The summer of 2020 has been a wild transfer window. From Chelsea nearly reinforcing their whole squad to Messi almost leaving Barcelona, this transfer window has truly been a memorable one.
LIONEL MESSI
First and foremost, Lionel Messi is staying at Barcelona. Despite there being rumors of him leaving for the likes of several top clubs like Manchester City, PSG, Juventus, etc, La Pulga is not going anywhere. This news was confirmed by him during an interview with Goal.
Messi first emphasized how hard it was to overcome the humiliation at Lisbon when Bayern Munich ran rampage through a helpless Barcelona side who sunk to an 8-2 defeat in the quarter-finals of The Champions League. He also said that the defeats at Rome and Liverpool were just as devastating.
Messi was taken aback by the scoreline.
Credits: thesun.co.uk
The thought of departing from Barcelona did not specifically come from the 8-2 humiliation though; it was a very difficult year for him as he suffered in training, games, and the dressing room. The Argentine had been telling the club and the president, Josep Bartomeu that he wanted to leave since a year. He believed that it was time to step aside and urged the club to introduce young players into the squad.
Moreover, he said that the president did not keep his word. Bartomeu always told to Messi that he could decide whether he wanted to leave or stay at the end of the season and as we're all seeing, Messi is being forced to stay at Barcelona against his own will. The president said that the only way out for Leo was to pay the 700 Euro clause which was impossible. So, now it's confirmed that Lionel Messi is staying at Barcelona for the 2020/21 season.
DONNY VAN DE BEEK
Despite being really silent this window, Manchester United have finally completed a signing. Dutch and Ajax midfielder, Donny Van De Beek has signed for The Red Devils for 39 million Euros for a five-year contract.
Van De Beek in a Manchester United shirt.
Credits: talksport.com
This may not have been the right decision as United's midfield is already quite strong in terms of attack. Van de Beek too is an attacking midfielder, unbalancing their midfield. A player they actually needed was a defensive midfielder. In this situation, Van De Beek, Paul Pogba, and Bruno Fernandes might not be able to start together or any one of them will have to work as a defensive midfielder. But we remember how furious Pogba was when he was asked to work as a CDM during the reign of Jose Mourinho.
Bruno Fernandes and VDB too are unlikely to play as CDMs as both of them played as CAMs at Man Utd and Ajax respectively. Nonetheless, Donny may even turn out to be a great decision if United play the 4-2-3-1 formation because then all three of them can play together giving their opponents a nightmare.
CHELSEA
Chelsea had been hit with two window transfer bans in 2019 for the international transfer and registration of players under 18. The ban was lifted in February 2020 and Chelsea were back with a bang. As soon as the 2019/20 season concluded, The Blues were laser-focused on signing big stars. They did live up to that expectation as they signed a total of 6 players including Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech, Malang Sarr, Thiago Silva, and Kai Havertz to strengthen their squad and are looking like serious Premier League title contenders for next season.
Kai Havertz alongside Chelsea boss, Frank Lampard.
Credits: bbc.co.uk
TRANSFER UPDATES
James Rodriguez is set to leave Real Madrid for Everton after no longer being held importance in Zinedine Zidane's squad. The Colombian midfielder is about to have his medical on Thursday. This is the second time James will be playing under Carlo Ancelotti, the former Real Madrid manager.
Thiago Alcantara has been closely linked with Premier League champions, Liverpool. When asked about this during an interview before Spain's match against Germany, Thiago said he was focusing on nothing but the game. But, the Spanish midfielder rejected an opportunity to renew his contract for Bayern Munich, probably meaning that the transfer is near.
Sergio Reguilon has recently been offered to Manchester United which does need some replacements in defense and Reguilon might just be perfect. Luke Shaw, United's current left-back has been plagued with injuries his entire career, is injured at the moment too. Man United don't have any proper back up for Shaw with Brandon Williams not being good enough so Reguilon might be exactly what they need.
This transfer window has been absolutely dramatic as we also saw Joe Hart and Matt Doherty signing for Spurs, Rodrigo moving from Valencia to Leeds, Willian from Chelsea to Arsenal, and many more. Let's just hope we don't see any more Alexis Sanchez transfers (if you know what I mean).