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The summer transfer window of 2021-22 has seen some crazy transfers take place. With the pandemic still going on, clubs have struggled with their finances but the money involved in the transfer window this season has been shocking.
That being said, some unbelievable homecomings have taken place this summer. To add, the homecomings took place very unexpectedly this summer. There's no doubt that it will be a delight for the fans to see their former players in their second spell. Let's look at the players back for their second stint.
#5 Eric Garcia (Barcelona)
Garcia graduated from Barcelona's famous youth academy, La Masia, before deciding to join Manchester City in 2017. The young Spaniard captained the U18s and U19s in his first year in Manchester. One would have expected Garcia to get more game time under City manager Pep Guardiola. But the Spanish manager wasn't quite convinced by his countryman.
Garcia has managed to make only 35 appearances in the last three years and therefore decided not to sign a new contract last season. City already have center-backs like Ruben Dias, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and a make-shift center-back in Fernandinho and Rodri. Hence, Garcia wouldn't have gotten enough game time.
He returned to Barcelona this summer as a free agent. Unfortunately, his start to his Barcelona senior career hasn't been the best. The former Manchester City center-back was sent off in his second match for the Catalan club in a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao. Out of all the homecomings this summer, this was probably the most anticipated one.
#4 Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Young graduated from the Watford academy before signing for Aston Villa in 2007. Within two years, Young proved himself to be one of the best wingers in the league. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year in the 2008-09 season, earned a move to Manchester United.
Young spent nine years at United, starting out as a winger but with age, the Englishman started playing as a fullback/wing-back. In the summer of 2019, Young joined Inter Milan and the very next year he won Serie A with the Black and Blues.
This summer though, Young decided to rejoin Aston Villa despite receiving an offer from his former club Watford as well as Burnley. The decision to rejoin saw him sign a one-year contract with an option to extend it for another year. Young is likely to be used as a winger at Villa this season rather than being played as a fullback or wing-back.
#3 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
Talking about crazy transfers this summer, one cannot just skip the most unexpected transfer that took place on the deadline day. It is no secret that the Frenchman struggled during his time at Barcelona. He managed to score 35 goals in 99 appearances in the two years he spent with the Catalan club. It can be termed as underperforming, especially when he managed to score 133 goals in 257 appearances for Atletico Madrid.
The World Cup winner had signed for Barcelona in 2019 after the Spanish giants paid €120 million to sign him from Atletico Madrid. The match didn't work out and as a result, Griezmann is back with Atletico right now. He's returned on a one-year loan, which can be extended by a year, after which Atletico will be obligated to sign him for €40 million in 2023.
The transfer seems to be a good deal for Atletico and might turn out to be successful should Griezmann win the La Liga this season.
#2 Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
The 28-year old Belgian has had a mixed career so far. He started his career by playing for Anderlecht in Belgium. In 2011, he was signed by Chelsea. The following year the London club sent the Belgian striker on loan to West Bromwich Albion. The year after that Lukaku went on loan to Everton after which he was signed by the Toffees on a permanent basis.
Excluding the loan period, he spent three years at Everton, during which he scored 53 goals in 110 appearances. He made a name for himself whilst playing on Merseyside, which eventually earned him a move to Manchester United in 2017. Somehow, the move did not work out as United saw managerial and tactical changes and Lukaku struggled to find his rhythm.
Lukaku then went on to join Inter Milan in 2019 to play under Antonio Conte. In his second season at Inter, the former Everton man played a vital role in winning Serie A. He scored 64 goals in 95 apperances for the Italian team. It looked as if he had settled at Inter for a long duration but Conte's departure changed things.
Chelsea came knocking this summer as they sought a goal machine to lead their frontline. The offer was too tempting for Lukaku to turn down and he eventually ended up back at Chelsea in the summer transfer window. Chelsea paid a club-record fee of £97.5 million to bring Lukaku to Stamford Bridge.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
This has to be the mother of all homecomings. Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United are a match made in heaven. Ronaldo started his career with Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. But it was at Manchester United that Ronaldo got the recognition and development that a talent like his needed.
Ronaldo was a delight to watch at United during his six years as he dribbled past players with utter ease and created and scored goals at will. The Portugal captain then decided to join Real Madrid in 2009. At Real Madrid, Ronaldo took his game on to another level, winning plenty of accolades both as an individual and as a team.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner then left for Juventus in 2018 for a new challenge. Although Ronaldo managed to win Serie A twice in his three years with the Old Lady, it looked like something was missing. At the start of the new season this summer, Ronaldo expressed his intention to leave Juventus.
This instigated a series of rumors and one of them was that a verbal agreement was reached between Ronaldo and Manchester City for a transfer this summer. The move didn't work out as City pulled out of the deal as they felt the overall cost of the transfer was too high.
It was then when Manchester United swooped in and there was no looking back for Ronaldo, especially with Sir Alex Ferguson involved.
United signed Ronaldo this summer for €15 million plus €8 million in add-ons. The Portuguese even agreed for a pay-cut to play at the Theater of Dreams. It was a transfer that United fans had been longing for a very long time. It can really help United turn things around and strongly challenge for the Premier League title.
Notable mentions: Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), Tom Heaton (Manchester United) & Felipe Anderson (Lazio)
