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News
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Buonanotte to Chelsea and the five strangest transfers of the summer
Tom Weber
- Updated: 4 Sept 2025 17:45 BST
- 6 min read
Analysis
The 2025 summer transfer window had it all: record deals, hijacks and some truly bizarre moves.
The window closed for Europe's top-five leagues on Monday, and it was a record-breaking one for the Premier League, with over €3 billion spent on new recruits.
Elsewhere, clubs can still do business. The windows in Saudi Arabia and Turkey remain open for a few more days, so there may yet be more surprises.
Al-Ittihad, for example, have been chasing a deal for 18-year-old Portuguese wonderkid Rodrigo Mora. This would be quite a bizarre move for the youngster, but it would be nothing compared to some of the weird deals we have already seen.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through the five weirdest deals of the summer...
Facundo Buonanotte - Brighton to Chelsea
One of the most bizarre pieces of news came relatively late in the window when it emerged that Chelsea were interested in signing Brighton youngster Facundo Buonanotte.
Now, on the face of it, there was nothing odd about this. Chelsea signing a talented Brighton prospect has become an annual tradition in recent times.
However, things got pretty weird when it became clear that this was not actually a permanent transfer. It was a loan, and a straight one at that, with no permanent element attached.
It has since come to light that Chelsea will have matching rights for the 20-year-old next summer, but this is still a strange deal for a player who fell out of favour on loan at relegated Leicester last term and isn't fancied by Brighton.
Buonanotte is evidently only at Stamford Bridge to make up the numbers after the Blues missed out on Xavi Simons, and as much was confirmed by the club when they omitted him from their Champions League squad - mere days after he expressed his excitement at the prospect of playing in Europe's premier competition.
Ishe Samuels-Smith - Chelsea to Strasbourg to Chelsea to Swansea
Chelsea's relationship with Strasbourg has come in for heavy criticism by the latter's fanbase as they are unhappy about their proud club being turned into a farm team for the Blues.
If this summer has shown anything, then that these fears are well-founded, despite Strasbourg's success on the pitch. Six players were moved to Alsace from West London, and another one, Julio Enciso, was signed from Brighton with a view to later joining Chelsea.
However, one of the six players sent to Strasbourg actually returned to Chelsea mere weeks after leaving. Ishe Samuels-Smith joined the Ligue 1 side on a permanent deal, but the Blues exercised their buy-back option when they sold Ben Chilwell to their sister club on Deadline Day.
This was done so as not to block the youngster's first-team pathway, and they subsequently loaned him to Championship side Swansea.
Jamie Vardy - Leicester City to Cremonese
Jamie Vardy is a Leicester City legend. Jamie Vardy is a Premier League legend. Jamie Vardy is a man who embodies the rough and tumble of 'proper Barclays.' And Jamie Vardy is now a man who will be playing his football in... beautiful Cremona this season.
At 38 years of age, the former England striker has swapped the Midlands for Lombardy, moving from Leicester to Cremona just east of Milan. There, he will be suiting up for promoted top-flight side Cremonese.
The Serie A new boys have won their first two games of the campaign, beating AC Milan and Sassuolo. They have scored an impressive five goals in 180 minutes, so Vardy will have to bring his A-game to get minutes.
Piero Hincapie - Bayer Leverkusen to Arsenal
Arsenal signing Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie is a sensible transfer. They have replaced Jakub Kiwior with an arguably even better player and thus further strengthened their side.
There is nothing objectionable about the idea of the Ecuador international joining his long-time admirers from North London, who already wanted him last summer as an alternative to Riccardo Calafiori.
What is a bit strange is the deal that was agreed with Leverkusen. Initially reported as a loan with an obligation to buy, this transfer is actually a loan with an option to buy.
However, there is still a mandatory element, and this is where things get really weird. According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Arsenal's option to buy Hincapie will become an obligation if they avoid relegation!
Victor Boniface - Bayer Leverkusen to Werder Bremen
The final inclusion on this list came pretty late on Deadline Day as Werder Bremen snapped up Victor Boniface in what can only be described as a panic move for both the club and the player.
Boniface has endured quite a dramatic fall from grace, going from one of the most exciting players in the Bundesliga to Leverkusen's problem child in the space of just a few months.
Injuries and unimpressive behaviour saw him fall out of favour under ex-boss Xabi Alonso, and he could have already left Bayer in January. However, a €70 million move to Al-Nassr collapsed at the last minute when they opted to sign Jhon Duran instead.
Six months later, Boniface had the chance to join AC Milan, only for this transfer to collapse when the Rossoneri got cold feet after his medical, with Boniface having suffered two serious knee injuries in his still relatively young career.
It therefore took until Deadline Day for a solution to be found, with Werder Bremen, who endured a miserable summer, agreeing a loan deal for the Nigerian forward.
This in itself was pretty weird. However, what was truly the icing on the cake was the manner in which the transfer materialised.
Boniface spent the majority of Deadline Day streaming video games on Twitch in a green-and-white jersey - not that of Bremen but of the Boston Celtics - only briefly heading out for his medical before returning and promptly getting back to playing Call of Duty.
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