Clubs around Europe upgrade their squads with big-name players, including two of the greatest players of all time

By Emmanuel Mendez

The transfer window is always exciting for football fans and their clubs. Every team gets stronger every year with big incorporations. 

This year’s summer transfer window will be remembered as one of the craziest we have ever witnessed. 

The drama that occurred last summer with Lionel Messi leaving FC Barcelona has become a reality. Last summer, Messi wanted to leave but decided to stay to avoid court problems against the club. 

This year, Messi was convinced to stay and sign a new contract, but Barcelona couldn’t keep him because of the amount of debt they are in.

Messi offered to reduce his salary, but Barca wasn’t allowed to register him due to La Liga rules. The unexpected happened, and it was announced that Messi was leaving the club for free. 

The club that could afford his wages and demands was Paris Saint Germain. PSG had arguably the best transfer window out of any club in Europe this summer after signing big star players before Messi.

PSG secured Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma as free agents. PSG also signed right-back Achraf Hakimi which was a transfer worth around 70 million euros. 

The French giants managed to also keep highly rated Kylian Mbappe from going to Real Madrid. The team is stacked with quality and is favorites to take every championship they compete in. 

Other clubs that noticeably improved their squads are the likes of Chelsea FC, Manchester City, and Manchester United. Chelsea FC, current champions of the Champions League, had been looking for a clinical striker to boost the team to the next level. 

The team created many chances but couldn’t convert as much as they wished they could. Chelsea looked at their former striker Romelu Lukaku, who had a fantastic season with Inter Milan last season. 

Lukaku has joined the Blues once again and will be the focal point to Chelsea`s attack. They also managed to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico de Madrid. 

He is a midfielder who will add more defensive stability in the midfield and will be another great option from coach Thomas Tuchel. Chelsea looks even stronger than the past six months.

Premier League champions, Manchester City, had arguably the best squad in Europe before the window opened. The position they were looking to improve as a striker position. 

Man. City makes so many chances per game, but they never had a real ‘number nine’. Gabriel Jesus is the only striker they have after the departure of Sergio Aguero. 

Man. City was looking at Tottenham Hotspurs, Harry Kane.  Kane is one of the best strikers in the world and would have made City a far more complete squad. 

Spurs played hardball and demanded a lot of money for Kane. Kane wanted to leave Spurs and join the Citizens but there was no agreement with both clubs on the transfer fee. In the end, Spurs kept Kane and City went to purchase Jack Grealish, a winger who could also play in the midfield. 

On the other side of Manchester, United has made three massive signings that will give them great chances to challenge for the Premier League. United signed Jadon Sancho, who will improve their attack since he brings lots of goals and assists for his old club, Borussia Dortmund. 

United signed Raphael Varane, who won four Champions Leagues for Real Madrid and won the World Cup for France. The defense has improved tremendously with him alongside Harry Maguire. 

Late in the window, the other big, unexpected signing was Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United. The football world was in shock when it was informed Ronaldo wanted to leave Juventus. 

Once it was announced Ronaldo was leaving, heavy rumors were circulating that he was moving to Manchester City, Manchester United’s rival. It made sense because City was looking for a striker, but Ronaldo had a successful past at United. 

It looked as if no other team besides City were going to sign him until out of nowhere, Manchester United came in and requested Ronald`s services. It was like a dream for United fans realizing that their club legend would come back to play for them once again. 

The deal was announced that Ronaldo had become a Manchester United player. 

 Other signings that will make an impact are Memphis Depay to FC Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid on deadline day, and David Alaba to Real Madrid. 

Transfer windows are always filled with big expectations of incredible signings and this year’s summer transfer window delivered.