5️⃣ clubs who lost the summer transfer market | OneFootball

On Tuesday we published our ‘Five clubs who won the summer transfer market’ – which you can read here.

But today we’re casting our eye over those sides whose off-season break raised more questions than answers.

Chelsea

Chelsea were, to say the least, busy in the transfer market this summer.

The Blues went on a spending spree unlike we’ve ever seen before with Christopher Nkunku, Roméo Lavia and Moisés Caicedo all arriving and all costing over €60m apiece.

In total, the west London outfit signed 13 new players for a total of €464m.

New boss Mauricio Pochettino has essentially seen his entire spine replaced with a new batch of stars, all of which will need time to settle and thrive in a new environment.

Perhaps the most startling revelation comes from looking at the squad for the Champions League final in 2021. Chelsea beat Manchester City that evening in Porto and of the 20 players who won medals, only three remain.

They are going to make for fascinating viewing this season.

Ins: Moises Caicedo (Brighton, €116m); Romeo Lavia (Southampton, €60m); Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, €60m); Cole Palmer (Chelsea, €47m); Axel Diasi (Monaco, €45m); Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal, €37m); Lesley Ogochukwu (Rennes, €27m); Robert Sanchez (Brighton, €23m); Djordje Petrovic (NE Revoluton, €16m); Deivid Washington (Santos, €16m); Angelo (Santos, €15m); Alex Matos (Norwich, Free)

Outs: Kai Havertz (Arsenal, €75m); Mason Mount (Manchester United, €64m); Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City, €29m); Kalidou Koulibaly (Al-Hilal, €23m); Christian Pulisic (Milan, €20m); Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli, €18.5m); Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Milan, €16m); Ethan Ampadu (Leeds, €8m); Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest, €3.5m); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Marseille, Free); Cesar Azpilicueta (Atletico de Madrid, Free); N’Golo Kante (Al-Ittihad, Free); Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray, Loan); Romelu Lukaku (Roma, Loan)

Borussia Dortmund

It’s hard to fault Borussia Dortmund for losing Jude Bellingham.

The Englishman clearly had his eyes on a move to Real Madrid and Dortmund aren’t exactly the sort of club to stop a star player moving on.

But what you can fault is the price at which they sold the 20-year-old.

As ludicrous as it sounds, €103m was an absolute bargain for Los Blancos and it looks cheaper and cheaper with each passing game.

That is, in part, down to the astonishing way in which the market has shifted for central midfielders over the window, with players half as good as Bellingham moving on for €100m or more.

It remains to be seen whether Felix Nmecha can prove to be a capable replacement, but in the cold light of day, Dortmund should have enjoyed something nearer to a €170m windfall for the Birmingham City graduate.

Ins: Felix Nmecha (Wolfsburg, €30m); Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern Munich, €19m); Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen, €13m); Paul-Philipp Besong (Nurnberg, €0.2m); Ayman Azhil (Bayer Leverkusen, Free); Ramy Bensebaini (Monchengladbach)

Outs: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, €103m); Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt, €5m); Jayden Braaf (Verona, €1m); Mahmoud Dahoud (Brighton, Free); Raphaël Guerreiro (Bayern Munich, Free)

Everton

Everton needed to wait until the final day of the season to avoid the drop last time out.

Their record in front of goal was the worst in the Premier League, having netted just 34 in 38 games.

Goals then, were what was needed this summer, and despite landing Beto from Udinese in the final week, Sean Dyche’s side still look desperately short in the final third.

Alex Iwobi, Tom Davies and Moise Kean were all sold whilst only Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison arrived on loan for the season.

No wins from their first four games so far spells a worrying trend on the blue half of Merseyside.

Ins: Beto (Udinese, €30m); Chermiti (Sporting, €12.5m); Ashley Young (Aston Villa, Free); Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal, Loan); Jack Harrison (Leeds, Loan)

Outs: Moise Kean (Juventus, €30m); Alex Iwobi (Fulham, €17.5m); Ellis Sims (Leicester, €8.8m); Niels Nkounkou (Saint-Etienne, €2m); Asmir Begovic (QPR, Free); Tom Davies (Sheffield United, Free); Yerry Mina (Fiorentina, Free); Mason Holgate (Southampton, Loan); Neal Maupay (Brentford, Loan)

Juventus

They may be unbeaten in their opening three games of the season but it’s hard to look at Juventus’ summer activity and be confident for the season ahead.

Timothy Weah was the only marquee addition to the squad, and as impressive as he can be on occasion, we’ve yet to see any real consistency from the American during his club career.

Times have changed at the Old Lady – where once a Galáctico signing would join before every season, now the Bianconeri have Livano Comenencia and Facundo González arriving for a combined €5m.

And then there’s the question over Leonard Bonucci’s exit.

The veteran defender is clearly not at the level he once was, but for Massimiliano Allegri to completely shut him out of the squad and allow such vast experience to leave on a free is bizarre to say the least.

Ins: Moise Kean (Everton, €30m); Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo, €30m); Timothy Weah (Lille, €11m); Arkadiusz Milik (Marseille, €6.3m); Livano Comenencia (PSV, €3m); Facundo Gonzalez (Valencia, €2m)

Outs: Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham, €30m); Denis Zakaria (Monaco, €20m); Radu Dragusin (Genoa, €5.5m); Leonardo Bonucci (Union Berlin, Free); Juan Cuadrado (Inter, Free); Angel Di Maria (Benfica, Free)

RC Lens

Lens are, to some extent, the perfect encapsulation of modern football.

A brilliantly run club who over-performed hugely last season to finish just a point behind Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain in second place.

And then the vultures circled.

Top scorer Loïs Openda went to RB Leipzig, captain Seko Fofana joined Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and stalwart Jean Onana was sold to Beşiktaş.

The turnover has meant that Frank Haise’s side are now in the bottom three having failed to win a game yet this season.

Ins: Elye Wahi (Montpellier, €30m); Andy Diouf (Basel, €14m); Angelo Fulgini (Mainz, €7m); Oscar Cortes (Millonarios, €4.5m); Simon Ramet (Lille, Free)

Outs: Loïs Openda (RB Leipzig, €38.5m); Seko Fofana (Al-Nassr, €25m); Jean Onana (Besiktas, €4m); Yacouba Barry (Annecy, Free); Ismaël Boura (Troyes, Free); Lukasz Poreba (Hamburg, Loan); Adam Buksa (Antalyspor, Free); Adrien Louveau (Lodz)