SAM TIGHE
Europe’s 2020 summer transfer window closes on October 5, meaning we are just under a month away from deadline day.
Market activity has varied wildly across the continent, as some clubs continue to count their pennies and look for bargains in the wake of a global pandemic that’s hit football hard, while others have unveiled untapped spending power and hauled in signing after signing.
Even among Europe’s top clubs, we’ve seen huge contrasts in approaches. For every Chelsea, who have signed six players, there’s a Liverpool, who have signed one.
Here, B/R takes stock of what the continent’s best have sealed in terms of transfers so far and selects each one’s biggest need remaining, suggesting a transfer fix where appropriate.
Arsenal: Sell some deadwood to make room for Thomas Partey
With Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian in, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari secured long-term, and Dani Ceballos seemingly on his way back for another season on loan, per Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal appear in pretty good shape.
B/R’s Dean Jones reports that any further progress made in the market—say, for Atletico’s Thomas Partey, who they are linked daily with for £44.5 million—hinges upon making some sales to both raise cash and free space in the wage budget (which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s contract extension would also eat into).
Suggestions: Matteo Guendouzi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Rob Holding
Atletico Madrid: Striker
Yep, Atletico still need a striker.
Los Colchoneros’ one-and-done performance in Lisbon’s Champions League format highlighted how lacking they are up front. Diego Costa was manhandled by Dayot Upamecano—not the other way around—hammering home the fact he’s a shell of his former self, while Alvaro Morata has never felt reliable.
This writer has been banging the drum for Edinson Cavani to lead Diego Simeone’s attack, but the summer has passed without that materialising. In fact, most of the Atletico transfer talk has been surrounding outgoings, with Thomas Partey to Arsenal and Jan Oblak to Chelsea the most common links.
Not only do they need to keep hold of those stars, but they also need to kick into gear and find a forward to buy.
Suggestions: Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli), Maxi Gomez (Valencia). Continue reading