Hello all, welcome back to the blog. The summer 2024 transfer window is underway, and while things are yet to truly kick off, we’ve still seen some great transfers take place. Let’s grade some of them, seeing how it looks for the buying team, selling team, and player.
Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid (Free)
Real Madrid: A+
Seriously? The football world has let this happen? Real Madrid, the current holders and 15-time winners of the Champions League, have just signed the best player in the world, for less than a Hot Wheels car? A Kylian Mbappe miniature figurine officially costs more than the actual Kylian Mbappe, an absolutely incredible thought. Sure, Los Blancos aren’t a stranger to making massive signings, but at least they usually have to fork out an arm and a leg for them. Signings like Hazard, Bellingham, Ronaldo, Bale and many others before them have seen incredibly high fees be paid to their former clubs, but Madrid have outdone themselves with this one. An incredible coup for a player who surely cannot flop, and can be the leading force of the best club in the world for the better part of a decade.
PSG: F
I’m only giving PSG an F because I can’t give them any lower. The mismanagement that went on at this club involving Mbappe’s departure is laughable, and has ended up costing the club millions, without any real reward. Back in 2021, Florentino Perez was willing to offer Les Parisiens 200 million euros for the services of the frenchman, but PSG refused, looking for one last kick at the can for the coveted Champions League, with PSG having signed Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, among others. However, in a little bit of poetic justice, PSG were eliminated in the Round of 16 to that Madrid side whom they denied the services of Mbappe the summer prior. Then, after a shock renewal in 2022, subsequent second Round of 16 elimination to Bayern Munich, and departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar, Madrid were in for Mbappe again, this time looking to offer over 100 million euros for the 2022 World Cup top scorer. While it was nowhere near the offer by the club two summers prior, it was still a great sum of money, and most of the 180 million euro fee paid by PSG for Mbappe back in 2017. They still refused, despite a much worse team than the previous years, and still were looking for a delusional final shot at the Champions League, even though the attacking firepower of Leo Messi and Neymar was replaced by Ousmane Dembele and Marco Asensio. Now, still without a UCL trophy, PSG have received absolutely nothing for their golden goose, and have seen him join their perpetual European rivals for a decade of dominance. Perhaps it was a delusion of grandeur by Nasser Al-Khelaifi that he may be able to convince his star man to reject Madrid and stay at the club for his career, but it’s not worked. What now for Paris Saint-Germain?
Kylian Mbappe: A
The longtime dream has finally, finally become a reality. Kylian Mbappe, after an arduous seven years at the Parc-des-Princes, has gone for greener – and sunnier – pastures at the Santiago Bernabeu. He’s followed in the footsteps of his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, who made his big move to Madrid at 24, and has arguably the best supporting cast any player could ever ask for. Madrid’s current core of players like Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, as well as other great ones for the future such as Arda Guler, Endrick, and potentially Leny Yoro and Franco Mastantuono, may only be beaten by the great Leo Messi’s 2015 supporting cast at Barca featuring Neymar, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic, and Dani Alves. For Mbappe, as long as he can live up to his astronomic expectations, this is an incredible move for him, and absolutely the best one he could make.
Douglas Luiz to Juventus (26m + Enzo Barrenechea, Samuel Iling Jr.)
Juventus: C
While yes, it’s true that Douglas Luiz is a very good player, who was instrumental in Aston Villa’s shock fourth place finish last season, but I just don’t see it for Juve. To me, Juventus’ biggest need right now is a world class attacker who can finally help them score and become exciting again, not another solid midfielder. Juventus already have a really good, solid young core of Nicolo Fagioli and Fabio Miretti and also just signed Khephren Thuram from Nice for 20 million, so with three good players already in Luiz’s position, the need is simply not there. However, going from Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala leading your front line to Dusan Vlahovic and Fede Chiesa is simply not the move, as now that Inter, Milan, and Napoli all have world class forwards, they just won’t be a serious title contender until they get one for themselves. Also, giving away two good young forwards in Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling Jr. is also a terrible move. Considering the fees some Premier League clubs have paid for young players these days, Juve could have easily got 35 million euros from each of them, making this deal’s total value dangerously close to the 100 million mark. In my opinion, a massive overpay for a player that Juventus just don’t need.
Aston Villa: B-
It also is true that Aston Villa fleeced Juventus for quite a lot of value in money and assets in this deal, but it can’t be any higher than this because I also don’t really see the need of this swap. Douglas Luiz was, as I said earlier, one of the key cogs of an overperforming Villa side who’s now reached the Champions League. With the extra revenue that comes from the competition, I don’t see them needing the 26 million euros from this deal, nor do I see the need for Barrenechea or Iling. Barrenechea is a solid defensive midfielder who may, on paper, seem like the Douglas Luiz replacement, their playing styles are nowhere near alike and would probably be best used playing alongside one another in the midfield, rather than being swapped between clubs for one another. Iling Jr. is also not needed for Villa, with a great winger combination of a resurgent Leon Bailey with the lightning-quick Moussa Diaby and Emi Buendia as a backup. While they got a lot of value for this deal, the truth is that at the end of the day, they only got 26 million euros from it.
Douglas Luiz: C+
In my mind, this move also makes little sense for Luiz. I don’t know why he’d give up a star role with an Aston Villa side who he’d just helped reach the promised land and bright lights of the Champions League after 5 years of labouring with them for a Juventus side where he isn’t guaranteed minutes. If this was 2020, I would understand it, but now the two sides are very similar in ability, closer than the average football fan would think. The move was probably agreed to by Luiz because of a massive pay rise with joining Juventus, and a more marketable club and brand, but in a footballing sense, this move is a C+, no higher.
Michael Olise to Bayern Munich (53m)
Bayern Munich: B+
Despite a lot of depth in the winger positions for Bayern, in my opinion, this move is still a very good one, and fills a role that Bayern do really need. Olise is an unpredictable and flamboyant winger, which is something Bayern are missing. Their current wingers, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry, are just missing that extra “oomph” that I believe Olise brings to the team. He’s very efficient at both scoring and assisting, and at 22, provides some youth to Bayern’s wing depth which is getting older.
Crystal Palace: B
The fee that Palace has got for Olise is a lesson to themselves as to what they should’ve done with the Wilfried Zaha saga. After holding out for 80 million pounds in 2019 and eventually losing him for nothing, but they learned from their mistake. 53 million euros is a very good fee for the Frenchman, and should be enough to find a good replacement. Just a good piece of business overall.
Michael Olise: A
This move is absolutely phenomenal for Olise himself. He’s going from Crystal Palace to a very good rotational role at Bayern, one that will likely eventually evolve to a starting role. I can see Olise becoming an Arjen Robben-Franck Ribery type winger at Bayern, and becoming a club legend. This move could be one we look back on as a pivotal one in Bayern’s new era.
Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich (51m)
Bayern Munich: B
This move makes some sense, however, I can’t see it working out much in the long term. Palhinha seems like a good makeshift signing and the signing where Bayern resigns to losing Joshua Kimmich. It also makes sense that Bayern doesn’t want to give Aleksandar Pavlovic 90 minutes per game every week straight away, so Palhinha is a good signing to bridge the gap. That being said, I can’t see Palhinha having a long time at the club, especially after Pavlovic comes of age and can become the starter long-term for Bayern.
Fulham: A
Fulham have somehow pulled off an incredible heist with this deal, not in the transfer fee itself, but the fact that they somehow got one more season of Palhinha yet still got more for him that they would’ve got in 2023. If you remember, Bayern were in advanced stages of a Palhinha deal on deadline day 2023, but because the German window closes so much sooner than every other one, the deal wasn’t completed. The rumoured fee that Fulham would’ve got for Palhinha was 40 million euros, but they’ve managed to increase the price by 10 million euros as well as retain his services for one more season. Fair play, Fulham.
Joao Palhinha: C
I’m not sure of the security in this move for Palhinha. He will really have to show himself as someone who can retain a spot in Bayern’s midfield in the long term, and he’ll have to be better than German starboy Aleksandar Pavlovic. If he can’t do that, he’s reserved to either staying on the bench for years, or having to go elsewhere.
That’s all for this post, as I’ve said, the transfer window is still yet to truly kick off, so there will still be a few more of these to come this summer as more big-name transfers come in, you can likely expect another one at the end of July, but for now, I’m Jim James, until next time!