Ranking European Clubs on Their Transfer Activity Through July 26 Deals
A week is a long time in the football world, and it's an especially long time during the transfer window, with deals being completed left, right and centre for big sums. With the amount that goes on, it's easy to lose track.
But not to worry! We're here to help, record and enlighten. We've perused the list of completed transfers in all five of Europe's top leagues (La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1) and ranked teams on their transfer activity, producing a top 15.
For a deal to be counted, it must have been made by July 26. Teams are ranked based on both ins and outs.
15-11
1 of 11
15. Inter
Inter Milan have made serious money off sales so far—we're talking £30 million-£40 million—with £10 million received off Sampdoria for Gianluca Caprari alone. They've brought in an outstanding young defender in Milan Skriniar and the revered Borja Valero.
14. Liverpool
Liverpool have added Andrew Robertson to the fold, bolstering the squad in the problematic left-back area, but is he good enough to play for the club? The jury is out on that one and will be for a while.
13. AFC Bournemouth
Bournemouth's haul of Jermain Defoe, Asmir Begovic and Nathan Ake is still a strong one. They've strengthened their spine immeasurably, and given Lewis Cook could play a bigger role in 2017-18, the Cherries could look a different team this year.
12. RB Leipzig
"We're looking forward to the season—together with Naby [Keita]!" RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said on Wednesday, per the club's Twitter account.
It's starting to look like the German outfit won't budge on their midfield star, and if he is to take to the pitch for them in 2017-18, alongside their impressive new signings, they'll be a force to be reckoned with.
11. Barcelona
Barcelona slip from the top 10. They've made one good acquisition in Nelson Semedo, who solves the problem on that right side, but that's not enough to compete with the others when it comes to ranking teams on business done.
10. Juventus
2 of 11
In: Medhi Benatia, Juan Cuadrado, Rodrigo Bentancur, Douglas Costa, Wojciech Szczesny, Mattia De Sciglio and Federico Bernardeschi.
Out: Leonardo Bonucci, Dani Alves, Kingsley Coman, Simone Zaza and Neto.
There's a natural ceiling on how high Juventus can rank because of the fact they've lost one of the best centre-backs and one of the best right-backs in the world this summer. Leonardo Bonucci is, in the short term, irreplaceable, while no acquirable player can match up to Dani Alves.
At the very least, they've bought Mattia De Sciglio—a player manager Max Allegri had a wonderful effect on during their time together with AC Milan—to fill Alves' slot and will trust Daniele Rugani to fulfil his potential in place of Bonucci.
They've also gone on the offensive—literally—and acquired two new wingers in Douglas Costa and Federico Bernardeschi. They're both excellent players and, added to Juan Cuadrado and Marko Pjaca, affirm their commitment to the 4-2-3-1 formation.
9. Arsenal
3 of 11
In: Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette.
Out: Yaya Sanogo and Wojciech Szczesny.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has resisted the urge to make drastic, wholesale changes to his squad this summer, securing two first-team upgrades early on and then leaving it there.
The Alexis Sanchez cloud is still roiling, while Mesut Ozil's contract saga brings fresh news most days. It might well be that any new additions depend on those two players' futures.
8. Manchester United
4 of 11
In: Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku.
Out: Wayne Rooney and Adnan Januzaj.
It seems as though the energies Jose Mourinho isn't spending on pre-season are being spent on making eyes at Eric Dier and Nemanja Matic from across the room.
The former has proved near impossible to attract, and Miguel Delaney of The Independent reported that Mourinho will consequently offer what's required to haul the latter to Old Trafford. It'd be worth over £40 million if a deal is hashed out.
The merit of that is all United fans have to speculate on because Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof have been with the club for weeks, acclimatising to their new team during the pre-season tour, and links to other players are few and far between.
7. Borussia Dortmund
5 of 11
In: Maximilian Philipp, Omer Toprak, Mahmoud Dahoud and Dan-Axel Zagadou.
Out: Adrian Ramos, Matthias Ginter and Sven Bender.
Not much of note has happened regarding Borussia Dortmund in the week preceding July 26. Midfield prospect Dzenis Burnic has gone on loan to VfB Stuttgart, but not many people will consider that too newsworthy.
The fact it's gone quiet shouldn't be surprising. BVB got some serious business done early, with Omer Toprak and Mahmoud Dahoud's acquisitions agreed before the end of the 2016-17 season, and with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seemingly sticking around, there's no urgent need to address any forward position.
Peter Bosz's squad looks stacked despite the sales of Matthias Ginter and Sven Bender for good prices (£15 million and £11 million, respectively).
6. Everton
6 of 11
In: Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane, Henry Onyekuru, Sandro Ramirez, Wayne Rooney and Cuco Martina.
Out: Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu, Tom Cleverley, Aiden McGeady and Henry Onyekuru (loan).
Everton's transfer window has been all talk and no action recently. No notable ins or outs have been recorded, but something is bubbling away under the surface and could explode soon.
Ross Barkley has asked to leave the club, with manager Ronald Koeman revealing at a press conference the midfielder is "looking for a new challenge." Add that to the latest rejected bid for Gylfi Sigurdsson's services—worth £40 million, according to BBC Sport—and the potential for a little playmaker merry-go-round is there.
For now, we wait. But keep the popcorn handy.
5. Manchester City
7 of 11
In: Bernardo Silva, Ederson Moraes, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy and Douglas Luiz.
Out: Enes Unal, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Jesus Navas, Aaron Mooy, Ruben Sobrino and Nolito.
From a first-team perspective, Manchester City have added two new full-backs since our last ranking. Both deals were expensive—one was a world record for a defender—and they've been met with some mixed reviews.
Benjamin Mendy is an excellent, explosive and powerful player who was brutally effective for AS Monaco last season. His crossing is superb too. His arrival signals that manager Pep Guardiola will no longer encourage full-backs to come inside, returning the focus on directness down the flank.
Danilo arrived to significantly less fanfare, but the truth is it's an expensive deal for a backup (£26.5 million). The Brazilian never shone at Real Madrid, struggled with pressure and got torn apart by some good wingers.
A third addition was midfielder Douglas Luiz, who arrived from Vasco da Gama, but he will likely be filed with Marlos Moreno and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the future pile.
It's arguable Danilo is the only iffy deal struck so far; Mendy, Kyle Walker, Ederson Moraes and Bernardo Silva were all expensive, but they're also all brilliant.
4. Chelsea
8 of 11
In: Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata.
Out: Juan Cuadrado, Bertrand Traore, Asmir Begovic, Nathan Ake, Christian Atsu, Nathaniel Chalobah, Ola Aina (loan), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (loan) and Kurt Zouma (loan).
Alvaro Morata's arrival has been met with plenty of relief among Chelsea fans. After missing out on Lukaku, something had to be done, and fast.
There are some questions over him as a player still, and that's largely down to the fact he's never been able to hold down a starting spot in the teams he's played for. When he has featured, he's scored regularly, but he's 24 and has never been the primary No. 9 at senior level.
This is largely down to the fact he's played for top-tier clubs like Juventus and Real Madrid, but people still worry, and there's a split in opinion over how he'll do in the Premier League.
Morata is brilliant, and you should not doubt a striker who has scored in a Champions League final.
3. Real Madrid
9 of 11
In: Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos.
Out: Mariano Diaz, Diego Llorente, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao (loan), James Rodriguez (loan), Alvaro Morata and Danilo.
As good as Morata is, the fact Real Madrid netted approximately £60 million for a backup striker is pretty impressive.
That frees up money to perhaps sign Monaco's Kylian Mbappe but could also simply mean Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo will share the No. 9 role this season, opening up a space in midfield for one of several players not getting enough game time.
Even more impressive is the fact they managed to extract £26.5 million from Manchester City for their backup right-back, Danilo. The Brazilian was not popular among the fans, struggled visibly whenever he was tasked with playing against good opponents and only came in useful against the likes of Sporting Gijon and Granada.
Los Blancos have yet to add a starting player this window, but their business is still among the best.
2. Bayern Munich
10 of 11
In: Corentin Tolisso, Niklas Sule, Sebastian Rudy, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and James Rodriguez (loan).
Out: Medhi Benatia, Serge Gnabry (loan) and Douglas Costa (loan).
The only change for Bayern Munich compared to the previous edition of this article is Douglas Costa's loaning out. The Brazilian's move to Juventus, with an obligatory purchase option, created a spot in the squad for the already-secured James Rodriguez.
Costa for Rodriguez seems like a pretty equal swap, though both clubs benefit from the moves. Costa was fed up of being on the fringes under Carlo Ancelotti, whereas the Colombian will be hoping the Bayern coach is the man to reignite his career after a year of being sparingly used at Real Madrid.
1. AC Milan
11 of 11
In: Andre Silva, Franck Kessie, Ricardo Rodriguez, Mateo Musacchio, Hakan Calhanoglu, Fabio Borini, Andrea Conti, Antonio Donnarumma, Lucas Biglia and Leonardo Bonucci.
Out: Keisuke Honda, Diego Lopez, Andrea Poli, Gianluca Lapadula (loan), Juraj Kucka, Mattia De Sciglio and Leonel Vangioni.
AC Milan's commitment to buying every excellent available player under the sun has slowed, with CEO Marco Fassone recently telling Sky Italia they are being priced out of a move for Bayern's Renato Sanches (h/t Sacha Pisani of Goal).
Instead, the week or so preceding July 26 featured sales. A balancing of the squad was inevitable after their recruitment drive, and the sales of Juraj Kucka, De Sciglio and Leonel Vangioni have brought in a combined approximate £16 million.
That's not bad for three players who embodied the old guard. Milan are trying to flip this squad around fast.
All transfer fees mentioned are according to Transfermarkt unless noted otherwise.
