Chapter 589: £90 Million Bid for Van Dijk, Crazy, They've All Gone Mad!
Two weeks had passed since the Champions League final, and the discussions about the match, both online and in the real world, had slowly died down.
Fans' attention was now shifting to the increasingly intense World Cup qualifiers and the summer transfer market.
Next year is the World Cup year, and perhaps because of this, this summer's transfer market has gone wild. Many football stars were considering switching teams to ensure they would play on the World Cup stage.
Barcelona, with their deep pockets, was stung by their old rival Real Madrid's victory and continued to splash cash on major signings this summer.
After spending €150 million on Philippe Coutinho, they also bought Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for €105 million.
Neymar's unexpected departure and Messi's increasing age had left Barcelona with a sense of crisis.
They still had a sliver of hope of bringing their La Masia gem, Lin Quan, back to Camp Nou, but after Lin renewed his contract with Manchester City last summer, that hope had all but faded.
Thus, Barcelona had to prepare for the future, urgently seeking a successor to Messi.
There were rumors that Barcelona had their eyes on Atlético Madrid's star player Antoine Griezmann, but Atlético's asking price was very high. If Barça really wanted him, it would cost them dearly.
Although Dembélé had already gained some fame in the Bundesliga and attracted attention from many big clubs, the fact that Dortmund bought him for just €35 million a year ago and now sold him for €70 million more was staggering.
This huge transfer made Dortmund Europe's newest "black market" club, even overshadowing Portugal's Porto, known for its profitable player sales.
However, not everyone was optimistic about this transfer. Many insiders pointed out that Dembélé's position overlaps heavily with Messi's, which could greatly limit his performance.
Unless Barcelona was willing to give Dembélé a starting role immediately, he would be relegated to playing second fiddle to Messi, casting a shadow over his future.
As for replacing Messi with Dembélé, that was clearly out of the question. Messi had just turned 30 this year, and his peak could last for several more years. Given his immense talent, form, and global fame, there was no way Barcelona would sideline him unless Messi chose to leave.
Regardless of what others thought, Barcelona valued Dembélé greatly.
After spending a fortune to buy him, Barcelona learned from the Neymar debacle and raised Dembélé's release clause to €400 million.
With that clause, not even Paris Saint-Germain would be able to poach him.
While Barcelona was on a buying spree, their neighbor, the newly crowned Champions League winner Real Madrid, was clearing out their squad.
James Rodríguez, whom Real Madrid had bought for €85 million from several top clubs, was finally offloaded.
German giants Bayern Munich signed a two-year loan deal with Real Madrid to bring the once-brilliant star of the Brazil World Cup to the Allianz Arena.
Zidane, Real Madrid's head coach, had planned to sell James outright.
However, Real Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez, wasn't ready to completely give up on James, perhaps still hoping for a return to his former glory or appreciating the commercial value he could bring to Real Madrid in the Latin American market.
Bayern chose to loan James because coach Jupp Heynckes believed that James still had potential, thinking that perhaps Madrid hadn't used him correctly or that James simply didn't suit La Liga's style.
The idea was to give him a change of scenery in the Bundesliga. If he adapted well, Bayern could activate the buyout clause for just €40 million, which wasn't too expensive.
If things didn't work out, they could simply send him back to Real Madrid after the loan.
Bayern Munich doesn't recycle trash!
Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Manchester United made several big transfers in quick succession.
First, they spent €35 million to buy young defender Victor Lindelöf from Benfica.
Although the transfer fee wasn't very high, it broke Manchester United's record, making Lindelöf the most expensive center-back in the club's history.
This alone shows how long Manchester United's defense had gone without being reinforced.
Look at Liverpool—they were bidding £85 million for Van Dijk, while Manchester United spent only €35 million. Yeah, the advantage is all mine!
It's not that Manchester United was stingy or unwilling to spend, but they were investing heavily in their attack instead.
On July 10th, Manchester United officially announced the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Everton for €85 million.
Lukaku had been consistently performing well for several seasons, and this was the second most expensive transfer of the summer in football.
But that wasn't the end of it. A few days later, Manchester United announced another big signing, this time buying Chelsea's champion midfielder Nemanja Matić for €45 million!
Last season, Matić played 40 matches for Chelsea, contributing 2 goals and 9 assists. Though the stats weren't flashy and nowhere near as impressive as Cesc Fàbregas, his contribution to Chelsea was undeniable. Without him holding the defensive midfield together, Chelsea's defense wouldn't have been as strong.
His departure was a big blow to Chelsea, especially now that both Liverpool and Manchester United were strengthening their squads. Retaining the Premier League title would be an uphill battle for the Blues.
Manchester United's three signings—Lukaku, Matić, and Lindelöf—covered the entire spine of the team, from attack to midfield to defense. The club had spent €165 million in total, a real spending spree!
But José Mourinho was frustrated. Even though the club had reinforced all three lines as requested, none of the players they brought in were his first choices—they were all backups.
Are you kidding me, club executives? Are you intentionally messing with me?
While Manchester United was bolstering their squad, Liverpool was also making moves.
In addition to their massive bid for Van Dijk, Liverpool spent €42 million to bring in the impressive Egyptian Pharaoh, Mohamed Salah, from Roma.
Salah had come full circle, returning to the Premier League. But this time, he wasn't joining a blue-shirted team—he was joining the red-blooded Liverpool!
What's more, Klopp planned to make Salah a key player, a stark contrast to the role he had at Chelsea.
Despite this being a significant transfer, it didn't generate much buzz.
Though Salah performed well in Serie A, he wasn't a big name, and the transfer fee wasn't astronomical, leaving little to hype up.
Compared to his transfer, the media was far more focused on the transfer tug-of-war between Liverpool and Manchester City over Van Dijk.
Liverpool's £85 million bid was met with a flat rejection from City, who reiterated that Van Dijk was not for sale. They made it clear that he was happy at Manchester City and wasn't going anywhere.
After being turned down again, Klopp gritted his teeth and made an even bolder move, raising the bid to £90 million.
Madness, absolute madness. Either I've gone mad, or the world has gone mad.
When fans heard the news, their first reaction was to question whether it was true. And when they confirmed it was real, they were even more shocked.
If someone were to spend £100 million to sign a superstar like Lin Quan, they would understand.
While £100 million is a hefty price, superstars of Lin's caliber—young, talented, and vital to their team—are worth the cost. It would be money well spent.
But nearly £100 million for a defender? Have they lost their minds?
Fans simply couldn't wrap their heads around it.
A few years ago, when Chelsea defender David Luiz transferred to PSG for £50 million, people were already shocked.
But now, in just a few short years, someone had raised that price to £90 million!
Football suddenly felt like a strange new world, leaving fans bewildered.
If a defender costs £90 million, how expensive would strikers be?
With clubs burning money like this, who could afford to play football anymore?
Of course, there were still good-value players out there—it was just a matter of finding the right deals.
Take Juventus, for example. The Italian giants had just successfully snatched a bargain, signing Paris Saint-Germain's midfielder Blaise Matuidi for €20 million.
€20 million doesn't buy much these days, with transfer fees skyrocketing due to inflation.
But getting a player like Matuidi—who had proven himself at a top club, was in his prime, and was a key player for the French national team—for €20 million? Even Juventus themselves could hardly believe their luck.
The reason for this bargain was simple: PSG needed to offload players to free up salary space for Mbappé, and Matuidi was one of the players they were willing to part with. PSG didn't expect to make much money from his transfer; they just wanted him gone.
It wasn't just Matuidi on the chopping block—Di María was almost sold off as well. In the end, he only stayed because Manchester City rejected PSG's offer, sparing him from the transfer list.
While Juventus celebrated their shrewd deal for Matuidi, they couldn't hold on to their defensive anchor, Leonardo Bonucci.
Among Juventus' trio of defenders—Barzagli, Chiellini, and Bonucci—Bonucci was the youngest, yet he was the first to leave.
And he didn't just leave for another league; he joined Serie A rivals AC Milan.
This shocking move left Juventus fans, who had just been celebrating their bargain, unable to smile anymore.
Throughout July, beyond these major transfers, another move attracted widespread attention—Barcelona's €40 million purchase of Paulinho from a Chinese Super League team. Paulinho, a former Tottenham player, was the midfield linchpin for his Chinese club and a Brazilian international.
The reason this transfer sparked so much discussion was that it marked the first time a top European club had spent a large sum to buy a player from the Chinese Super League.
When Paulinho joined Guangzhou Evergrande from Tottenham, the transfer fee was €14 million. Two years later, it had risen to €40 million.
Even after deducting his salary over two years, Guangzhou still made a profit.
This surprised many, as the Chinese Super League had been known for splashing cash, not for making money off European clubs. No one expected them to turn a profit by selling players to Europe...
...
While the transfer market was buzzing with activity, Manchester City, which had been closely watched by many, remained unusually quiet, with little action.
This left many fans disappointed, feeling that perhaps City had given up on themselves.
The team's struggles last season had revealed several weaknesses, and if they didn't take advantage of the transfer window to address them, Manchester City would face serious problems again in the upcoming season.
Contrary to popular belief, City wasn't sitting idle. During this period, Guardiola had been scouting plenty of players.
On July 15th, Manchester City made their first move of the summer window.
But surprisingly, instead of buying, they were selling.
Manchester City announced the transfer of Son Heung-min to Tottenham for €50 million.
Due to Mbappé's rise, Son's playing time had significantly decreased in the latter half of the season, and he didn't even make the squad for the Champions League final.
Disappointed and frustrated, Son wanted a change of scenery, as he didn't want to spend his career on the bench.
After a frank discussion with the club, City respected his wishes and agreed to the transfer.
€50 million wasn't a huge sum, considering they had bought Son for €35 million.
Son had improved significantly during his time at City, and his performances were evident for all to see. Tottenham definitely got a good deal by signing him for this price.
As for Manchester City, they could barely call it breaking even.
Son's departure meant that Mbappé's status in the team would rise dramatically in the new season.
His playing time would definitely increase this season.
However, the team still had issues in midfield. With David Silva getting older and starting to decline, City needed to prepare a backup for him.
So, after announcing Son's transfer, City immediately used the money from his sale to buy Bernardo Silva from Monaco.
Guardiola had been eyeing Bernardo since last season. The only reason he hadn't made a move earlier was because City already had decent depth in that position.
But the painful lesson from the Champions League final taught Guardiola that the team's bench wasn't deep enough.
You can never have too many players in that position. At worst, they could become versatile players who could rotate frequently.
And this is exactly where Guardiola planned to focus his reforms next.
He wanted his players to become more versatile, as that would better suit his tactical needs.
While buying Bernardo was expected, Manchester City's €40 million purchase of Benfica goalkeeper Ederson left many scratching their heads.
Was Navas not good enough?
Why spend so much on a goalkeeper?
€40 million for a backup goalkeeper seemed like a luxury.
As it turned out, the fans' suspicions were correct. Guardiola wasn't entirely satisfied with Navas.
Real Madrid's goals in the Champions League final highlighted Navas's weakness with aerial balls.
Additionally, Navas wasn't the type of ball-playing goalkeeper Guardiola wanted, so Guardiola made the tough decision to strengthen the goalkeeper position!
(End of Chapter)
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