Big deadline day deals you might have missed

Yesterday, Neel broke down the 9 biggest deadline day deals that involved Premier League clubs. But there was plenty going on across the channel as well, which fans focused on the Premier League moves might have missed.

Let’s get caught up on what the big teams on the continent did on transfer deadline day.

Lois Openda — RB Leipzig to Juventus, €4m loan fee, €40m conditional buy obligation

Selling Benjamin Šeško and Xavi Simons wasn’t enough for RBL. They really wanted to clean house after last year’s attack performed terribly. The beneficiary of this ended up being Juventus, who had to move to alternatives after failing to re-sign Randal Kolo Muani for another season.

Openda had the steepest drop-off of Leipzig’s front three last season, but he was also their top performer in their previous campaign, scoring 24 goals in the Bundesliga.

If Juventus can get Openda to perform at somewhere halfway between his shocking last season and his outstanding 2023-24, they’ll be happy paying €40m to sign him permanently.

Eliesse Ben Seghir — AS Monaco to Bayer Leverkusen, €30m

Not the Monaco winger most heavily linked to a transfer this summer, but Ben Seghir got a big money move before Maghnes Akilouche. He was solid off the left and occasionally at the No. 10 spot, contributing a little bit of everything without starring in one particular area.

I’m not sure how Ben Seghir will fit in at Leverkusen, because they’ve already fired manager Erik ten Hag after just two games in charge. That’s why you hire coaches around your recruitment strategy, not recruit to your coach’s preferences.

Bilal El Khannouss — Leicester to Stuttgart, €5m loan fee, €25m buy obligation

Going from one of the best teams in Belgium to a relegation battler in England was a tough transition for El Khannouss, who couldn’t match his previous season’s output. But he was still one of the rare bright spots in an otherwise poor Foxes attack, and was able to show off some dribbling and passing skill.

El Khannouss is likely a replacement for Enzo Millot at the left wingfielder spot in Stuttgart’s 3-4-2-1, though I’d love to see him tried in a deeper role.

Adrien Rabiot — Marseille to AC Milan, €10m

Apparently getting into locker room fights is how you get a big move. Milan needed a midfielder after Ardon Jashari broke his leg, and Marseille couldn’t wait to get rid of Rabiot.

He’s… fine. He didn’t produce much passing value from a more advanced role in Marseille’s setup last season. I wouldn’t expect too much, this was kind of a desperation panic buy.

Rasmus Hojlund — Manchester United to Napoli, €6m loan fee, €44m conditional buy obligation

I know I’m beating a dead horse here, long-time readers are probably sick of it by now. But this guy was really bad for Manchester United and they should be thrilled they were able to get him out the door for any money. He was out there doing cardio sessions, not playing striker.

Perhaps Antonio Conte is able to turn his career around because he’s magic when it comes to fixing hard working, athletic Premier League players who don’t seem to have much else to their game. Worked for Scott McTominay.

Nicolas Gonzalez — Juventus to Atletico Madrid, €2m loan fee, €32m conditional buy obligation

I am not sure how a shooting-only winger fits into Atléti’s system at all. Is Diego Simeone changing his tactics entirely? I swear they’ve never successfully integrated this style of player. If he can return to his Fiorentina production, it’s a good pickup, but a really strange one for me.

Georges Mikautadze — Lyon to Villarreal, €31m

Big clubs continue to sleep on this guy because he’s short, but Villarreal don’t care. They’ve routinely picked up players who have one big glaring flaw or another and turned them into extremely productive pieces.

I have no reason to believe this guy won’t be a roaring success for the Yellow Submarine. He’s not a shot monster, but certainly gets his fair share. He’s awesome at setting up his teammates. He’ll fit into their 4-4-2 perfectly and should be able to form an effective partnership with any style of striker alongside him.

İlkay Gündoğan — Manchester City to Galatasaray, free

We have reached your stop at Washedville, please exit the train.

Youssef Chermiti — Everton to Rangers, £10m

The reason you’re looking at a 2022-23 radar is because Chermiti has barely played for Everton since joining from Sporting Lisbon. Rangers are banking on this age 19 season in the Portuguese Liga being representative of his talent. If it is, good for Rangers, they’ve just bagged a real gem of a player by Scottish Premiership standards. But I’d have advised them against taking this risk. They’ve bought a lottery ticket.

Sebastian Tounekti — Hammarby to Celtic, £5.2m

I think Celtic might have cooked here. I cannot pretend I’ve been out here grinding Hammarby tape, but Sebastian Tounketi looks like a very fun dribbly boy, and he’s absolutely zoomin’ on the highlight reel. Major green flag on the statistical profile here.

Georgiy Sudakov — Shakhtar Donetsk to Benfica, €7m loan fee, €20m buy obligation

Long-time readers will know I’m a big fan of this guy, and was hoping to see him make a move to one of the big leagues on the continent this summer. Portugal isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but Benfica is an appropriate step for Georgiy Sudakov.

He does next to no defensive work for a midfielder, and it’ll be interesting to see if that was a product of the team he was in or if he’ll really need to move farther up the pitch as he progresses in his career. His playmaking numbers more than make up for this though, and I think Benfica’s smart to roll the dice on a guy who dribbles and passes like this.

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