The most surprising moves of the summer transfer window
Ansu Fati
The Spanish youngster was supposed to be the star of Barcelona, but injury problems thwarted his promising career. He didn't get enough game time last season and more or less just sat on the bench.
He had several other offers, but in the end he chose Brighton, who can work very well with young players. After talking to manager Roberto De Zerbi, he didn't have much hesitation about joining the Seagulls, as he said in one of the interviews.
Fati will have to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League, but if he can do so, he'll be a very dangerous player.
Leonardo Bonucci
The legendary defender wanted to play one last season at Juventus, but during the summer there were reports that the club no longer wanted him, which surprised even Bonucci himself.
He didn't want to leave, reportedly planning to sue the team because he still had a year left on his contract, but when Union Berlin approached him, he accepted the new challenge.
He'll play in the Champions League again with the German team, but nobody could have imagined such an ending to such a club legend's time in Turin.
Marko Arnautovic
The Austrian forward has already celebrated his 34th birthday, but his career continues to be something of a rollercoaster.
He already played for Inter during the 2009/10 season when he was on loan from FC Twente, but only played three games. Via Werder and Stoke, he made his way to West Ham, whom he left for Chinese side Shanghai Port. His time in Europe's top leagues then seemed to be over.
That changed in 2021 when he signed for Bologna, for whom he scored an average of a goal almost every other game. Manchester United were reportedly interested in him after that, but he eventually moved on loan to Inter for a second time.
Wataru Endo
Liverpool brought in reinforcements in the summer only in the midfield, where they needed a rebuild with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Arthur all leaving. Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and, very surprisingly, 30-year-old Japanese player Endo came in.
Until now he has only played in Belgium or most recently for Stuttgart, but Klopp snapped him up after the last-minute transfer of Moises Caicedo fell through with the Ecuadorian choosing Chelsea.
It is questionable how much time the holding midfielder will get on the pitch, but the manager himself believes in him.
Romelu Lukaku
The Belgian striker still belongs to Chelsea, but he hasn't played for the team for some time. Last season, he racked up missed chances on loan at Inter and for Belgium at the World Cup.
Lukaku then returned to West London before being signed by Jose Mourinho and Roma on loan. If the Portuguese manager can't get the striker back to his best, the chances are that nobody can.
Despite much criticism and a few difficult years, the Belgian national team's top scorer still has immense quality.
Oriol Romeu
This summer featured an unexpected return to Barcelona for a player who is a product of the club but never broke into the first team.
At the beginning of his career, he didn't even succeed at Chelsea, but did so at Southampton for seven years and then went to Girona, from where he returned to Camp Nou.
Despite a lot of competition in the midfield, he has earned a place in the starting XI as the replacement for Sergio Busquets. He may be 31 years old, but Xavi has faith that he can be the man to do the dirty work in the middle of the park that the team needs.
Juan Cuadrado
A player moving between Juventus and Inter is a great rarity. Lucio, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro have done so in the past, but there are very few examples indeed.
That's why Cuadrado surprised most over the summer by heading to Inter after years in Turin. The Colombian has been part of the Old Lady since 2015, winning five titles, among other things. In Italy, he also donned the jerseys of Udinese, Lecce and Fiorentina.
Cole Palmer
The young forward had a great start to the season in a Manchester City shirt, making a name for himself in the Community Shield and European Super Cup, but then rumours about his departure surfaced, and Chelsea soon added him to their young squad.
He may be an ideal fit, but one of Man City's best products moving to Stamford Bridge was not expected. Either way, Palmer can benefit from a high amount of playing time that he wouldn't have had a chance to get in a loaded City team.
Sergio Ramos
After leaving PSG, mainly American and Saudi destinations were mentioned for Ramos, and he was close to playing for Al Ittihad, but he turned ultimately down an annual salary of 20 million euros and returned to boyhood club Sevilla. He himself says he is paying his debt to the club and his family.
A transfer to Galatasaray was also imminent at one point, and a return to Real Madrid was mentioned after Eder Militao's injury. He will make his first return to the Santiago Bernabeu as an opponent at the end of February.
Ousmane Dembele
The French winger had a good season after struggling with injury problems and Xavi was counting on him for the next one, but the player himself decided he wanted to play for PSG, where he transferred for 50 million euros
Dembele is now set to be one of the mainstays in the front line of the French champions, replacing the departed Lionel Messi and Neymar.
