Barcelona, PSG leading the way for elite clubs in the transfer market this summer

Every transfer window brings in with it a lot of excitement for the fans but a lot of challenges for clubs – more so in the past year considering the effects of the pandemic on finances of football clubs across the globe. The pressure generally tends to be more on the elite clubs of Europe, who are under the heaviest of scrutiny from all quarters.

And, that has been the case for Barcelona, with the pressure this summer increasing multifold due to the prevalent financial situation at the club and the entire Lionel Messi contract renewal saga. And even though the odds have not entirely been in their favour this transfer window, the Catalans have managed to do some good business so far.

Indeed, among the elite clubs of Europe, Barcelona have been the second-most active club in the ongoing transfer window. The Blaugrana, so far, have seen four new players come through the doors at Camp Nou, all at a total cost of just €9 million in transfer fees.

Barca, so far, have signed Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay and Emerson Royal – the former three coming in on free transfers, with the Catalans having had to pay only for the Brazilian defender. At the same time, it also needs to be pointed out that they have also been successful in getting out quite a few unwanted players already, with more expected to depart in the coming days.

Despite these four arrivals, there are positions in the team with desperate need of reinforcements, and Joan Laporta and co. will be hoping to make transfers in three areas post-sales.

The only top club in Europe to have outperformed Barcelona so far this summer are Paris Saint-Germain, having brought in five new players already, spending €76 million. Out of the five, three players – Georginio Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos, and Gianluigi Donnarumma, have come in on Bosman moves. Achraf Hakimi, meanwhile, cost €60 million while Danilo Pereira set them back by €16 million.

Honourable mention for AC Milan, who, after a long absence from the UEFA Champions League, are back in the top-tier competition and have made six signings so far, with Sandro Tonali, Olivier Giroud among the new faces at San Siro.

In terms of the most sum spent so far this summer, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig are the standout, having splashed €92 million on new players already, although, it must be noted that the investments have been made from the funds raised by high-profile sales like Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano among others.