As the transfer window closes in two weeks
The season has just gotten underway across Europe’s biggest leagues. Yet, there is still two weeks left in the transfer market, clubs still needing reinforcements for the season.
Here is a look at one club from each of the “Big 5” leagues that could use some more signings before the window closes on 31 August.
Premier League – Leicester
The Foxes sit on one point after two league games, drawing 2-2 against Brentford and losing 4-2 to Arsenal. While ambitions still remain high in the East Midlands, it is very evident that Brendan Rodgers’ side will need to make some signings.
At the time of writing, there has only been one new addition to Leicester since the transfer market opened. That came in the form of 32-year-old goalkeeper Alex Smithies, who joined as a free agent after his contract with Cardiff City ended.
This simply will not do for the Foxes, who have already seen skipper Kasper Schmeichel depart the club for Ligue 1’s Nice. Having also loaned out Hamza Choudury to Watford and will likely lose Dennis Praet, Youri Tielemans and Wesley Fofana, the squad is looking quite thin.
They are running out of time to make some meaningful in-going transfers, so the Foxes better move swiftly if they are to get anyone in time. Several legal sports betting sites have lost faith in Leicester challenging for the European places, and with the lack of movement on the market, they have good enough reason to do so.
LaLiga – Sevilla
The European regulars have been surprisingly quiet on the transfer market so far. Fourth in the league a season ago, the Andalusians will once again have Champions League football at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. However, a 2-1 reverse away to Osasuna in their opening LaLiga game suggests that Julen Lopetegui’s side could still use a couple more players.
So far, the only players that have been brought in are former Real Madrid midfielder Isco as a free agent, Portuguese full-back Alex Telles on loan from Manchester United, and Brazilian centre-back Marcão from Galatasaray.
For the most part, the Rojiblancos have a reasonably strong squad. At the same time, an extra signing or two would not hurt them. Having had a half chance in the LaLiga title race in each of the last two campaigns, they could use a top signing should they wish to have any hopes of claiming just their second ever top flight crown.
Bundesliga – Bayer Leverkusen
No one would have thought two games into the new Bundesliga campaign that Die Werkself would be sitting in the basement with two defeats. A 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund on the opening day was followed up with a shocking 2-1 reverse at home to Augsburg last weekend. Things will need to happen for Leverkusen over the next fortnight.
One of the issues might just be that they have only made one signing so far, bringing in the Czech youngster Adam Hložek from Sparta Praha. It goes without saying that it has been a very quiet window for Bayer Leverkusen, and should the likes of Moussa Diaby and Jeremie Frimpong head to pastures anew, they will have a serious loss in quality. Keeping in mind that top talent Florian Wirtz is still out recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, some injected quality would do them good.
Leverkusen will also take part in the Champions League this season after their third place finish in the Bundesliga last term. That will mean a heavy workload for the squad with the six group stage matches happening in such a short period of time. The next two weeks could very well be crucial to their season.
Serie A – Fiorentina
For the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, la Viola will be in Europe. After a seventh place finish in the Serie A last May, Vicenzo Italiano’s men have finally lived up to their promise. With lofty ambitions this time around, they will need to get some transfers if they are to improve on their performance of last season.
While they have brought in some quality players such as Gianluigi Gollini, Dodô, Rolando Mandragora and Luka Jović, questions are still to be asked about their squad depth, particularly at the back. Dodô is the only defender that has made the move to Florence this off-season, the Brazilian coming in from Shakhtar Donetsk. That could be a serious problem for Fiorentina, with a backline that is clearly in need of some help.
Their season commenced on Sunday with a dramatic 3-2 victory at home to promoted side Cremonese. Coach Italiano fielded some of his bench players with an eye for Thursday’s Conference League tilt with Twente. However, it has been highlighted that some of the defenders struggled in the match, particularly centre-back Lucas Martinez Quarta.
Ligue 1 – Strasbourg
Ending off in France, Strasbourg has not failed to win in their opening two weeks of the young season. Although a 2-1 loss to Monaco and a 1-1 stalemate at Nice are hardly terrible results, Les Bleu et Blanc will want to build upon their sixth-place finish from last campaign.
That said, they might want to get some more transfers to come to Alsace, especially up front. They could still lose their top scorer from last season Ludovic Ajourque, which would certainly require them to get a replacement.
Julien Stéphan’s men impressed in the league last season, just falling outside of the European places. This term will likely be even more challenging, which will include four teams going down as Ligue 1 will decrease to 18 teams starting in 2023-24. While Les Bleu et Blanc will likely not be involved in the relegation dogfight, they will still need a couple more players to come in if they are to end up in a more comfortable position or even improve on last year’s showing.