After July began, the impact of several blockbuster transfers worth astronomical sums gradually began to spread through the European football transfer market, ushering in an unprecedented boom, with major transfers pouring into all the top leagues.
In the Premier League, Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, and Arsenal had successively launched an arms race. Chelsea was no less active, spending €25 million to bring Zappacosta in from Torino in Serie A, then €31 million to sign Rüdiger from Roma, €35 million to acquire Drinkwater from Leicester City, and €40 million to bring in midfielder Bakayoko from Monaco.
The Blues had spent more than €100 million in one go, displaying tremendous ambition.
At the same time, of course, Chelsea had not forgotten to sell their own players. Matic moved to Manchester United for €40 million, playing under Mourinho once again, while Cuadrado transferred to Juventus in Serie A for €17 million.
After signing Lukaku and Matic and spending more than €100 million, Manchester United then signed Lindelöf from Benfica for €30 million. Their net spending for this summer had exceeded €100 million, which was truly astonishing.
But in the crazy Premier League, a transfer investment of €100 million was hardly worth making a fuss over.
After selling Lukaku to Manchester United, Everton brought in Klaassen, Sigurdsson, Pickford, and Michael Keane in succession, also spending more than €100 million. Their net spending far exceeded that of previous years as well.
Before long, another blockbuster transfer came out of the Premier League.
Having missed out on Lukaku and with Diego Costa determined to leave the Premier League, Chelsea had no choice but to search the transfer market for an outstanding center forward. In the end, they settled on Real Madrid's backup striker Morata.
The Spanish striker had performed exceptionally well for Real Madrid last