Arsenal are making all the moves, Newcastle United surprise everyone with their record-breaking transfer, Lookman leaves Everton, and the most perfect transfer of all time.
A strangely positive week for Arsenal
It’s been a hell of a week for Arsenal, even before you get to Sead Kolasinac fending off two armed robbers in London. In the transfer market they have swooped for three players in the space of a few days; William Saliba, Dani Ceballos, and Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe is yet to be finalised, but believed to be in the post. The Ivorian winger will set the Gunners back about £72m, but will pay that in installments so they can stay within their restricted budget for the summer.
Dani Ceballos comes in on loan from Real Madrid, but he will add so much going forward to that Arsenal midfield. They are in need of a dynamic midfielder who can play alongside Lucas Torreira, and now they’ve got one.
As for Saliba, he will be loaned back to Saint-Etienne for the rest of the coming season. This is a good move for Arsenal, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure why they made this move now when they so clearly need to improve the squad immediately. It will bear fruit for them in the future, at least.
Newcastle break their transfer record for the second time in a year
With the departure of Rafael Benitez and the arrival of Steve Bruce as his replacement, it’s been a characteristically gloomy time on Tyneside of late.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Newcastle absolutely smash their transfer record, paying Hoffenheim £40m for Joelinton.
The Brazilian forward is a hard player to define in simple terms, as he has the build of a target man, but the speed of a winger, and also likes to drop a bit deeper at times to help create. He’s not a million miles off West Ham’s recent signing, Sebastian Haller.
Either way, this could turn out to be a hell of a signing for the Magpies.
Welcome, Joelinton! #JoelinToon ????????⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Jo8kN49LML
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) July 23, 2019
Ademola Lookman and his unfulfilled potential leaves Everton behind
Two years, 36 Premier League appearances and one goal after arriving on Merseyside, Ademola Lookman leaves with his potential unfulfilled.
The winger looked a real attacking threat in his debut match against Manchester City in 2017, a game in which he scored the winner. But he was never able to put a run of games together where he could show what he was capable of, and never seemed settled at Goodison.
Everton have have sold him onto RB Leipzig, where he enjoyed a successful loan spell two seasons ago, for £22.5m. While there is an inherent risk in selling off an asset that has so much upside, the Toffees made a profit on the player and in all reality this is probably the best move for all involved.
Why Everton selling Ademola Lookman is a mistake
https://twitter.com/LeipzigXtra/status/1154510408373477388
The most perfect transfer of all time
I can’t tell you why this is such a bloody phenomenal transfer, but it just feels so right. I mean, just look at this:
#BenvenutoDaniele pic.twitter.com/Lm2fjggo4j
— Boca Juniors (@BocaJrsOficial) July 26, 2019
Hook it to my veins. Daniele De Rossi could have gone anywhere. China, Russia, MLS, Qatar. Somewhere he could earn yacht loads of money while effectively being on holiday. But he didn’t, the beautiful bastard.
Instead he chose Boca Juniors, home to one of the most passionate and colourful fanbases in world football, the home of Diego Maradona and Claudio Caniggia.
This will be no sleepwalk for the Italian; the pressure will be scorching hot at a club that lost the Copa Libertadores final to their bitter rivals River Plate just last year. The hunger and the desperation for success will be intense.
De Rossi’s been a Roma legend. he’s won a World Cup. Now he’s taking on South America.
Other notable transfers:
- Trézéguet – Kasimpasa to Aston Villa – £8.8m
- Jordan Ayew – Swansea to Crystal Palace – £3m
- André-Frank Zambo Anguissa – Fulham to Villareal – loan
- Douglas Luiz – Man City to Aston Villa – £15m
- Vincent Janssen – Spurs to Monterrey – £6.3m
- Anthony Knockaert – Brighton to Fulham – loan
- Ethan Ampadu – Chelsea to RB Leipzig – loan
- Jordy Clasie – Southampton to AZ Alkmaar – free
- Filipe Luis – Atlético Madrid to Flamengo – free
- Jayson Molumby – Brighton to Millwall – loan
- Micah Richards – retired
Read: How social media led to an explosion of incredible kit launch videos
Our weekly transfer round-up is brought to you in association with our friends at Carling, who’ve just launched a superb new inter lockable glass that allows you to carry four pints easily. Now if that’s not an innovation we can all get behind, we don’t know what is!
