Football: Another record summer transfer window in England, less expensive elsewhere

The Premier League moved mountains of money again during the summer, driven by the locomotives Liverpool (Wirtz, Ekitike, Frimpong...), Arsenal (Madueke, Gyökeres, Eze), Manchester City (Aït-Nouri, Reijnders, Cherki) and Chelsea (Delap, Pedro, Garnacho).

More than three billion euros have been spent, according to the specialist website Transfermarkt, and this new record is expected to stretch further by Monday evening.

Defending champions Liverpool have signed striker Alexander Isak, who left Newcastle in a standoff.

With their backs to the wall, the Magpies have decided to recruit two strikers before opening the door to Isak. After the German Nick Woltemade, who arrived on Saturday, they hope to attract Jorgen Strand Larsen (Wolverhampton) or Yoane Wissa (Brentford).

Having struggled with their goalkeepers (Onana, Bayindir) since the start of the season, Manchester United have finally chosen the potential of Senne Lammens over the experience of Emiliano Martinez, the Argentinian world champion from Aston Villa.

Spain: Reinforcements at Real and Atlético, less at Barça

At the end of the season, Real Madrid renewed its squad and offered its new coach Xabi Alonso several recruits capable of bringing more balance to a team that sorely lacked it during the last season: young Spanish defenders Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras and English full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Spanish giants also broke the bank to acquire Argentinian prospect Franco Mastantuono.

Very active on the transfer market (seven recruits, nearly 175 million euros spent), Atlético Madrid has strengthened its squad in all sectors, with the arrivals of Spanish attacking midfielder Alex Baena, American Johnny Cardoso, Argentinian Thiago Almada, Italian striker Giacomo Raspadori, Slovakian defender David Hancko, Spanish full-back Marc Pubill and Italian full-back Matteo Ruggeri. An eighth recruit was registered on Monday with Argentinian Nico Gonzalez.

Barça, still in the red financially, was much less spendthrift but made two major reinforcements, with the signing of Catalan goalkeeper Joan Garcia and the loan with an option to buy of Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.

Germany: Bayern strengthens at the last minute with Jackson

Bayern only compensated for the departures in their attacking line-up of Thomas Müller (Vancouver), Leroy Sané (Galatasaray), Kingsley Coman (Al-Nassr) and Mathys Tel (Tottenham) with the arrival of Luis Diaz from Liverpool.

According to German and English media, the Munich club reached an agreement in extremis with Chelsea for the one-season loan of Nicolas Jackson, with a mandatory purchase option under certain conditions (high number of matches played), after a confusion lasting more than 48 hours.

Eintracht Frankfurt have absorbed the departures of Hugo Ekitiké by Jonathan Burkardt and Kevin Trapp by Michael Zetterer, while Leverkusen are in the midst of rebuilding after losing more than three-quarters of their starting XI to win the title in 2024, while their coach Erik ten Hag, supposed to embody the renewal after the successful seasons under Xabi Alonso, was fired on Monday after only two Bundesliga matches.

Italy: AC Milan and Naples in force

Serie A has, somewhat surprisingly, welcomed two big names in European football back into the fold: after winning everything with Real Madrid, Luka Modric, almost 40, has joined AC Milan, while Kevin De Bruyne, whose contract with Manchester City, where he has won numerous titles, has chosen Naples.

These two clubs have been particularly active this summer, with Milan spending over €148 million, seeking a buyout after their disastrous 2024/25 season, and the Italian champions spending over €107 million. And it's not over yet. The Lombard club announced the arrival of Adrien Rabiot on Monday evening, after parting ways with OM (€10 million), while Napoli, which recouped €75 million by selling Victor Osimhen to Galatasaray, spent a good portion of it on Manchester United's Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund.

On the Inter side, French defender Benjamin Pavard has been loaned to OM for one season.