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The summer transfer window offers a great opportunity for teams to bolster their squad ahead of the upcoming season. It's a great avenue for sides to fine tune their team to fit their needs. A great transfer window goes a long way towards dictating a side's chances in the new season.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, clubs are sticking to a cautious approach in the transfer market. They are not in great shape financially and will do well to keep their expenditure in check during these testing times.
Different clubs have different agendas in the transfer window. After making a few high-profile free-agent signings like Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia, Barcelona desperately need to sell some of their players to balance their books.
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Several others, like Manchester United and Chelsea, are looking to further reinforce their squads and evolve into sides that can mount a challenge on all fronts. At the same time, Paris Saint-Germain continue to be ruthless with their transfer activity.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five clubs that have had really good transfer windows so far.
#5 Manchester United
After a drawn-out saga, Jadon Sancho is finally all set to be announced as a Manchester United player. The club have announced that they have agreed a deal in principle with Borussia Dortmund and the transfer will be made official pending a medical.
It is a deal that makes a lot of sense for Manchester United as they have been without an out-and-out right winger for years now. According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United are seriously pursuing deals for Raphael Varane and Eduardo Camavinga.
Going into the transfer window, the positions that Manchester United wanted to strengthen were right-wing, centre-back and central midfield. They seem to be well on their way to do that. But signing Sancho alone could be quite a difference maker for a side that finished second in the Premier League in the 2020-21 season.
The Red Devils have been quite enterprising in the market so far and the fans will be hoping that the deals are all closed before the pre-season starts.
#4 RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig will be without two of their first-choice centrebacks next season. The Bundesliga outfit are guilty of inserting low release clauses in both Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano's contracts. Bayern Munich activated Upamecano's €42.5 million release clause while Liverpool paid €41.5 to trigger Konate's.
The good thing for Leipzig is that they've pocketed in excess of €80 million for two of their young defenders and have plenty of money to bring in replacements. Leipzig did a great job roping in Strasbourg's young organizer in defence, Mohamed Simakan, to replace Upamecano for just €15 million.
They have also signed Angelino from Manchester City on a permanent basis on a deal worth €18 million. Leipzig have taken a major step towards sorting out their goalscoring department by signing the in-form Andre Silva on a deal worth just €23 million.
Finally, they have also found a promising young deputy for Silva in Ajax youth academy product Brian Brobbey. The 19-year-old who scored 90 goals in 123 games for Ajax was signed on a free transfer.
#3 Leicester City
Leicester City have established themselves as one of the top sides in the Premier League. The Foxes are an ambitious bunch and their summer transfer activity has been on point this time around.
Brendan Rodgers has been looking for a long-term replacement for Jamie Vardy and has now signed Patson Daka from RB Salzburg for €25 million. Daka is a young, promising striker who has scored 68 goals from 125 appearances across all competitions for Salzburg. At €25 million, he is quite a steal.
Leicester City fans ought to be just as excited about the signing of Boubakary Soumare from LOSC Lille. The defensive midfielder was a key player for the Lille side that beat Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title in the 2020-21 season. The Foxes paid just €25 million to sign the 22-year-old Frenchman.
Soumare is expected to have a massive impact in the Premier League and the Leicester City midfield looks quite formidable right now. The Foxes are now tipped to complete the signing of Ryan Bertrand on a free transfer as well.
#2 Barcelona
While Barcelona are sitting second on this list right now, they also run the risk of signing off on a disastrous note from the summer transfer window. The Catalans have secured the services of Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay via free transfers. All three are worthy additions without a question.
However, Barcelona are yet to register their signings as they need to offload some of their players and bring their wage bill under the La Liga salary cap first. Club president Joan Laporta is also tasked with extending Lionel Messi's contract.
Needless to say, we can expect quite a few high-profile departures from the Camp Nou this summer. Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic and Ousmane Dembele are all tipped to leave the club this summer.
Reports have suggested that Barcelona are willing to strike cut-price deals for their players as trimming the wage bill is their priority right now. It's been a promising start to the transfer window where they've made a few quality additions but it remains to be seen just how well they can follow that up.
#1 Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain will stop at nothing to become the most dominant force in Europe. They already have one of the most star-studded lineups heading into the transfer window. Now they've gone ahead and got a facelift after making a few brilliant signings.
PSG have signed Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan for a whopping €70 million. Hakimi is one of the best right-backs in the world and he is just 22-years-old. It's a position that they desperately needed to strengthen and were ready to break the bank for it.
Hijacking Barcelona's move for Georginio Wijnaldum was also an incredible piece of business. The former Liverpool midfielder might have turned 30 but he still oozes quality and was one of the best players of the Euro 2020 group stage.
PSG have also signed Sergio Ramos on a free transfer. The former Real Madrid captain has signed a two-year deal with the Ligue 1 outfit and will be a welcome addition to the backline despite his age.
