If one had to identify the defining feature of Europe's 2019 summer transfer market, it was undoubtedly Ajax.
This team had just won the Champions League and completed a domestic treble in the Eredivisie with a perfect record, attracting the attention of the entire European Football world. Ajax, meanwhile, showed no sign of forcing players to stay. As long as a club was willing to pay—and the player was not on the team's retention list—they could leave.
With Neres and Ndombele both commanding transfer fees of over €100 million, even the 27-year-old left-back Tagliafico had set a staggering €60 million price tag. It was easy to imagine just how insane the transfer market had become.
Nicolas Pepe moved from Lille to Paris Saint-Germain for a huge €80 million. Maguire transferred from Leicester City to Manchester United for €87 million. Lucas Hernandez moved from Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich for another €80 million. Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodri also joined Man City for €70 million...
One astonishing transfer after another kept emerging from European Football, constantly raising expectations for the market. The battle among the giants for star players had reached fever pitch.
In particular, with so many First Team players such as Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong, and De Ligt still not having completed negotiations, everyone couldn't help wondering: if these players successfully transferred, how high would their prices rise?
Yet amid all the rumors, Real Madrid, supposedly the club most likely to land Frenkie de Jong and De Ligt, had still given no news. Barcelona, meanwhile, was focusing more on Griezmann's transfer and had fallen into a serious dispute with Atletico Madrid, creating a huge uproar.
Several clubs, including Man City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Juventus, had also entered the bidding for Ajax's two superstars, making an already suspenseful transfer saga even