardiola's been searching for...but we said that about Claudio Bravo, too.
The sale of Unal has brought in a little cash, while four big-wage, older players have been shifted to relieve the weekly bill.
2. Bayern Munich
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In: Corentin Tolisso, Niklas Sule, Sebastian Rudy, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman (permanent)
Out: Medhi Benatia
Bayern Munich have established themselves as one of the finest clubs when it comes to negotiating transfer windows, and 2017-18 has been no different so far. A combination of spending flexibility, superb foresight and brilliant scouting has landed them an early haul to die for.
Tolisso spurned a move to Napoli last summer due to the "pressure" of being a potential €30 million player, per FourFourTwo. Well, he's just moved to the Allianz Arena for €40 million, so let's hope he's got his head around that prospect.
Hoffenheim's emergence as a force in 2016-17 was noted, and in turn Bayern opted to rip their spine out and stymie their progress. Sule and Rudy, key centre-back and centre-midfielder respectively, have swapped blue for red, and Gnabry—who had quite the breakout campaign for Werder Bremen—will join them.
1. AC Milan
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In: Andre Silva, Franck Kessie, Ricardo Rodriguez, Mateo Musacchio
Out: Keisuke Honda, Diego Lopez
With the Milan takeover finally—finally—completed, manager Vincenzo Montella has embarked upon a summer spending spree the likes of which are generally only seen on Football Manager.
Each of the four major signings they've made so far fill an immediate need with established quality; each of the four make the team immediately better in a substantial way.
Silva's goals will be especially welcome. He's been a true killer since breaking into FC Porto's first team, and he's been plundering regularly for Portugal, too. The additions of Rodriguez and Musacchio complete a defensive line that now looks solid, while Kessie's hard running and explosiveness change the makeup of the midfielder for the better.
With Silva and Kessie in, and Honda and Lopez out, Milan are getting better and younger while clearing out pricey deadwood.
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