PSG do enough in the market to stay on top

Hello and welcome to the conclusion of our transfer grades series. I’ll be putting together a roundup page for all 8 articles and 40 teams (!!!) covered over the past couple weeks and pinning it to the top of the website. Hopefully you’ll use it to point out how smart we are in 6 months, but we can take the ribbing if we end up being wrong as hell and you want to do a banter.

Paris Saint-Germain — Smart and reasonable

Total incomings — €121m

• Ilya Zabarnyi — €63m + €3m add-ons

• Lucas Chevalier — €40m + €15m add-ons

After winning a historic continental treble with the second-youngest squad in Europe’s big five leagues (based on average age weighted by minutes played) last season, Paris Saint-Germain naturally did not need to do much in the transfer window. For once, they did actually sit tight and only made a couple of noteworthy signings in positions of need.

31-year-old club captain Marquinhos usually was the old head in their line-up, so they’ve gone and signed a younger option in 22-year-old Illia Zabarnyi from Bournemouth. After some long-winded negotiations, the Cherries ended up getting a slightly higher fee for him than the higher-rated Dean Huijsen. That suggests this is an overpay on PSG’s part, but finances aren’t much of a problem for them. €40 million for the young and pretty well-rounded Lucas Chevalier from domestic rivals Lille is a good move. — NS

Kim: A | Moe: B+ | Neel: A- | Hayden: A-

Total outgoings — €72m

• Gianluigi Donnarumma — €30m

• Nordi Mukiele — €14m

• Marco Asensio — €7.5m

• Carlos Soler — €6m

• Milan Skrinar — €6m

• Arnau Tenas — €2.5m

• 5 players loaned

Again, the fact that PSG are not at all reliant on revenue from player sales means that these sales won’t end up affecting them much, but I will say that they have not gotten the best deals possible. The price of Gianluigi Donnarumma is alright given the circumstances around his departure, and Nordi Mukiele brought in a good amount too, but the likes of Marco Asensio and Carlos Soler might have fetched more. Both of them, as well as Mukiele, Milan Škriniar, Randal Kolo Muani and Renato Sanches, were out on loan last term, so the Parisians have lost very little from their actual squad.

PSG did get some monetarily lucrative offers for a couple of their second-choice forwards, but since they are above such temptations, keeping them also makes sense as it maintains depth and versatility in the squad. — NS

Kim: A- | Moe: B+ | Neel: B | Hayden: A

Paris Saint-Germain had a very simple job on their hands this summer. Although their net spend is perhaps a little higher than it needed to be at the end of it, I will give them credit for staying very disciplined. It is a commendable transformation given what they were up to just a couple of years ago, and a reinforcement of their changed ways. — NS

Overall grade: A-

AS Monaco — Cashing in big

Total incomings — €13m

• Stanis Idumbo — €10m

• Lukas Hradecky — €3m

• Paul Pogba — Free

• Eric Dier — Free

• Ansu Fati — Loan, buy option

Compared to the past couple of summers, Monaco were much more frugal with their business. There were expectations for Stanis Idumbo to break into Sevilla’s first team squad this season, but instability within the club meant Monaco were able to acquire for what might turn out to be a cheap fee if he progresses as expected. After a long and successful tenure as Bayer Leverkusen’s starting goalkeeper, Lukas Hradecky will likely be spending the twilight of his career on the French Riviera. The remaining moves for Ansu Fati, Eric Dier, and Paul Pogba are hoping those guys have something left in the tank on cheap deals (Dier the likeliest to contribute at a high level). — MM

Kim: C- | Moe: C | Neel: D | Hayden: C-

Total outgoings — €125m

• Eliesse Ben Seghir — €32m + €3m add-ons

• Wilfried Singo — €31m

• Soungoutou Magassa — €17m + €3m add-ons

• Breel Embolo — €13m

• Saimon Bouabre — €10m + €2m add-ons

• Ismail Jakobs — €8m

• Chrislain Matsima — €5m

• Myron Boadu — €800k

• 2 players loaned

There was considerable activity in terms of departures. Eliesse Ben Seghir had his best season yet in 24-25 (albeit the 2nd half was less impressive). Signing Leverkusen came with a notable fee and possibly a sell-on clause too, protecting them to some extent in the event he does become a star. Wilfred Singo’s move to Galatasaray was another example of Turkish football’s financial flexing in the market. He has an electric skillset for a defender, and should do well there.

There is a possibility Monaco will regret not keeping Soungoutou Magassa for another year in Ligue 1 to further explore the studio space and pump his value up even higher, but almost every side not named Paris Saint-Germain in French football is feeling the financial crunch. Breel Embolo had a decent stint when healthy, and is off to Stade Rennais. Saïmon Bouabré’s move to Saudi Arabia came as a surprise, with the player unhappy about his pathway towards regular first team minutes. — MM

Kim: A- | Moe: B | Neel: B | Hayden: B+

The reality of Ligue 1 in 2025 is the deterioration of TV broadcast revenue means basically every non-PSG side has to be very frugal with the money spent on transfers, along with selling young guys early even if it would’ve been nice for them to stay 1-2 years longer. As is, Monaco sold intriguing young talents at largely pretty good prices, while banking that at least one of Dier/Fati/Pogba ends up being one of the best at their position in Ligue 1 to keep them in a Champions League spot. Monaco acting in this manner says a lot about how tough it’ll be going forward for someone to form a title challenge against PSG. — MM

Overall grade: B-

Olympique Marseille — This is fine

Total incomings — €107m

• Igor Paixao — €30m + €5m add-ons

• Nayef Aguerd — €23m

• Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg — €19m

• Jonathan Rowe — €14.5m (flipped)

• Neal Maupay — €4m

• Emerson — €700k

• Angel Gomes — Free

• CJ Egan-Riley — Free

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — Free

• Hamed Traore — Free

• Timothy Weah — Loan, buy obligation

• Arthur Vermeeren — Loan, buy option

• Benjamin Pavard — Loan, buy option

• Facundo Medina — Loan, buy option

• Matt O’Riley — Loan

Marseille’s one huge expenditure, Igor Piaxao, put up huge numbers for Feyenoord in the Eredivise last season. Sometimes stats from that league struggle to translate to others, but he’s a very talented dribbler who gets good shot volume, and he could get flipped for big profit in a year or two if he can maintain his numbers.

Aguerd is a bit of a bizarre move at the fee. He’s a decent defender, but it’s a ton for them to pay for a 29-year-old. Given the financial situation in Ligue 1, I don’t think they should ever do that, even for proven superstars.

After that, Marseille kept things reasonable. Hojbjerg is an agreed fee from a loan last season. Everything else was a solid value buy or loan. They probably made their team better on a reasonable budget, besides the one Aguerd transfer. — KM

Kim: B | Moe: B | Neel: B+ | Hayden: B+

Total outgoings — €89m

• Luis Henrique — €20m + €3m add-ons

• Jonathan Rowe — €17m + €2m add-ons

• Quentin Merlin — €13m

• Adrien Rabiot — €9m + €1m add-ons

• Valentin Rongier — €9m

• Azzedine Ounahi — €6m

• Pau Lopez — €5m

• Samuel Gigot — €500k

• Amar Dedic — €100k

• Luiz Felipe — Free

• Chancel Mbemba — Free

• Simon Ngapandouetnbu — Free

• 5 players loaned

When two players get into a fight with a couple weeks in the transfer window and you’re forced to issue a public press release stating they’ll never play for the club again, getting any money for them at all is solid business. Marseille actually managed to make a profit on Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot!

Henrique is a pretty big loss, but at a fair price. They didn’t extract maximum value, but they didn’t get fleeced either. The same can be said for Merlin. Getting a real fee for 30-year-old Rongier is pretty nice business. — KM

Kim: B+ | Moe: B | Neel: B | Hayden: B-

While there are a couple moves here I don’t love, this is a pretty significant improvement on previous years’ transfer business for Marseille. — KM

Overall grade: B

Como — One of the most interesting teams in Europe

The boys actually talked about Como quite a bit on the podcast yesterday, so check that out:

Total incomings — €118m

• Jesus Rodriguez — €22.5m + €5.5m add-ons

• Martin Baturina — €18m + €7m add-ons

• Nicolas Kuhn — €19m

• Jayden Addai — €14m

• Maximo Perrone — €11m + €2m add-ons

• Alex Valle — €6m

• Ignace Van der Brempt — €5m

• Jacobo Ramon — €2.5m

• Luca Mazzitelli — €2m

• Diego Carlos — Loan

• Stefan Posch — Loan

• Nikola Cavalina — Loan

• Alvaro Morata — Loan

Como backed up their successful season in Serie A with a nine-digit spend this summer. Much like PSG, their owners are not short of cash, but they are also spending most of it on young prospects rather than trying to make “statement signings”. 10 of their 15 arrivals were aged 23 or younger, as they have once again significantly changed their squad in a bid to kick on towards the European spots in the league.

€14m on Jayden Addai seems a hefty bet since he has barely played over 600 top-flight minutes in his career (though his extremely limited numbers do look promising), but all the other deals are quite good. Jesús Rodríguez did not come cheap but is an eye-catching prospect, Martin Baturina is another one we like, Máximo Perrone seems a great fit for Cesc Fàbregas’ style of play, and I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen of ex-Real Madrid youngster Jacobo Ramón in the early days of the season. There are many other prospects, but also a healthy mix of more experienced heads like Álvaro Morata and Stefan Posch to balance the squad. All in all, this looks like a well-planned and executed window. — NS

Kim: B+ | Moe: B | Neel: A- | Hayden: A-

Total outgoings — €13m

• Gabriel Strefazza — €8m

• Alessandro Bellemo — €2m

• Nikolas Ioannou — €1.5m

• Marco Curto — €750k

• Simone Ghidotti — €400k

• 14 players loaned

• 10 players released

Given Como’s ambitions of quickly ascending towards the lead group of Serie A, they are not in a strong position to sell. As a result, there is not much to be expected or said of their business in this respect, except that they have done well to prevent the squad from growing too big without agreeing to any overly bad deals. Managing to keep hold of Nico Paz was undoubtedly the best and most important outcome of the window for them. — NS

Kim: C | Moe: C | Neel: C+ | Hayden: C+

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical of Como’s work last summer when they almost entirely overhauled the squad, but the way they put it all together on the pitch certainly shut me up. So this time, I can do little but give them credit for continuing on their chosen path. The only question around their youth-focused transfer policy is that it might not guarantee instant results, but it certainly sets them up very well for the longer term. — NS

Overall grade: B

AS Roma — New look, tough to evaluate

Total incomings — €70m

• Wesley — €25m + €5m add-ons

• Neil El Aynaoui — €22m + €3m add-ons

• Jan Ziolkowski — €6.6m

• Devis Vasquez — Free

• Leon Bailey — Loan, buy option

• Evan Ferguson — Loan, buy option

• Daniele Ghilardi — Loan, buy obligation

• Konstantinos Tsimikas — Loan

Interesting might be a decent way of describing the collection of players signed by Roma. The profile on Wesley is that of a multifaceted wingback with defensive concerns, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in Italian football and how much of a physical advantage (if any) he’ll have. He certainly didn’t come cheap, as the Italian club paid one of the bigger fees in their history. The same can be said for Neil El Aynaoui, and it’ll be interesting to see how Gian Piero Gasperini deploys him.

Arguably the two biggest moves were for Leon Bailey and Evan Ferguson, each on loan with an option to buy. Bailey went from having arguably the best season of his career in 23-24 with 19 PL goals and assists, to just 3 in 24-25. Maybe he can get his career back on track, and Gasperini has a history of putting attacking talent in a position to succeed. Evan Ferguson was once touted as a future £100m, but injuries and further examination of the flaws to his game has led to people cooling on him. He still remains an intriguing prospect due to his ability to be an associative talent, and playing alongside playmakers like Matìas Soulé could help him be a bigger box threat. — MM

Kim: B | Moe: C+ | Neel: B+ | Hayden: B+

Total outgoings — €49m

• Enzo Le Fee — €23

• Samuel Dahl — €9m

• Nicola Zalewski — €6.5m

• Leandro Paredes — €3m

• Ola Solbakken — €950k

• Matteo Plaia — €500k

• Mats Hummels — Retired

• 8 players loaned

The biggest thing of note here with Roma was as a result of Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League, they basically got off scot free with Enzo Le Fée’s loan becoming a permanent transfer. He only made 6 league appearances (4 starts) in his brief time in Serie A. Other than that, it was mostly selling guys for a small figure or loaning others who didn’t play big minutes with the first team squad last season. This included Samuel Dahl, Nicola Zalewski, Leandro Parades, and Tammy Abraham. — MM

Kim: B- | Moe: C+ | Neel: C+ | Hayden: B-

There is certainly a scenario where we look back next summer and what Roma did ages a lot better than it looks currently. I’m pretty confident in the value from the departures ending up neutral or slightly above that. In terms of incomings, it’s possible Wesley ends up being a smashing success and more than worth the fee spent to acquire him. Perhaps El Aynaoui settles in midfield and adds a jolt of two-way quality.

Either Bailey or Ferguson (or maybe both) can settle quickly into Italian football and provide the top-end talent that those Atalanta teams under Gasperini had in attack. However, It’s a lot of ifs in this equation and things sour quickly if they don’t go in the club’s favor. There’s also the issue of Roma being able to afford keeping Bailey and Ferguson on permanent deals if things go well given the financial turmoil they’re in, but that’s a story for another time. These factors will certainly make year 1 of the Gasperini project in Roma intriguing to watch. — MM

Overall grade: B-

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