The 10 best signings of the summer transfer window
1. Neymar, PSG
£199.8 million from Barcelona
It wouldn’t be right to talk about the transfer window in the summer of 2017 and not mention Neymar. Perhaps £200 million transfers will be the norm in a few years. But when the transfer record was previously less than half of that, the deal to take Neymar from Spain to France is a truly stunning piece of business.
This article is headlined the ‘best’ signings of the summer, and there’s every chance that in real terms this won’t be one. PSG usually stroll to the Ligue 1 title regardless, though admittedly Monaco put their nose out of joint there in 2016-17.
Their main aim with this signing will be to improve in the Champions League. PSG last made it to the semifinal in 1995. Since they were taken over by Oryx Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, they’ve made it to the quarterfinals four times, but not further.
Can Neymar push them onto the next level in Europe? A record of 21 goals and 20 assists in 40 Champions League appearances to date certainly suggests that he might.
Next: 15 best bargain buys in the summer transfer window
There’s only so much one player can add though, however good he might be. Without a regular high standard test in his domestic league, we may have to wait a while to see how much Neymar will add in Europe.
If nothing else, his transfer was remarkable for shaking up the hierarchy in European soccer. Relatively big clubs are used to losing their top players to Barcelona. Yet this summer it was they who lost a key player in his prime. PSG aren’t a bigger club than Barcelona, just richer. In this era, that counts for a hell of a lot.