Top European football clubs active in summer transfer window

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp and Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - Football clubs across Europe aimed to bring in new stars to add quality to their ranks, with plenty of movement before Thursday's summer transfer deadline.

- English Premier League:

Manchester United caused some excitement among their fans as they signed Real Madrid's Brazilian defender Casemiro. The signing of Argentinian defender Lisandro Martínez, who arrived from Ajax, wasn't disappointing either. Former Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen also joined the Red Devils on a free transfer.

In addition, the Red Devils agreed to sign Ajax winger Antony Matheus dos Santos for a transfer fee of €95 million ($95.2 million).

Arsenal purchased two names from reigning champions Manchester City: Brazilian attacker Gabriel Jesus and Ukrainian left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Gunners also acquired Porto's young Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira in the summer window.

Former Liverpool winger Philippe Coutinho returned to the Premier League by signing with Aston Villa from Barcelona. Villa's other transfer, from La Liga, was Sevilla defender Diego Carlos.

Chelsea splashed the cash in the 2022-23 summer transfer window as they spent more than $70 million for Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella, who arrived from Brighton & Hove Albion. Former Manchester City player Raheem Sterling was one of the biggest names that Chelsea acquired this season along with Senegal national defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who joined the Blues from Italian team Napoli.

Also, French defender Wesley Fofana has joined the Blues from Leicester City, signing a seven-year contract.

Lille's Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana signed for Everton, while Leeds United purchased young US midfielder Brenden Aaronson from Red Bull Salzburg.

Darwin Nunez was definitely one of the most popular names to arrive to the Premier League this season. The Uruguayan forward arrived to Liverpool from Benfica as a possible replacement for Senegalese star Sadio Mane, who left the Reds to join Bayern Munich.

Reigning champions Manchester City didn't disappoint their fans' expectations of signing big names, as they acquired Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window.

Real Sociedad's Swedish forward Alexander Isak and Lille's Dutch defender Sven Botman chose to join Premier League side Newcastle United.

Tottenham Hotspur acquired Brazilian attacker Richarlison from Everton, while Wolverhampton Wanderers purchased Portuguese midfielder Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon in the window.

- Spanish La Liga

Defending champions Real Madrid acquired French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni from AS Monaco and German defender Antonio Rudiger from Chelsea.

Barcelona, who were known to have financial issues lately, made some exciting transfers in the summer window.

Along with Bayern Munich's Polish star Robert Lewandowski, Barca also signed Brazilian winger Raphinha, who joined from Leeds United.

Sevilla's French defender Jules Kounde, AC Milan's Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie and Chelsea's Danish defender Andreas Christensen also joined the Barcelona squad.

Sevilla strengthened their squad with Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco and Galatasaray's Brazilian defender Marcao.

Manchester United's Brazilian left-back Alex Telles also joined Sevilla on a loan deal.

Atletico Madrid signed Borussia Dortmund's Belgian veteran midfielder Axel Witsel on a free transfer. Alvaro Morata, who was loaned out to Juventus, also returned to the Madrid team.

Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi, a former Fenerbahce player, joined Mallorca, where he played last season on a loan deal from Lazio.

Valencia signed Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani on a free transfer after leaving Manchester United for the next two seasons.

- German Bundesliga

The winners of the last 10 titles, Bayern Munich, acquired some big names in the summer window.

Liverpool's Senegalese star Sadio Mane along with Juventus' Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt joined the Munich club's squad.

Another strong title contender, Borussia Dortmund, signed Ajax's Ivorian forward Sebastien Haller. Salzburg's German attacker Karim Adeyemi also joined the Black and Yellows.

German forward Timo Werner returned to RB Leipzig after playing for Premier League side Chelsea for two seasons. Hoffenheim's left-back David Raum also joined Leipzig.

Hoffenheim acquired Turkish national defender Ozan Kabak from Schalke 04.

German midfielder Mario Gotze arrived at Eintracht Frankfurt from PSV Eindhoven.

- Italian Serie A

Reigning champions AC Milan purchased Charles De Ketelaere of Belgium from Club Brugge, while his compatriot Divock Origi arrived at Rossoneri from Liverpool on a free transfer.

Yet another Belgian, Romelu Lukaku, joined Inter Milan on loan from Chelsea, while Argentine attacker Joaquin Correa also joined the Nerazzurri from Lazio. Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Inter from AS Roma as well.

Turkish team Fenerbahce's Min-jae Kim decided to join Serie A side Napoli in the summer transfer window.

Juventus seemed to make the most of the summer window. The Bianconeri purchased Torino's Brazilian defender Bremer and Fiorentina's Italian winger Federico Chiesa.

Also Paul Pogba returned to Juventus after playing for Manchester United for six seasons. Veteran Argentine Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) winger Angel Di Maria signed for Juventus as well.

Juventus' Argentine attacker Paulo Dybala chose to join AS Roma along with Torino FC's Italian striker Andrea Belotti. AS Roma also acquired Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum from PSG, Serbian defender Nemanja Matic from Manchester United and Turkish national right-back Zeki Celik from Lille.

- French Ligue 1

Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) acquired two promising young players from the Portuguese league: 22-year-old midfielder Vitinha from Porto FC and 20-year-old left-back Nuno Mendes from Sporting Lisbon.

The purchase from Napoli of Fabian Ruiz and Lille's Renato Sanches also strengthened the PSG midfield.

Monaco acquired Cameroonian defender Mohamed Camara from RB Salzburg as a possible replacement for Aurelien Tchouameni, who left the club to join Real Madrid.

Japanese winger Takumi Minamino joined the French club from Liverpool as a possible replacement for Sofiane Diop, who joined another Ligue 1 side, OGC Nice.

Olympique de Marseille signed two players from AS Roma: Spanish goalie Pau Lopez and French midfielder Jordan Veretout.