The 5 biggest panic buys of this summer transfer window

#3. Edin Dzeko to Inter Milan

FC Internazionale v Futbol'nyj Klub Dynamo Kyïv - Pre-Season Friendly

On August 12, Romelu Lukaku's return to Chelsea was confirmed and the majority of Inter Milan fans felt gutted about the transfer. Months after the Belgian had fired them to the Scudetto with an incredible 35 goal contributions, the lure of a return to his childhood club proved too much to resist.

Luckily for them, Simone Inzaghi acted decisively to replace the club's outgoing stars during the transfer window. He bought Hakan Calhanoglu and Edin Dzeko for free transfers and Joaquin Correa for just a €5.2 million loan fee.

There was a definite sense of panic around Dzeko's arrival in particular, given that he played in a friendly against Dynamo Kyiv before being announced. But the Bosnian started his time at the San Siro exceptionally well with a goal and an assist in his first two games.

But at 35 years old and having scored 28 goals fewer than xG predicted over the last five seasons, he's clearly not at the peak of his powers. Nevertheless, for a two-year deal, it's not the worst panic buy of the summer transfer window.

#2. Aaron Ramsdale to Arsenal

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal - Carabao Cup Second Round

Arsenal's €29 million capture of Aaron Ramsdale seems to be a panic buy done a year in advance. The fee is just €1 million less than what Real Madrid paid for Eduardo Camavinga during the transfer window.

The Gunners' logic was that with 29-year old Bernd Leno in the final year of his contract and yet to extend, they should snap up a promising young goalkeeper.

Ramsdale has indeed been relegated back-to-back years but 2021 saw him save 1.9 more goals than xG predicted, ahead of the likes of Jordan Pickford, Kasper Schmeichel, David de Gea, and Rui Patricio.

The real issue is that during a transfer window in which Arsenal needed to strengthen pretty much every area of their squad, they chose to spend €29 million on a keeper who won't necessarily start.

#1. Luuk de Jong to Barcelona

FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC - La Liga Santander

This summer transfer window saw Barcelona's greatest ever player forced out of the club and their leadership group take pay cuts to register their new signings. With that in mind, most Blaugrana fans expected a quiet deadline day.

Instead, the circus continued. Reports said they'd made a €75 million bid for RB Leipzig's Dani Olmo before deciding to loan out Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid. Barcelona replaced the Frenchman with Luuk de Jong.

The new striker has recently turned 31 and has been capped 40 times by his country. De Jong's transfer offers head coach Ronald Koeman an experienced alternative at No. 9. But in terms of goal-scoring, he is pretty underwhelming. The Dutchman has never managed to score more than six league goals in a single season outside of the Eredivise. Last season, he managed only four goals in 34 La Liga appearances for Sevilla.

With Martin Braithwaite, De Jong, and Sergio Aguero, Koeman now has three options, with a combined age of 94, and with 10 league goals between them in 75 appearances last term. It looks like it really is up to Memphis to carry the attack this season.