Biggest clubs eying transformation
Last season, these squads suffered from lack of balance in attack, midfield or defence – due to injuries or loss of form by some of their players. They have since been busy letting names out or bolstering themselves with new acquisitions.
With the appointment of David Moyes at Manchester United, the return of Jose Mourinho to Chelsea, the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, and the appointment of Pep Guardiola by Bayern Munich, several players have been linked with moves to the respective clubs of these aforementioned gentlemen.
And this year’s most hyped transfer stories are not just about the Red Devils, the Blues, Los Blancos or Hollywood FC. Other popular clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Man City, Milan and Spurs complete LiveSoccerTV.com’s 2013 Summer Transfer Guide.
Most talked about target players and coaches
Earlier in June, Barcelona added to their ranks one of the most sought after players as Brazilian star Neymar made his dream move to the Camp Nou. The Catalans, who are no short of attacking options, will surely be a much more threatening side and a Messi-Neymar partnership appears as a mouth-watering combination every football fan would love to see.
Then there was the much-talked case of Cristiano Ronaldo whose ‘sadness’ at Real Madrid had been discussed quite a lot this summer. With the backing of Chevrolet and Nike, the Red Devils thought of re-signing the 28-year-old but nothing ever happened as Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez wants to build the new Galactico era around the Portuguese number 7 icon.
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale is officially a Real Madrid player while Wayne Rooney ended up not joining Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
Gonzalo Higuain is another player who was set for a move to Arsenal this summer. However, just like every other season Arsene Wenger failed to wrap up his signings in a swift manner and Gooners can now forget about seeing the Argentine adopt the Emirates Stadium as his new home. Higuain joined Napoli.
Elsewhere, Chelsea lost their race to capture Edinson Cavani. The former Napoli star’s acquisition became a three-way battle with PSG and Real Madrid in it. Gradually, Los Blancos and the Blues fell behind the French capital-based giants. Cavani is now employed at the club where icon David Beckham last played before retiring as a player this year.
As for Luis Suarez, he had voiced out his decision to quit the English Premier League as he aimed to desert the country's media. On transfer deadline day, however, he confirmed his stay at Liverpool.
English Premier League Biggest Transfers
Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid - Deal off.
Marouane Fellaini – Deal off.
Yaya Sanogo from Auxerre – Signed on July 2, 2013. Cost: Free Transfer
Luis Suarez from Liverpool - Improved bid expected.
Julio Cesar from QPR - Deal off.
Gervinho off to AS Roma - Announced on August 4, 2013. Cost: £8m
Mathieu Flamini from AC Milan - Signed on August 29, 2013. Cost: Free Transfer
Demba Ba from Chelsea - Deal off.
Emiliano Viviano from Palermo - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal
Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: £42.5m Duration: 5-year-deal
Mourinho from Real Madrid - Officially unveiled on June 3, 2013. Cost: Zero.
Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen - Signed on June 25, 2013. Cost: £18m
Marko Van Ginkel from Vitesse - Signed on July 5, 2013. Cost: £9m
Mark Schwarzer from Fulham - Signed on July 9, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
Oriol Romeu off to Valencia - Announced on July 13. Cost: Loan move
Florent Malouda off to Trabzonspor - Signed on July 17, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
Willian from Anzhi Makhachkala - Signed on August 28, 2013. Cost: £30m
Samuel Eto'o from Anzhi Makhachkala - Signed on August 29, 2013. Cost: Undisclosed
Romelu Lukaku off to Everton - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal.
Kolo Toure from Manchester City - Signed on June 1, 2013. Cost: Free transfer.
Luis Alberto from Sevilla - Signed on June 22, 2013. Cost: £8m
Iago Aspas from Celta de Vigo - Signed on June 23, 2013. Cost: £7m
Simon Mignolet from Sunderland - Signed on June 25, 2013. Cost: £9m
Suso off to Almeria - Announced on July 12, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal
Pepe Reina off to Napoli - Announced on July 19, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal
Victor Moses from Chelsea - Season long deal. Announced on September 2, 2013. Cost: £1m
Mamadou Sakho from Paris St Germain - Announced on September 2, 2013. Cost: £14.5m
Tiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon - Announced on September 2, 2103. Cost: £7m
Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk - Signed on June 6, 2013. Cost: £30m
Jesus Navas from Sevilla - Signed on June 11, 2013. Cost: £14.9m
Alvaro Negredo from Sevilla - Announced on July 17, 2013. Cost: €27M
Maicon off to Roma - Signed on July 18, 2013. Cost: £3M
Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina - Signed on July 19, 2013. Cost £22.4M
Martin Demichelis Atletico Madrid - Announced on September 2, 2013. Cost: £3.5M
Gareth Barry off to Everton - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal
Guillermo Varela from Peñarol - Signed on June 7, 2013. Cost: Undisclosed fee.
Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona – Cancelled.
Leighton Baines from Everton - Deal off.
Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona - Deal off. Cost: £40m
Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid - Deal off. Cost: £75M plus Chicharito sale
Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao - Deal off. Rumoured Cost: €36M
Marouane Fellani from Everton - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: £27.5M
Fabio Coentrao from Real Madrid - Deal off.
Paulinho from Corinthians - Signed on July 5, 2013. Cost: £17m
Christian Benteke from Aston Villa - Deal off on July 19, 2013; Striker withdraws transfer request and extends his contract until 2017.
Nacer Chadli from FC Twente - Signed on July 26, 2013. Cost: £7M
Roberto Soldado from Valencia - Deal officially completed on August 2, 2013. Cost: €30M
Clint Dempsey off to Seattle Sounders - Announced on August 2, 2013. Cost: Undisclosed fee.
Erik Lamela from AS Roma - Fees agreed on August 29, 2013. Cost: £25M
French Ligue 1 Biggest Transfers
Edinson Cavani - Officially unveiled on July 16, 2013. Cost: £55m
Lucas Digne - Signed on July 17, 2013. Cost: £12.9M
Marquinhos from AS Roma - Signed on July 19, 2013. Cost: €35M
Diego Lugano off to West Bromwich Albion - Announced on August 3, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
James Rodriguez from FC Porto - Announced on May 24, 2013. Cost: €45M
Joao Moutinho from FC Porto - Announced on May 24, 2013. Cost: €25M
Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid - Signed on May 31, 2013. Cost: £50M (source: The Guardian)
Ricardo Carvalho from Real Madrid - Effective from July 1, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
Eric Abidal from Barcelona - Signed on July 8, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
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German Bundesliga Biggest Transfers
Mario Gotze from Borussia Dortmund - Officially unveiled on July 2, 2013. Cost: €37M
Jan Kirchoff from FSV Mainz 05 - Officially unveiled on July 2, 2013. Cost: Free Transfer
Mario Gomez off to Fiorentina - Announced on July 8, 2013. Cost: Undisclosed
Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona – Signed on July 14, 2013. Cost: €25M
Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Werder Bremen - Signed on May 28, 2013. Cost: €9.5m
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from St-Etienne - Signed on July 4, 2013. Cost: €13m
Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shaktar Donetsk – Signed on July 8, 2013. Cost: €27.5M
Italian Serie A Biggest Transfers
Carlos Tevez from Manchester City - Officially unveiled on June 27, 2013. Cost: £12M
Fernando Llorente from Athletic Bilbao - Officially signed on July 1, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
Nicolas Anelka off to West Bromwich Albion - Signed on July 4, 2013. Cost: Free agent
Angelo Ogbonna from Torino - Singed on July 12, 2013. Cost: €14M
Emanuele Giaccherini off to Sunderland - Report.
Cristian Zapata from Villarreal - Signed on May 23, 2013. Cost: €6M
Robinho - New contract signed on July 19, 2013. Duration: Until June 30, 2016.
Kevin-Prince Boateng off to Schalke - Signed on August 30, 2013. Duration: Four-year deal
Kaka from Real Madrid - Signed on September 2, 2013. Cost: Free agent
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Spanish La Liga Biggest Transfers
Neymar from Santos – Officially unveiled on June 3, 2013. Cost: €57M
David Villa off to Atletico Madrid - Fee agreed on July 8, 2013. Cost: £4.4m
Thiago Silva from PSG - Personal terms agreed. Deal off.
Gerard Deulofeu off to Everton - Signed on July 10, 2013. Cost: Season-long loan deal.
Thiago Alcantara off to Bayern Munich - Announced on July 14, 2013. Cost: €25M
Valbuena from Marseille - Deal off.
Sergio Busquets - New contract signed on July 16, 2013. Duration: Until 2017/18
Gerardo Martino from Newell's Old Boys (coach) - Announced on July 22, 2013. Duration: Three-year deal.
David Luiz from Chelsea - Deal off.
Cristian Tello - New contract signed on August 1, 2013. Duration: Until 2017/18. Release clause: €25M
Casemiro from Sao Paolo – Signed on June 10, 2013. Cost: €6m
Isco from Malaga – Officially unveiled on July 3, 2013. Cost: €30M
Daniel Carvajal from Bayer Leverkusen – Officially unveiled on July 5, 2013, Cost: €10M
Jose Callejon off to Napoli - Announced on July 9, 2013. Cost: €10M
Asier Illarramendi from Real Sociedad - Officially signed on July 13, 2013: €32.19M.
Aitor Karanka off - Announced on July 15, 2013. Cost: Zero.
Raul Albiol off to Napoli - Offically signed on July 17, 2013. Cost: €12M
Gonzalo Higuain off to Napoli - Signed on July 24, 2013. Cost: £31.8M
Cristiano Ronaldo off to Manchester United - Rumours. Cost: £75M plus Chicharito
Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur - Officially unveiled on September 2, 2013 . Cost: €100M
Kaka off to Milan - Deal agreed on September 2, 2013. Cost: Free transfer
Fabio Coentrao off to Manchester United - Deal off.
