End-of-summer discounts on player transfers are showing little activity
By Friday, the top European football leagues' transfer windows will shut down, leaving only a handful of teams in a buying frenzy. Conversely, many clubs are seeking to offload excess players. This is particularly true for Chelsea FC, who have an abundance of talent on their roster. Star signings like Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling are yet to receive jersey numbers.
Chelsea's locker room is overflowing with talent, but finding takers for their surplus players is proving challenging. Despite this, their team is brimming with new additions, making it tough for everyone to get their fair share of training time. With several players keen to depart Stamford Bridge at the last minute, it remains a question of finding the right suitors.
European powerhouses like Barcelona FC and Real Madrid are also in a selling mood. Barcelona, for instance, was able to register Dani Olmo thanks to a special clause that required the sale of İlkay Gündoğan and an injury to Andreas Christensen. Meanwhile, Madrid is grappling with a bloated squad filled with star players.
Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC are also holding back, and Manchester City's financial reserves are bulging with an additional 91 million euros from transfer surpluses. In comparison, the 200 million euros spent in the market from Saudi Arabia is significantly less than last year's 900 million.
Bayern's defensive dilemma
In the Bundesliga, top clubs are also hesitant to make further moves before the transfer window closes. Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl is content with their current situation and prepared for departures. Salih Özcan is reportedly headed to Wolfsburg, and Youssoufa Moukoko is in talks with OGC Nizza.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich is considering offloading Kingsley Coman but has no plans to bring in any new players. However, they're grappling with defensive issues due to long-term injuries to Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic, which were exposed during their narrow 3-2 win over VfL Wolfsburg.
Bavarian champions Bayer Leverkusen have made only minor adjustments, keeping all their key players for their historic double season, including Jonathan Tah. RB Leipzig has successfully maintained their main squad, according to their sports business manager Marcel Schäfer.
EM and Olympics impacting market dynamics
Chelsea, however, has bolstered their squad significantly, with more than 40 players under contract. Manager Enzo Maresca is struggling to fit everyone into his training group, with 15-20 players training separately.
The European Championships and Olympics appear to be slowing down market dynamics rather than boosting them. The high-profile transfer of the summer, Kylian Mbappé moving without payment due, is representative of the current transfer season. So far, 6.5 billion euros have been spent, which is significantly less than the same period last year (7.5 billion).
Atletico Madrid, bolstered by a capital increase, has made the most expensive transfer of the summer, spending 75 million euros on Argentine striker Julian Alvarez. This figure pales in comparison to past transfers of Neymar and Mbappé, placing it as the 44th most expensive transfer in football history.
Despite the chaos of football transfers, it's wise to avoid making premature judgments. The transfer window doesn't close until late Friday evening, leaving plenty of room for unexpected developments.
FC Barcelona, like Chelsea, is also in a selling mood. They managed to register Dani Olmo thanks to the sale of Iľkay Gündoğan and an injury to Andreas Christensen, highlighting their need to offload players.
Real Madrid, Barcelona's rival, is facing a similar challenge with a bloated squad filled with star players, echoing the situation at Chelsea.
