Transfer Deadline Day Summer 2023 Recap
It is hard to beat the excitement of deadline day. Something about surprise moves, deals falling through and Nottingham Forest buying an entirely new team captivates every soccer fan in unimaginable ways. While it seemed like most of the excitement may have already happened earlier in the transfer window, deadline day did not disappoint, providing us with its usual entertainment.
In this post, I will be reviewing the biggest transfers that happened on deadline day and giving my thoughts on who won and lost on the transfer window’s final day.
Biggest Deals
Biggest Deal Of The Day
The biggest deal of the day was Randal Kolo Muani‘s $97 million move from Eintracht Frankfurt to PSG. The French international has added even more depth to Luis Enrique‘s side as PSG chases after that elusive Champions League victory they are so desperate to obtain.
Premier League Deadline Day Moves
The Premier League, as always, did not disappoint. Multiple clubs made big moves on the final day of the window to sure up their squads as the season begins to ramp up.
Matheus Nunes‘s move from Wolves to Manchester City, Cole Palmer‘s from Manchester City to Chelsea, Brennan Johnson‘s from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham and Ryan Gravenberch‘s from Bayern to Liverpool were definitely the pick of the bunch.
Two Barcelona players found themselves making loan moves to the Premier League as Ansu Fati joined Brighton and Clément Lenglet joined Aston Villa on loan from the Catalan club. It is also worth noting that Alex Iwobi joined Fulham from Everton, Rob Holding moved to Crystal Palace from Arsenal and Luis Sinisterra joined Bournemouth on loan from Leeds.
Manchester United
While the Premier League was busy as a whole on Friday, there were two Premier League sides who made the biggest splashes on deadline day, the first of which was Manchester United. United added Sergio Reguilón on loan from Tottenham, Sofyan Amrabat on loan from Fiorentina and former Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayındır to a permanent contract. Erik Ten Hag clearly felt like his United side needed a final boost and United hit the market hard to secure some final signings.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest went absolutely crazy on deadline day. It seemed like there was a new Forest signing every time I opened up my phone. Former Chelsea wonderkid Callum Hudson-Odoi headlines the new players at the club, joining from the Blues for a $6.3 million transfer fee.
Besides Hudson-Odoi, Forest also signed Ibrahim Sangaré from PSV, Nicolás Domínguez from Bologna, Odysseas Vlachodimos from Benfica and Andrew Omobamidele from Norwich on permanent deals. Forest also added Nuno Tavares on loan from Arsenal and Divock Origi on loan from AC Milan.
That is seven new players signed on deadline day. Say what you want, but Forest went on to defeat Chelsea 1-0 on the road after this deadline day spending frenzy. Maybe Steve Cooper knows what he is doing.
Barcelona
Barcelona decided to add some Portuguese flair on Friday, signing not one but two Joãos to the squad. João Cancelo joined on loan from Manchester City while João Félix joined on loan from Atlético Madrid. Xavi’s side was weak in the outside back position, a problem that Cancelo’s signing is designed to fix. Félix, on the other hand, adds extra depth to Barca’s attack with his technical ability and creativity going forward.
Mason Greenwood
If you wanted some controversy on deadline day, then congratulations, you got it. Mason Greenwood‘s loan move to Getafe stirred some interesting conversations in the soccer world on Friday. The 21-year-old has not played in over a year following both legal and internal investigations into allegations of rape and assault. He will get a chance now, however, to revive his career in Spain after all charges against him were dropped.
Other Notable Signings
Leonardo Bonucci‘s career is still going strong. The Italian center-back moved to Union Berlin on a free transfer, further strengthening a high-flying Union Berlin side that was sitting on top of the Bundesliga heading into match week three. It is also worth noting that Luka Jovic moved to AC Milan from Fiorentina and Juan Bernat joined Benfica on loan from PSG.
Biggest Winners
Deadline Day’s Biggest Winners
The biggest winner was Barcelona. They got their two targets João Cancelo and João Félix on deadline day. They were also able to get both players on loan which is incredibly helpful due to their current financial situation. Cancelo’s signing is huge in addressing the problems Barca has at outside back, and Felix adds more dynamism to Barca’s attack.
Barca also found a way to secure first-team football to aid with Ansu Fati’s development, loaning him to a very good Brighton where Roberto De Zerbi can help him reach his potential. This was a very good deadline day for Barcelona.
This was also a very good deadline day for Liverpool. They managed to secure Ryan Ryan Gravenberch‘s signature while also shutting down Saudi Arabia’s attempt to sign Mohamed Salah.
Biggest Losers
Deadline Day’s Biggest Losers
Bayern Munich had an abysmal deadline day. They failed to sign any of their targets, including Fulham’s João Palhinha, Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah and Southampton’s Armel Bella-Kotchap. While Bayern did sign the legendary Harry Kane and Korean center-back Kim Min-jae, Tuchel’s side still needed some extra juice to give it the legitimacy that other Bayern teams have had. This did not happen, however, and Bayern ended up losing on deadline day.
Getafe is also a loser. Yes, Greenwood is a good player, but why would you bring that negative attention to your club? The whole world is going to be rooting against Getafe now. It looks like the club is anticipating this and has already created a new English-only social media account, likely to soak up the hate from angry English fans. Is Greenwood worth all of this? No, not even close.
The Saudi Pro League also missed out on deadline day. Al-Ittihad tried and tried to lure Mo Salah to Saudi Arabia but to no avail. He is staying in Liverpool, and the Saudi Pro League missed out on adding another star to its now-elite roster of players.
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