Tuesday marked the end of what was been the most fascinating transfer window ever seen in recent history, with players such as Lionel Messi, Jadon Sancho, and Romelu Lukaku securing new teams over the summer. A number of intriguing signings were done during transfer deadline day, which includes Cristiano Ronaldo finally making his return to Manchester United official and Antoine Griezmann leaving Barcelona to return to his old stamping ground that is Atletico Madrid in a loan deal.
Deadline day kicked-off with the huge news that Juventus have accepted Manchester United’s £12.85m payment for Ronaldo with a predicted increase of £6.85m, while Everton loaned out Moise Kean back to Juventus and West Ham United announced the signing of Nikola Vlasic, the heart and soul of CSKA Moscow’s midfield in recent seasons.
Having already recruited the likes of Kaoru Mitoma and Enock Mwepu, Brighton & Hove Albion made two new additions to their squad during deadline day, bringing in highly-rated Abdallah Sima from Slavia Prague and Marc Cucurella from Getafe, with Sima being loaned out immediately to Stoke City down in the EFL Championship.
Glasgow Celtic were also quite active during deadline day, finally announcing the departure of Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie, and Leigh Griffiths to Crystal Palace, AFC Bournemouth, and Dundee respectively, with Griffiths’ departure being part of a loan deal. Ange Postecoglou’s men wasted no time in recruiting new players with Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis arriving at Celtic Park from VVV Venlo and Jota being brought in on loan from Benfica.
Eduardo Camavinga, who had attracted plenty of suitors thanks to his exploits at Rennes, earned himself a huge move to Real Madrid, while Daniel James crossed the Roses Derby divide as he joined Leeds United from Manchester United for a fee of £25m. Meanwhile, Ademola Lookman made his return to English football, with the RB Leipzig attacker joining Leicester City on loan.
Following Ronaldo’s arrival at Old Trafford, the footballing world was shook once again by the announcement that French ace Antoine Griezmann will be rejoining Atletico Madrid on loan from Barcelona. Barca had been looking to offload players to free up their wage bill following their current financial issues, and having allowed Messi to leave to Paris Saint-Germain, the Blaugrana followed that up by allowing Griezmann to return to Spanish champions Atletico on a loan deal that sees Atleti paying for the Frenchman’s wages.
Not only that Griezmann will be reunited with his former head coach Diego Simeone, he will also reunite with former Barcelona teammate Luiz Suarez at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Arguably the most active club of the transfer window, Arsenal are once again wrapping up some deals as they seek to improve upon their miserable start to the season. Having allowed flop Willian to walk away on a free to Corinthians in his native Brazil, Arsenal arranged loan moves for Reiss Nelson, Alex Runarsson, and Hector Bellerin to Feyenoord, OH Leuven, and Real Betis respectively.
The Gunners also brought in Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu from Italian top-flight side Bologna. The 22-year old defender, who can play as either a center-back or a right-back, is projected to replace Bellerin in Mikael Arteta’s plan for the season, and he will hope that he will adapt himself to the Gunners’ style of play and won’t end up as a flop like predecessors Ryo Miyaichi and Takuma Asano. Miyaichi’s time in Arsenal had been blighted with injuries while Asano was denied a work permit to play in the Premier League, forcing the Gunners to loan the two out to gain some valuable playing time prior to cutting their ties with them.
Another Asian player on the move on deadline day was Indonesian talent Egy Maulana Vikri, who left Poland’s Lechia Gdansk for FK Senica in Slovakia. Having failed to leave an impression in Poland, Egy will be hoping for better fortunes in the Slovakian top flight with his new club.
Interestingly, Lechia has already set aim on another Indonesian player to replace Egy, with Witan Sulaeman being linked with the Ekstraklasa side following his release from FK Radnik Surdurlica in Serbia – a sign that Lechia are probably recruiting these Indonesian talents for mere marketing purposes considering the sizable market provided by the Indonesian football fans, as well as the fact that an Indonesian company is one of the club’s main sponsors.
Rounding off transfer deadline day was Saul Niguez’s loan move from Atletico to Chelsea, Salomon Rondon’s return to English football via Everton, and Newcastle United trying to invoke memories of the movie “Goal!” with the loan signing of young Mexican attacking talent Santiago Munoz.