Yearender 2022: Five most expensive signings in World football this year

The majority of the elite teams in Europe spent astronomical numbers of money throughout both the winter and summer transfer windows despite some of the sides struggling with finances.

Winter window did not have many large deals, but the Summer window more than made up for it.

This summer, Premier League teams alone spent £1.9 billion on transfers, pushing the total across Europe’s top five leagues above the $2 billion barrier. This is 67% higher than last season’s summer transfer window’s £1.1bn and 34% higher than the previous record of most spending – £1.4bn during the summer of 2017.

Here we have enlisted the costliest transfers this year. Check out the five most expensive signings of the calendar year 2022-

5. Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus

One of the biggest winter transfers in Serie A history, Juventus paid a mammoth £66.6m to get their star striker at the start of 2022. The Serbian striker came to prominence in 2020-21 when he scored 21 goals in 40 appearances for Fiorentina. He continued his impressive form with 20 goals in 24 games in all competitions last season as well before Juventus snapped him up. He helped the club achieve a fourth-place finish however is yet to hit the same ceiling for Juventus.

He has scored 16 goals and added a further four assists in 36 appearances since joining Juventus. Old Lady however could be forced to sell him. The Serie A giants are in financial turmoil and ready to cash in on their prized assets this winter or next summer alerting a lot of top sides.

4. Darwin Nunez to Liverpool

The Reds splashed a whopping £67.5m to make a move for one of the most highly-rated young strikers in European football to replace Bayern Bound Sadio Mane. The Uruguayan’s valiance with Benfica last season, for whom he scored 34 times in all competitions was the key reason behind the push. Nunez so far has experienced a mixed reaction to the new environment. He has managed nine goals and two assists for Liverpool however has lacked consistency.

James Milner on Darwin Nunez:

“He’s got everything to score a lot of goals at Liverpool. It’s a new country, he can’t speak too much English yet but he’s got great banter and he’s learning the language, he’s a great lad.” #lfc [amazon] pic.twitter.com/WaIxF0IzoA

— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) December 19, 2022

3. Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid

The Spanish giants looked to invest in the long term as a successor to Casemiro and signed the highly rated midfield prodigy for £72m making him among the most expensive transfers ever. The youngster was targetted by PSG as well but Madrid got the final breakthrough. Tchouameni has already fit well in the new environment and will be a key part of Madrid’s trophy challenge this season.

2. Wesley Fofana to Chelsea

Chelsea spent over £150m just on defenders this summer and the highest fee among them was for Leicester City’s Fofana. One of Leicester’s most consistent defenders, the 21-year-old will have the ideal opportunity to develop with seasoned defenders like Thiago Silva and Koulibaly on the same squad. So far he has struggled with injuries with the new side but the second half of the season will test his merit.

1. Antony to Manchester United

After some back-and-forth negotiations with Ajax, United had to surrender to the demands of signing the Brazilian trickster for a monumental £85m deal. The 22-year-old is the costliest transfer of 2022. Antony is a great talent who, at the age of 22, has lots of time to grow and should succeed under Erik ten Hag’s direction. He has already shown his glimpses in a new league with five goals and two assists in 18 games. However, only time will if he can live up to this massive transfer figure.

Antony (born 24 February 2000) is a Brazilian Footballer who plays as a Winger for Brazil national team and Manchester United. #Antony

Full Bio: https://t.co/GntxuXwEXC pic.twitter.com/0SlNMSwBDJ

— Sportsman Biography (@sportsmanbio) December 19, 2022