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It's that time of the summer where every club looks to add more firepower to their squads. The summer transfer window brings some massive surprises and some bombshells to fans. It also provides clubs with time to assess what type of player is needed to fill the gaps in the team.
With just 30 days remaining on transfer deadline day, football clubs will look to acquire their required players in a timely fashion.
Paris Saint-Germain is having a staggering and astounding transfer window as they have acquired the likes of Sergio Ramos, Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Wijnaldummm. Manchester United fans are enjoying a fabulous transfer window as well as their club have been successful in their pursuit of securing Jadon Sancho and Varane.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have also secured big names like Depay, Aguero and Eric Garcia on free transfers. Leicester City have also continued their cunning business after completing the signings of Patson Daka, Soumare and Bertrand.
While the aforementioned clubs have done their business in a crafty manner, many other clubs are still unable to add their squad with talented individuals.
In this article, we will talk about 5 clubs that are having a substandard transfer window at the time of writing. We have judged the club's transfer window based on what players they have acquired and which players they have offloaded this summer.
#5 Lyon (Ligue 1)
Transfers In: Damien Da Silva and Henrique
Transfers Out: Memphis Depay, Joachim Andersen, D. Benlamri, Cenk Ozkacar, Yaya Soumare, and Melvin Bard
After 2 consecutive third-place finishes and a run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020, Lyon fell at the final hurdle of the 20-21 season. They were in the top 3 from mid-November until late March, but just 5 wins in their last 9 games saw Les Gones miss out on qualification for the Champions League.
They are now 14 years without a league title. This has frustrated some big names at the club, including their captain and talisman Memphis Depay. After four and a half years of exemplary service in which Depay contributed 0.7 goals per game, few Lyon fans begrudged him about his dream move to Barcelona.
But valued at £47 million by Transfermarkt, it was a crying shame to lose him for free. While also a talented homegrown left-back, Melvin Bard has left to join Nice. Meanwhile, Houssam Aouar continues to be linked with a move to the Premier League.
At the time of writing, their only additions have been experienced center-back Damian Da Silva and left-back Henrique from Brazil. Both have signed up as free transfers. Lyon is now under the stewardship of Peter Bosch and they need a massive last month in the transfer window.
#4 West Ham United (Premier League)
Transfers In: Alphonse Areola (loan) and Craig Dawson
Transfers Out: Felipe Anderson and Fabian Balbuena
Coming off the back of a remarkable campaign that saw West Ham finish sixth, which was their best league placing since 1999 with 65 points, Hammers fans were feeling optimistic.
West Ham qualified for the Europa League after a 5-year absence. And if they can keep hold of their star players and bring last season's hero, Jesse Lingard, permanently, their season might be a memorable one.
But so far their business has been almost non-existent. 28-year-old Felipe Anderson, who struggled last season on loan at Porto, was sold to Lazio for just over £3 million.
West Ham incurred a loss of £36 million in 3 years over him. Whilst Fabian Balbuena, who has made 26 Premier League starts since the 2019-20 season, has left on a free.
In terms of the incomings, it's been very quiet as well. Craig Dawson, who spent last season on loan, has been their only permanent arrival. Alphonse Areola is a signing on a season loan basis.
Last season, the Hammers were applauded for doing some canny business when they added Souceck and Coufal to their squad. With the guarantee of at least 46 fixtures this season, West Ham need things to speed along fast.
#3 Lille (Ligue 1)
Transfers In: none
Transfers Out: Mike Maignan, R. Koumane, Boubakary Soumare, A. Soumaro, Abou Outtara, Lucas Chevalier and Ben Hamed.
It's totally been a window to forget for Lille. Firstly, the architect of their Ligue 1 triumph, coach Christophe Galtier, has joined Nice and has been replaced by Jocelyn Gourvennec. Jocelyn's last two jobs have consisted of winning 39% of his games at Bordeaux and relegating Guingamp for the first time in six years.
As if that wasn't bad enough, they have also lost Mike Maignan, who saved 4.8 expected goals last term (the best record in France), and Boubakary Soumare. While Soumare ranked 11th in terms of league minutes and wasn't first-choice at Lille, he was very useful when he did play.
Losing him for just 21 million euros when he was linked with a 46 million euro move to Newcastle in the past shows how dangerous the situation many French football clubs find themselves in.
With Burak Yilmaz, 36, unlikely to replicate his heroics from last season, it will be up to David, Bamba and Ikone to provide more firepower this term. At this stage, a Champions League finish would be a big surprise.
#2 Chelsea (Premier League)
Transfer In: Marcus Bettinelli
Transfers Out: Olivier Giroud, Victor Moses, Marco Van Ginkel, Fikayo Tomori, and Marc Guehi.
While Manchester United have managed to sign Jadon Sancho and Varane, Liverpool have brought in one of Europe's most promising centre-backs in Konate. And as Man City continue to be closely linked with Harry Kane and Jack Grealish, Chelsea have been notably quiet so far.
After spending a club-record £260 million last summer, they were always going to sell before any major outlays this window. But till date, it hasn't been the unwanted deadwood of Ross Barkley, Danny Drinkwater, Bakayoko and Emerson amongst others who have left but instead talented prospects like Guehi and Peart-Harris.
Factor in Tomori's 30 million euro departure to AC Milan and it's clear that Chelsea fans have a right to feel slightly aggrieved.
Chelsea signed Hazard, Oscar and Azpilicueta on the back of winning their first Champions League title in 2012, and Blues fans went into this window hoping to make major additions. They need to act quickly to close last season's 19 point gap between them and Man City.
We all know who they want to sign but with just 30 days until the window slams shut it feels highly unlikely that Dortmund will sell a second major star this summer. Has Chelsea sold their future to a player that they simply cannot sign in this window?
There have been rumors in recent days that Chelsea are putting in an effort to bring Romelu Lukaku back from Inter. Sources have reported that Chelsea have submitted an over 100m pound bid for the striker, which Inter are considering accepting.
#1 Real Madrid ( La Liga)
Transfer In: David Alaba
Transfer Out: Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane
It has been seven years since Real Madrid last won a trophy and nine since they won a league title under anyone not called Zinedine Zidane. And yet the returning Carlo Ancelotti is expected to wrestle back control from Athletico Madrid. This would be despite being without Ramos and Varane, who are winners of 33 major trophies between them at Real.
Yes, David Alaba will add some much needed quality and experience to the defense but they haven't addressed any other issues as well. Real have lacked natural goalscorers other than Benzema. They also need a lot more energy and dynamism in midfield and quality cover all over the pitch.
With Ramos and his centre-back partner Varane leaving, who knows whether their new-look defense can maintain their record of conceding 23 fewer goals than Barcelona over the last 2 seasons.
With debts totaling a reported 355 million euros, which include 126 million euros owed to other sides and fees, any significant incoming transfers look incredibly unlikely. This is set to be another season of frustration for fans of Los Blancos.
