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This has been a year like no other, and football has changed irrevocably like everything else on earth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Transfers were also hit hard by the mounting financial losses and uncertainties faced by football clubs who have struggled to generate revenue even after the restart because of the closed-door nature of football matches around Europe.
10 most expensive signings of this transfer window:
There was a flurry of activities towards the end of this unusually long summer transfer window, but in general, big buys were a rarity.
Some clubs, like Chelsea, though cashed in due to money in the bank from previous window bans. We will, in this article, take a look at the top ten signings made by clubs during this transfer window.
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#10 Nathan Ake (Bournemouth to Manchester City) - £41m
Nathan Ake, one of Bournemouth's star players, was quickly picked up by Pep Guardiola to reinforce his defence after the player's club endured relegatiion last season.
Ake has settled in nicely at the Etihad, despite City still looking a little leaky at the back, especially against Leicester when they conceded five at home.
The player is capable of playing at left-back as well though he is most comfortable at the heart of defence.
#9 Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid to Arsenal) - £45m
Arsenal pulled off a real coup on the very last day of the transfer window by picking up star Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey after paying his release clause late in the day.
Partey has been a regular for Atletico Madrid and was part of the team that reached the Champions League final in 2016 and won the Europa League two seasons later.
With both Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil out of the picture, Arsenal needed central-midfield reinforcements, and in Partey they have a goal-scoring, solid midfielder who will add both muscle and ball-playing ability.
Arsenal have made a great start to the season but looked a bit short on power at the centre of the park when they travelled to champions Liverpool.
#8 Mauro Icardi (Inter to PSG) - £45m
Mauro Icardi joined PSG on loan after an unsettled period and fit in beautifully to lead the line for the French champions, netting 22 times in 38 matches.
With Edinson Cavani gone, making the deal permanent seemed the logical move for Thomas Tuchel, and Icardi is set to have more responsibiilty for the club as they strive to compete on all fronts.
#7 Ben Chilwell (Leicester City to Chelsea) - £45m
Chelsea had made signing a top-quality left-back their priority this transfer window and finally settled on Ben Chilwell who had progressed in leaps and bounds at Leicester City to become one of the best in the business in the EPL.
His brilliant debut performance tells us that Frank Lampard seems to have made the right choice.
#6 Timo Werner (RB Leipzig to Chelsea) - £48m
Timo Werner was long thought to be heading to Liverpool. But Chelsea, the clear winners in this unique transfer window, made another great signing when they managed to land the ace Leipzig forward by activating his release clause.
Werner netted 95 times for the German club and has already shown his class at Chelsea despite only finding the net once till now.
#5 Miralem Pjanic (Juventus to Barcelona) - £54m
This is an odd cookie, considering that Miralem Pjanic was signed long before Ronald Koeman arrived at a crisis-ridden Barcelona to shape the team in his own way.
Would he have gone for Pjanic had it been his call? No one may know the answer to that.
Pjanic is a great midfielder but on the wrong side of 30. Only time will tell what kind of impact he will have at Camp Nou.
#4 Ruben Dias (Benfica to Manchester City) - £61m
Ruben Dias was another apposite signing by Guardiola considering Manchester City's defensive woes against Leicester City and the inconsistencies at the back that cost the Manchester club dearly last season.
The Citizens broke the bank to get the highly-rated ball-playing central defender who is only 23 and looks set for a great future.
#3 Victor Osimhen (Lille to Napoli) - £63m
Napoli landed one of Europe's hottest properties in Victor Osimhen after shelling out his huge asking price.
The Nigerian forward had impressed for Lille in the 2019-20 season. Osimhen, who is just 21, belied his young age during impressive spells with Charleroi and Lille, showing great composure and finishing skills.
#2 Arthur (Barcelona to Juventus) - £64m
As Pjanic went the other way, Arthur Melo headed to Turin in a move many found bizarre.
Arthur, who is just 24, is a midfielder with vision and great passing sense whose numbers were not prolific at Barcelona, but he still gave a good account of himself in his 72 appearances for the club.
He could blossom into a key component in Andrea Pirlo's central midfield.
#1 Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea) - £72m
Chelsea shelled out £220m this summer, with their biggest acquisition being that of German playmaker Kai Havertz.
Havertz, considered by many to be a generational talent, scored an astonishing 46 goals and assisted 31 times in 150 games for Bayer Leverkusen who let him go for £72 million up-front and loads of add-on clauses.
Havertz is slowly finding his feet in England, and there is a lot of expectation about his link-up play with compatriot Werner that could set pulses racing in the near future.
