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The Magnificent Seven: The best European transfer deadline day deals

Ryan Baldi |

September 3, 2019

IN the end, Neymar stayed put, there was no Gareth Bale sale and Paul Pogba will remain in Manchester for at least another year.

But the final hours of the European transfer window on Monday, 2 September, still managed to deliver a swathe of interesting deadline-day moves.

Here, we pick out the seven best deals finalised on the day the window creaked shut until January.

 

Mauro Icardi – Inter Milan to Paris Saint-Germain (loan)

Stripped of the captaincy last November and with just two goals to his name since, it was inevitable that Mauro Icardi would be leaving Inter Milan this summer.

Juventus and Napoli were said to be frontrunners for the Argentinian poacher’s signature for much of the transfer window but, as deadline day approached, it began to look like the Nerazzurri might not be able to shift their prolific pariah.

Then, from way out in left-field, came Paris Saint-Germain. The French champions have secured the 26-year-old’s services on a season-long loan with the option to purchase him outright next summer for £64m.

As his turbulent denouement at Inter attests, Icardi comes with baggage. But he is also a proven goal-scorer of the highest order, having found the net 124 times in his six seasons at the San Siro.

With Edinson Cavani now 32 years old, Icardi could be the spearhead of the talent-rich PSG attack for years to come.

Radamel Falcao – Monaco to Galatasaray (free)

At 33, Radamel Falcao is now firmly in the twilight of his glittering career, but the Colombian remains one of the most lethal finishers European football has seen in the last decade.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea loanee might not have terrorised Premier League defences as he did in Portugal, Spain and France, and a serious knee injury prior to his Old Trafford switch has cost him a yard of pace, but there has been little let-up in his strike rate in recent seasons.

With 15 goals plundered for a struggling Monaco side in Ligue 1 last term – following on from 18 the year before and 21 in the title-winning 2016/17 campaign – there is little doubt Falcao can light up the Turkish Super Lig, where he will team-up with fellow deadline-day recruits Mario Lemina and Florin Andone.

Luiz Gustavo – Marseille to Fenerbahce (£5.4m)

Galatasaray aren’t the only Turkish powerhouse to have made an impactful move in the final hours of the transfer window; Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce swooped to acquire experienced Brazilian defensive midfielder Luiz Gustavo from Marseille.

The 32-year-old, who has been capped 41 times by Brazil, was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season in 2017/18, but featured only three times in the French top-flight last season following a fallout with manager Rudi Garcia over the former Bayern Munich player’s refusal to continue to play at centre-back, rather than in his preferred midfield role.

Simone Verdi – Napoli to Torino (loan)

Genuinely two-footed – to the point he once scored a free-kick with each foot while playing for Bologna in a game against Crotone – Simone Verdi is one of Serie A’s most unique talents.

Comfortable as a No.10 or on either side of the attack, he is fast, creative and a goal threat from range. These gifts convinced Napoli to part with €25m for his services last summer, but with just three goals in 22 league outings for the Partenopei, Verdi has been judged surplus by Carlo Ancelotti.

Verdi, now 27, spent four years on Torino’s books earlier in his career but made only 19 appearances for the club. He returns now, on loan for the season, ready to remind Serie A audiences why Napoli were so keen to sign him just a year ago.

Keylor Navas – Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain (£13.6m)

Having been one of the most under-appreciated starting goalkeepers in Europe’s major leagues, and then arguably the continent’s finest back-up, Keylor Navas leaves Real Madrid after five years to assume the role of trusted custodian at Paris Saint-Germain.

Madrid, of course, previously attempted to include Navas as a makeweight in their botched efforts to sign David de Gea, and the Costa Rican shot-stopper has been warming the Bernabeu bench since Thibaut Courtois’ arrival from Chelsea last summer.

With Alphonse Areola going the other way, Madrid have acquired a younger understudy to Courtois, while Navas, at 32, is the ready-made, top-class goalkeeper lacking in Paris for much of PSG’s recent success.

 

Andre Silva – Milan to Eintracht Frankfurt (loan)

With Croatian winger Ante Rebic loaned to AC Milan for the 2019/20 campaign, Portuguese striker Andre Silva has moved in the opposite direction, joining Eintracht Frankfurt on a temporary basis.

At 23, Silva has already been capped 33 times for Portugal, boasting an impressive return of 15 international goals. But the young forward is still looking to find himself at club level, having broken through as a youngster with Porto before underwhelming slightly at the San Siro and on loan at Sevilla.

If the form last season of Sebastien Haller and Luka Jovic – who made big-money moves to West Ham United and Real Madrid respectively this summer – is any indicator, Eintracht are a side built for goal-scorers to flourish within.

Patrik Schick – Roma to RB Leipzig (loan)

An elegant and creative centre-forward, Patrik Schick burst on to the scene thanks to a prolific run with Sampdoria at the tail end of the 2016/17 season, earning a move to Roma that summer.

The Czech Republic international has struggled to make an impact in two seasons at the Stadio Olimpico, though, scoring just five Serie A goals in 46 appearances for the Giallorossi.

Still only 23, there is time yet for Schick to deliver on his vast potential. And the prospect of him working in tandem with RB Leipzig’s electric forward Timo Werner is mouth-watering.

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