The five best summer transfers across Europe so far this season

Suraj Radia

• 15 Oct 2025 14:02 CDT
• 5 min read

Analysis

The summer transfer window has been closed for less than two months but there has been plenty of time for hot takes and early opinions to develop over some of the biggest signings across Europe.

With more than €5 billion spent on players from Europe’s top five divisions – over €3bn of which came from the Premier League – big money arrivals have been expected to make a huge immediate impact at their new clubs.

While some costly acquisitions have justified their price tags, value has also come from loans and free transfers to give teams a value-driven boost and FootballTransfers has taken a look at some of the best signings across Europe this summer.

Nick Woltemade (Stuttgart to Newcastle, €75m)

Replacing your top scorer and the most expensive player in Premier League history isn’t an easy task, especially in the last few days of the window in a market that was largely driven by hugely inflated prices for strikers.

Newcastle were certainly victims of the market when they replaced Alexander Isak by spending €75m on Nick Woltemade, a player whom had joined Stuttgart on a free transfer just one year earlier and had, by all accounts, only shown his potential in the second half of the season.

The transfer has been publicly ridiculed by Bayern Munich chiefs after they refused to meet Stuttgart’s asking price but Woltemade has quickly become almost a bargain with four goals in his first seven games by giving Newcastle a new hero and banishing the tainted memories of their former number nine.

Luis Diaz (Liverpool to Bayern Munich, €70m)

Bayern Munich endured a rollercoaster summer by often striking out on their top targets and finding themselves struggling to secure top quality players to complement their attack.

Having been turned down by the likes of Florian Wirtz and Nico Williams, Bayern eventually – and reluctantly – met Liverpool’s €70m asking price for Luis Diaz despite the 28-year-old perhaps being above their ideal age range.

But the Colombian has been a revelation since his arrival with five goals and four assists in six Bundesliga matches, while also helping Harry Kane take his game to the next level and turning Vincent Kompany’s side into a fearful side once again across Europe.

Kevin de Bruyne (Man City to Napoli, free transfer)

One of the best midfielders in the world was available on a free transfer this summer and he moved to Italy and continued being one of the best midfielders in the world.

Napoli perhaps could not believe their luck when Kevin de Bruyne’s contract ended at Manchester City and the 34-year-old opted to move to the Serie A champions where he has somehow managed to elevate the best side in the league.

With three goals and two assists in his first eight games, De Bruyne has managed to shake off recent injury concerns and unlock the quality of fellow summer signing Rasmus Hojlund to give Antonio Conte’s side a chance of becoming back-to-back champions for the first time in their history.

Luka Modric (Real Madrid to Milan, free transfer)

One of the best midfielders in the world was available on a free transfer this summer and he moved to Italy and continued being one of the best midfielders in the world. Yep, it happened twice.

The only thing that was really counting against Luka Modric is that he is 40…but Milan and Serie A are no strangers to veteran legends and they did not hesitate to build their team around the Croatian superstar.

Modric has shown no signs of slowing down and has continued to show his class, all while being a free transfer with the energy and pressing of someone half his age inside the Milan midfield.

Jack Grealish (Man City to Everton, loan)

This was probably a transfer that was going to define the remainder of Jack Grealish’s career after a disappointing decline to his time at Manchester City where he fell out the first team and became a footnote under Pep Guardiola.

Grealish chose to go on loan to Everton where he has shown exactly why City paid more than €100m for him in 2021 with four assists and a goal in his first seven matches to give Everton some rare optimism at the start of the season.

The 30-year-old could even feature at next summer’s World Cup if his form continues and it is testament to Grealish’s determination that has seen him brush off the doubts surrounding him by thriving for a smaller side with some sensational displays.

Honourable mentions: Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Jaiden Anthony (Burnley)

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store