Now that the 2025 winter transfer window is closed, it’s a good time to look back and see how the best signings of the 2024 summer transfer window have performed so far. When the focus goes off the wheeling and dealing of the transfer window, most clubs are happy with the players they signed, but as the months go by, those feelings can change rapidly, and then six months later they’re back again wheeling and dealing players. Let’s take a step back and see how the best signings of the 2024 summer transfer window are doing so far:
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Francesco Porzio
Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid
Previous club: PSG
Transfer fee: Free transfer
Notable stats: On January 12 Mbappe became the first player to complete 8+ dribbles in a single match against FC Barcelona across the last ten seasons.
How’s he done? If we purely look at the numbers, Kylian Mbappe’s first season at Real Madrid has been a success so far, as the former PSG striker scored 15 goals in 20 La Liga games, plus three Champions League goals. However, given that five of those goals came from penalty kicks, we can imagine he’s probably the one expecting more from himself as he can be more central and crucial as he was during his time in France. The feeling is that we’re only at the beginning of a new era at the club, and Mbappe will be part of it.
Grade: A-
Romelu Lukaku, Napoli
Previous club: Chelsea
Transfer fee: $30 million
Notable stats: His nine goals in the Italian Serie A have earned nine crucial points for the team in decisive matches.
How’s he done? There was a lot of hype around the signing of Romelu Lukaku in the summer 2024 as he was the one Antonio Conte wanted to replace Victor Osimhen, as the Nigerian striker decided to leave the Azzurri before the start of the new season. Lukaku has scored nine Serie A goals and is proving again to be one of the best strikers for the Italian league, and under Conte he’s just a better player.
Grade: B+
Jadon Sancho, Chelsea
Previous club: Manchester United
Transfer fee: Loan with obligation to buy ($30 million )
Notable stats: He managed to provide two assists in his first 500 minutes at Chelsea, compared to six assists in 3586 minutes played at Manchester United.
How’s he done? Despite a great start of his Chelsea’s spell, Jadon Sancho’s time at the club hasn’t been as successful as it was hoped back in September. He looks like a completely different player as compared to the one of Manchester United, but still hasn’t reached the levels of his time at Borussia Dortmund. Coach Enzo Maresca believes in him, and this is why he’s a regular starter at the club, but, despite the improvement already seen, there is still a lot of improvement needed.
Grade: B-
Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray
Previous club: Napoli
Transfer fee: Loan
Notable stats: Osimhen scored all six penalties he’s taken for Galatasaray, maintaining a 100% success rate from the spot.
How’s he done? The Osimhen saga was one of the most incredible and entertaining ones of the summer 2024 as the Nigerian striker decided to leave Napoli before the new season, but then had to wait after the summer Deadline Day to find his new club. With 17 goals scored in 22 games in all competitions, it’s been a successful season so far for Osimhen, who is likely to move to a big European club in the summer 2025, after what happened last year.
Grade: B+
Joshua Zirkzee, Manchester United
Previous club: Bologna
Transfer fee: $40 million
Notable stats: Manchester United strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have scored just one goal between them since the beginning of December.
How’s he done? It was a disappointing start of the season for Zirzkee at Manchester United, as the former Bologna player arrived with a lot of expectations. Under former Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag and and new boss Ruben Amorim, Zirkzee had a challenging time at the club as he only scored four goals in all competitions up to now. There are no doubts about his potential, but he still has to deliver.
Grade: C-
Julian Alvarez, Atletico Madrid
Previous club: Manchester City
Transfer fee: $94 million
Notable stats: Julian Alvarez has one of the best minutes per goal involvement ratios in UEFA Champions League history, averaging a goal or assist every 70 minutes.
How’s he done? There were a lot of expectations on Julian Alvarez, but he delivered. In his first months at the Spanish club, Alvarez netted 12 goals in all competitions, including six in eight Champions League games played so far. Atletico are in the race to win in all the competitions they’ve play and the impact of the former Manchester City forward is one of the reasons for this success. Did Pep Guardiola make a mistake letting him go?
Grade: A-
Dani Olmo, FC Barcelona
Previous club: RB Leipzig
Transfer fee: $55 million
Notable stats: He had a great start at Barcelona, scoring in every game he played for the club initially, with a record of three goals in his first three games.
How’s he done? Despite a great start to his season at Barcelona, Dani Olmo has slowed down and only scored six goals in all competitions so far and we could expect more, in terms of numbers at least, but the Spanish international has plenty of time to react. The feeling is that we can expect more goals and assists for him in the second stint of the current season.
Grade: B-
