Winners and Losers of the 2023 Summer Transfer Window
September 2, 2023Winners and Losers of the 2023 Summer Transfer Window
The 2023 summer transfer window is complete...in Europe at least. Football's clubs have scrambled, spent too much, spent too little and almost certainly left deals agonisingly close to the deadline day window.
Why do they do it? We'll never know.
What we do know, though, is that there's plenty of winners and losers to wade through after a frantic few months.
Winners: Bayern Munich
When you think about it, Bayern signed the most wanted striker and centre-back of the window.
Harry Kane is as marquee as it gets; a prolific goal scorer, a leader and someone who has already made an impact in just a couple of games. Kim Min-jae is a superb addition at the back who is capable of dominating games by himself.
Throw in Raphaël Guerreiro and Konrad Laimer from Bayern's domestic rivals on free transfers and it's just hard-to-argue, matter-of-fact super business.
Granted, a late move for brilliant Fulham midfielder João Palhinha fell through. While disappointing, the groundwork has been laid for the transfer in the future, especially with the unwanted Ryan Gravenberch joining Liverpool.
Europe, watch out. Bayern might be back.
Losers: Liverpool
Liverpool's rebuild seems to have accelerated at a pace that is chaotic and slightly out of control.
Change was needed after last season, especially in midfield, but few would have expected both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to leave for Saudi Arabia this summer, especially when other talismanic figures Roberto Firmino and James Milner also said goodbye on free deals.
The 'out of control' bit comes in when you compare who the Reds have brought in to who they were originally hunting.
Dominik Szoboszlai is fair game - a wonderful signing who has worked hard to play for such a giant club. Alexis Mac Allister, too, deserved a move after his World Cup-winning campaign. But Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch have a whiff of panic about them when the club was so publicly in for Moises Caicedo and Roméo Lavia, both of whom opted for Chelsea.
Throw in the need to reject a £150M offer from Al-Ittihad for Mohamed Salah - a story that isn't going to go away until he leaves - and you have a less than ideal window for the Anfield club that signals the era-ending changes are only just beginning.
Winners: Napoli
Three superstar players threatened to leave Napoli this summer. Only one did. That's a huge win.
Kim's departure was expected long before last season ended. However, the Serie A champions would have expected more serious attempts at prying Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia away from them this summer. Barring a late flurry from the Saudi clubs, it's not going to happen.
To maintain one of the continent's deadliest strikers and best young players for another season is the best business Napoli could have asked for.
Smart additions elsewhere - most notably Jesper Lindstrøm, plus securing Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori on permanent deals - confirms a squad full of real talent that are ready to fight for another title.
Losers: Everton
Everton have barely escaped relegation in the last two Premier League seasons. It's a club that is filtering significant funds into the building of an elite stadium while letting the squad crumble around it. By the time their new home is ready, there's a real chance the Toffees' everlasting relationship with the top flight is over.
Sean Dyche will be thanking his tastiest earthworms that the club managed to sign Beto from Udinese. The giant striker will likely start most games as Dominic Calvert-Lewin can't sustain fitness. Beto will need to do a lot of the heavy lifting alongside Arnaut Danjuma, who finally decided Goodison Park was for him after choosing Tottenham instead last January.
While Youssef Chermiti looks a decent signing, he can't be relied on to consistently contribute at 19 years old in a new league.
That's as good as it gets for Everton. Ashley Young and Jack Harrison are the type of signings you make when you're trying to win the Championship.
With Alex Iwobi bizarrely sold to Fulham, a player who dragged the side through games last season, you have to wonder if it's actually very good planning by the Blues, in that they're a year ahead of establishing their squad to make it back into the Premier League.
Winner: Kylian Mbappé
I just had to throw him in. Kylian Mbappé has waited a long time to be the one and only main man at Paris Saint-Germain. The 'pass it to Will' type player.
He looked like he would follow Lionel Messi out the door after being frozen out, but Neymar's sale facilitated a roundabout turn that keeps Mbappé happy for another season.
Randal Kolo Muani's arrival is also great news for the forward, as the former Eintracht Frankfurt star works way harder than his aforementioned former teammates ever would.
Mbappé gets what he wants, for now. And next season, he'll likely get what he wants, again, when he joins Real Madrid. Sounds like a decent life.
Losers: Chelsea
Chelsea have now spent £1 billion across the last three transfer windows.
They have picked up some really exciting players, most recently Caicedo and Lavia, with an emphasis on youth that is frankly quite frightening. For so many players to prove their worth across the myriad of seven-year contracts that have been dished out is gutsy to say the least.
The main reason Chelsea are in this article? How can you spend that much money and have a forward line that looks anything other than absolutely proven elite?
Nicolas Jackson is a fine footballer, but is he currently able to carry a team with so much expectation? Christopher Nkunku is also an impressive player, but his injuries are worrying already. Cole Palmer, too, should add real value. But there's no killer goal scorer to challenge Jackson in that striker spot.
It might be harsh, but that seems ludicrous considering the fees thrown about at Stamford Bridge since Todd Boehly arrived.
Winners: Saudi Arabia
Karim Benzema. Sadio Mané. N'golo Kante. Riyad Mahrez. Fabinho. Kalidou Koulibaly. Roberto Firmino. Ruben Neves. Edouard Mendy. Jordan Henderson. Marcelo Brozovic. Sergej Milinkovic-Savić. Jota.
Huge names from across the world. While it wasn't all down to Cristiano Ronaldo's winter move, his name will forever be synonymous with this historic summer for Saudi Arabian football. An elite top flight is being established and phase one will be complete when Salah arrives, likely in the summer.
Saudi Arabia's money is going nowhere. This summer has been an obvious demonstration of power, and in reality, very little of the nation's muscle has been flexed so far. No league or club has had a bigger summer. Period.