Football transfers in 2020 were always going to be tricky as the finances needed to pull off the big money moves aren’t easily available to all the clubs due to the unprecedented times we are in currently. Most football clubs have been hurt badly by the coronavirus and that could be one of the reasons why we haven’t seen those bank-breaking football transfers so far in 2020.
Some clubs have been reluctant to chase players due to the financial constraints while some have been super active in the market. The transfer market is the best place for these clubs after a long gruelling season to see where the squad is weak at and look to strengthen ahead of the new season. It’s time to go back to the drawing boards, look to get in players who will improve the overall quality of the squad and move on players who are not required at the club anymore. Here we’ll analyse the major football transfers of 2020 till date.
KAI HAVERTZ TO CHELSEA
Chelsea have gone in and broken the bank yet again to rope in German playmaker, Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen. Frank Lampard will be hoping that the 21-year-old German international can have an instant impact on the Premier League. Havertz has shown himself to be one of the brightest talents in European football and has been superb in the past two years in the Bundesliga. Last season, he scored 12 goals and provided six assists, in addition to the 17 Bundesliga goals he had scored in the campaign before. He has shades of former Chelsea and Germany great, Michael Ballack in him and the Blues will be hoping that he has a similar impact on the Premier League.
ACHRAF HAKIMI TO INTER MILAN
Achraf Hakimi is one of the most promising full-backs coming through in football and it’s interesting to see how he’ll fit in Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan. He was a Real Madrid player but played the last two seasons at Borussia Dortmund on loan where he excelled. His pace and ability to deliver quality crosses in the box makes him a perfect modern-day full-back. The 21-year-old will for sure improve under Conte and appears tailor-made for the system the Italian deploys at Inter Milan. For Dortmund, last season, he scored nine times and assisted ten times in all competitions while playing at right-back predominantly. Definitely one to look out for in the future.
NATHAN AKE TO MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola has snapped up another centre-back for Manchester City in the form of Dutch international, Nathan Ake. City acquired the services of Ake from relegated Bournemouth for 41 million pounds. Despite being only 25 years old, Ake has nine years of experience in England, having moved to Chelsea from Feyenoord in the summer of 2011. From the current Premier League defenders aged 25 or under, only Hector Bellerin and Luke Shaw have racked up more top-flight appearances than Ake. He is a versatile defender and can play at left-back as well if wanted by the manager. His versatility would have been another reason why Guardiola went on to sign him. He was a part of a struggling Bournemouth team last season and helped the team keep four clean sheets in the entire season. He’ll look to solve the defensive problems of City to make them favourites to win the Premier League again.
DONNY VAN DE BEEK TO MANCHESTER UNITED
After 13 years at Ajax, Donny Van De Beek has made a high profile move to England with Manchester United. He becomes United’s first signing of the season and looks like a top one. The 23-year-old Netherlands international is one of the most respected young midfielders in world football currently. He contributed 10 goals and 11 assists in 37 games before the abrupt end of the 2019-20 Eredivisie season. Van De Beek is experienced in European competitions and interestingly has appeared in the 2017 Europa League final against United. He also played a key role in Ajax’s semi-finals journey in the Champions League in 2019. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in the current system of United as presently Bruno Fernandes plays the playmaker role in the team. But surely this signing will get them closer to the likes of Liverpool and City to challenge for the title.
BEN CHILWELL TO CHELSEA
It was no secret that Ben Chilwell was Frank Lampard’s first choice for his left-back position. Chelsea have been one of the most active teams in this transfer window as they were banned from making any signings in last year’s summer transfer window. Frank Lampard is looking to overhaul the squad and already with the moves for Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr and Ben Chilwell, the Blues have made their intentions public. Chilwell has signed a five-year contract with Chelsea and they have paid a massive fee of 50 million pounds for the left-back.
ARTHUR AND PJANIC SWITCH
This one is a pretty odd move. Brazilan midfielder Arthur will join Juventus from FC Barcelona and Miralem Pjanic will come to Barcelona to replace the midfield player. One thing to remember here is that this move transpired before Ronald Koeman took charge of the Catalan giants and hence, wasn’t involved in this negotiation. It seems like a move Barcelona were forced to make due to financial restrictions as Pjanic is already 30 and will join an already ageing squad. But for Arthur and Juventus it could be the perfect move as they have signed a young midfielder who has decent experience of playing football at the highest level.
WILLIAN TO ARSENAL
Brazilian international Willian has moved bases in London and has joined Arsenal. Mikel Arteta is doing a fantastic job at the helm of Arsenal and it has already started to reflect in terms of trophies. The 32-year-old will provide handy Premier League experience to the Gunners as he had seven pretty successful seasons at Chelsea. He was out of contract this summer and Arsenal snapped him up for free. He had a personal-best season in Chelsea colours as he netted nine times and assisted seven times in the 2019-20 Premier League. This could prove to be a smart piece of business by Arsenal.
LEROY SANE TO BAYERN MUNICH
A Bayern Munich team which absolutely dominated the Champions League and won the treble in 2019-20 will have German winger Leroy Sane playing for them in the coming season. A serious knee injury kept him out for the majority of the previous season and he ended up playing only 24 minutes for Manchester City in the 2019-20 season. City wanted to retain his services but the German had his mind set on a move away from the Premier League. He will make the German giants a more formidable unit next season as they look to replicate the treble-winning season.
PIERRE-EMILE HOJBJERG TO TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs have acquired the services of former Southampton captain, Pierre Hojbjerg. He will help Jose make that midfield unit more robust and press like madmen. The Denmark midfielder has signed a five-year deal with the London-based club for around 15 million pounds. He becomes the first signing for Tottenham this season and will gel well in the current midfield of Moussa Sissoko, Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks and Dele Ali. Hojbjerg made 134 appearances for Southampton after joining from Bayern Munich in 2016 and his mentality will help Spurs progress under the Portuguese.
IVAN RAKITIC TO SEVILLA
This could turn out to be the signing of the season as Sevilla have managed to get a world-class midfielder, dirt cheap. The 32-year-old Croatian will join the newly-crowned Europa League winners and a team who is progressing under Julen Lopetegui. He moved to Barcelona in 2014 from Sevilla and this move will see him return to a club where he was pretty successful. The situation at Barcelona isn’t ideal at this moment, so this move has come at the right time in Rakitic’s career. He won’t be a like-for-like replacement for Ever Banega but will retain the quality of the midfield from the previous season.
MATT DOHERTY TO TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Jose Mourinho made his love for Matt Doherty public in the recent Amazon documentary, ‘Tottenham – All or Nothing’. While analysing Spur’s last season match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jose singled out the Irishman and told his team to be wary of him. He has signed the wing-back on a four-year contract at a bargain deal of 13.4 million pounds. The way Spurs announced the signing as well took the internet by storm and we can give full marks to the wit of the content team.
RODRIGO TO LEEDS UNITED
Leeds United have signed Spanish international Rodrigo for a club-record fee from La Liga team Valencia. The 29-year-old forward scored seven times for Valencia last season and had eleven assists to go along with it in all competitions, although his campaign was disrupted with a knee issue. He may be the forward Leeds need to ensure safety in the Premier League. How Marcelo Bielsa will use the Spaniard will be fascinating to see.
Read: Chelsea Complete Deal to Sign Timo Werner from RB Leipzig
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