What Are The Top 5 Most Expensive Transfers This Summer Window?

With the summer transfer window deadline officially ending on August 30 at 11pm for most leagues, here at Football Park we’ve decided to have a look at the top five most expensive transfers so far and rank them.

5 – Douglas Luiz To Juventus

Douglas Luiz was a phenomenal player under Unai Emery but Aston Villa were forced into selling him in order to not breach financial regulation rules. Transfermarkt valued the Brazilian at €70 million but the final fee the two clubs agreed at was €51.5 million.

📝 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗘: Juventus have completed the signing of Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa.

🇧🇷🤝🇮🇹

(Source: @juventusfcen) pic.twitter.com/cNQYa8ba37
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) June 30, 2024

To smoothen the deal, Juventus offered a proposal of an extra two young and talented players. Samuel Illing-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea have now been added to the Villa squad with their future looking bright and great respective replacements for Luiz and another player that has made this list a little further down.

I would rate this deal a 9/10. Villa have received a great lump of cash from him and the addition of two up and coming talents without having to pay for them. With the money they have received they have been able to purchase the services of excellent talent in Amadou Onana from Everton. All in all, a great deal for both clubs.

4 – Michael Olise To Bayern Munich

Michael Olise has always been destined for great things and now he can show that on the biggest stage of all in the UEFA Champions League with his new club Bayern Munich. He turned down a move to Chelsea last season in favour of holding out for a big move at Crystal Palace and its paid off.

🔴🇫🇷 Michael Olise when asked why he decided to join Bayern over other clubs: “Talks with Bayern were very positive. I am very happy to be playing for such a big club”.

“It's a big challenge, exactly what I was looking for. I want to prove myself at this level and win titles”. pic.twitter.com/VnwYDEBnUl
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 7, 2024

The deal cost the Bavarian club €53 million with the contract lasting until 2029. Olise becomes another of Bayern’s impressive options when it comes to wingers as he will have to fight Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sané and new man Nestory Irankunda for one of the starting spots. Palace deserve a lot of plaudits for this as they have been terrific in youth recruitment recently, buying players and then nurturing them into become stars.

I would rate this transfer an 8/10. The fee is a great price as Olise is essentially the player he is now since coming to Crystal Palace, so it is reflective of what he is worth to them. The Eagles have brought in two players for their senior squad in promising centreback Chadi Riad for €15million and experienced attacking midfielder Daichi Kamada on a free. The money they will receive will be very useful to them in spending money on the next Michael Olise, a very hard task.

3 – Amadou Onana To Aston Villa

Sticking in the Premier League and Amadou Onana has swapped Everton for Aston Villa. With the aforementioned Dougals Luiz headed to Italy, The Villans needed to get their replacement perfect. Defensively the two players have very similar traits and statistics, but Onana’s tackling numbers last season if the biggest difference between the two of them, superseding the Brazilian’s by 71 to 58.

🚨🟣🔵 Amadou Onana to Aston Villa, here we go! Deal done for £50m fee and sell-on clause also included.

Formal proposal accepted, five year deal for Onana at Villa valid until June 2029.

Medical being booked then deal set to be signed next week. pic.twitter.com/EMrpkYw7KC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2024

Everton accepted Villa’s bid of €59.35 million, just shy of €10 million over his evaluated market value according to Transfermarkt. Personal terms were agreed upon a five year deal, running out in June 2029.

With Villa making it into the UEFA Champions League after finishing in 4th last season and Everton being part of their second relegation battle in a row, a move there is a no brainer for the Belgian international.

I would rate this deal an 10/10. This is exactly the player that Villa need after losing a solid Premier League experienced defensive midfielder. Onana has Prem experience and is still young at 22 with time to develop. He could really up his game at Villa so the future looks exciting.

2 – Moussa Diaby To Al-Ittihad

Another transfer related to Aston Villa as Moussa Diaby leaves the club after only a year. He has quit the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League and joined up with fellow French teammates Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté at Al-Ittihad.

🚨🇫🇷 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 | Al-Ittihad complete signing of Moussa Diaby (25) from Aston Villa. £50m fee, as per @guardian_sport. 🟡✅ pic.twitter.com/GWEmBpXX4d
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 24, 2024

Diaby is actually the most expensive Aston Villa transfer of all time and now he adds to his career fees with this move to Saudi Arabia costing €60 million.

This purchase could just be the missing piece in the puzzle for Al-Ittihad to become Saudi Pro League champions after a disappointing 5th place finish last season. Domestically the league has improved massively so every bit of help they can get.

I would rate this deal a 7/10. It feels like a bit of a shame for Diaby to be leaving after only a year but he didn’t quite live up to the expectations he created on himself when he was playing amazingly at Bayer Leverkusen. Villa have made a profit on him at least so that bumps up the rating for me a bit. I just think it is too early on in his career to be headed to the Saudi League.

1 – Leny Yoro To Manchester United

Leny Yoro is the youngest player on this list at the age of 18. He just become Manchester United’s newest arrival and is anticipated to big things. He has admitted that he is now playing for his boyhood club and that he has had a plan on his development has been laid out clear for him.

📝 DEAL DONE: Manchester United have signed Leny Yoro from Lille for a fee of around €62m.

Five-year contract. ✍️

(Source: @manutd) pic.twitter.com/ZKmmumrWLc
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) July 18, 2024

Real Madrid were also chasing in on the Frenchman but ultimately didn’t offer a price as they expected that Yoro would chose them and join on a free a year later after his contract expired. At the end of the day it was United that made a bid and the bid was a whopping €62 million.

He has just picked up an injury during United's pre season matches and is due to face a lengthy period of time out as he was seen leaving with crutches and a supportive boot. Reports are saying that he could have fractured something.

I rate this move a 7/10. It is a shame about the injury but he does look like he could go onto big things otherwise Manchester United, Real Madrid and Liverpool wouldn’t have made attempts to sign him. However, due to his age there is a lot of pressure on him and that much money could be what turns the fans against him if he flops.

Future Transfers

With a month left until deadline day, we will have to wait and see if there are any new major developments but unless there is a massive shock like Vinicius Jr submitting a transfer request, I don’t see this list changing in the near future.