Florenzi arrived on loan from Roma.

-

FRANCK FIFE / AFP

We really thought we would never see the end of it.

Since midnight Monday evening, the longest summer transfer window in history is well and truly closed, to the delight of the coaches who finally know what to expect for this first part of the season.

Completely turned upside down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the transfer market was unlike any other before it and, before finally turning the page and thinking about the field and nothing but the field, let's take the time to do a little balance sheet 2020.

Rafinha, Doku, Reine-Adélaide, the L1 transfer window ended strong via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/pVOZq6UQyS

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) October 6, 2020

  • A mercato version of the hare and the turtle

The clubs may have had months to do their shopping, it is only in the last days - even the last hours - that they have decided to shake the fleas, a bit like vulgar lazy parents waking up on December 24 by tilting that they had not started their Christmas shopping.

In this game, PSG won the palm with no less than three arrivals in the last 48 hours of the transfer window (Moise Kean, Danilo Pereira and Rafinha on the gong).

  • Love is in the loan

Economic crisis requires, the clubs had to adapt to the situation and calm down their spending bulimia a little.

No more purchases with money printing or checks with eight zeros behind, this year the trend was towards loans with or without an option to buy.

Here again, if we put aside the transfer of Mauro Icardi effective at the end of last season for 50 million euros, PSG seems to have succeeded by spending in all and for all only three small millions to snatch Rafinha from Barça at the end of added time.

For the rest, Florenzi (AS Roma), Sergio Rico (Sevilla FC), Danilo Pereira (FC Porto) and Moise Kean (Everton) all arrived either free or on loan.

The #Mercato ended last night at midnight and is already showing the effects of the economic and health crisis.


Spending across all Big-Five clubs has fallen 40.5% from last season. # Thread ⬇️⬇️

- Pierre Rondeau (@Lasciencedufoot) October 6, 2020

  • The Premier League does not know the crisis

The exception to this rule obviously came from the Premier League, the only major championship not to have compromised on lobster when all its European neighbors have exceptionally taken to kebabs.

The champion of champions is called Chelsea.

Apart from Thiago Silva, arrived at the end of the PSG contract, Abramovich's club blew the credit card to offer themselves in quick succession Timo Werner (53 million, Leipzig), Hakim Zyiech (40, Ajax) and especially Kai Havertz (80, Leverkusen).

For its part, Man City continues to pile up central defenders at indecent prices.

The two newbies are named Ruben Dias, central defender who arrived from Benfica for the modest sum of 68 million euros and Nathan Aké, bought 45 million from Bournemouth.

Liverpool has meanwhile intelligently strengthened with the transfer of Thiago Alcantara (Bayern) for 30 million euros and the very promising Diogo Jota, who came from Wolverhampton for 50 potatoes.

Finally, a little thought for Jean-Michel Aulas who had to rub his hands when he saw Aston Villa ask nearly 19 million euros to afford the Bertrand Traoré flop.

JMA realizes there an unexpected gain of nearly 50% (the player had been bought 10 million three years ago)!

  • The sexiest transfer window in Ligue 1

There is no need to say, when Rennes decides to put the means for its first participation in a final phase of the Champions League, it does not do things by halves.

This summer, the Breton club spent no less than 71 million euros to strengthen themselves, making them the top-spending Ligue 1 club.

And unlike its competitors, Rennes did not wait until the last minute to fill its basket.

Aguerd (Dijon), Gomis (Reims), Terrier (OL) and Guirassy (Amiens) arrived before the start of the season and we have already seen the added value they had brought to this workforce.

The former Niçois Dalbert (Inter), Juventini Daniele Rugani and the Belgian nugget Doku (arrival from Anderlecht for 26 million excluding bonus) have come to complete a workforce now complete and perfectly exciting.

We could also very well have mentioned OGC Nice, always very skilled in the transfer market (Schneiderlin, Gouiri, Reine-Adélaïde, Rony Lopes).

📸 #ServusChoupo 🔴⚪️ #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/2Low6iXI8E

- FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) October 5, 2020

  • The most "Julien Faubert" transfer

This one, we clearly hadn't seen it coming.

By refusing to extend his adventure at PSG to join Bayern in the last hours of the transfer window, Eric-Maxime Choupo-Moting has offered himself one of the most beautiful career paths since the former Bordeaux Faubert with the

Merengue

.

In the same vein, we could also mention the transfer of Bouna Sarr, still at Bayern Munich.

The Marseillais arrived in Bavaria against 10 million euros and quite honestly, we still ask to see.

  • The transfer aborted at the last minute

Until the very last hours of the transfer window, Memphis Depay imagined joining Leo Messi at Barça, but the inability of the Catalans to let go of Ousmane Dembélé (sine qua non to tempt Memphis) was right about this deal.

Like Aouar, the Dutchman will have to continue the season in Lyon under the orders of Rudi Garcia.

And with a smile, please.

  • Fofana, the heist of the summer for Sainté

No matter how hard we are in business, there are offers that cannot be refused.

Thus, after rejecting many proposals from the Premier League for his young defender Wesley Fofana, the Greens ended up capitulating to Leicester.

And for good reason, the Foxes have finally agreed to let go 40 MILLION EUROS to afford the services of a player who has 30 SMALL PROS MATCHS on the clock.

Which gives us a nice ratio of 1.3 million a game, at that price it would have been a crime not to accept.

Michaël 𝗖𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 ⚪️Ⓜ #DroitAuBut pic.twitter.com/mmcG27oBTI

- Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) October 6, 2020

  • OM launches into the prospect

Finally, a word about Marseille.

For his first recruitment as Director of Football for OM, Pablo Longoria (aka Señor Football Manager) remained true to his philosophy.

The Spaniard has focused the Olympian transfer window on youth with the arrival of players with a bright future such as Pape Gueye (Le Havre), Leonardo Balerdi (Dortmund), Luis Henrique (Botafogo) and Mickaël Cuisance (Bayern Munich).

The future will tell if Longoria's fetish recruiting software was a scam or a real gold mine.

Official: the Girondins de Bordeaux are the only club in France without any recruits for this 2020 summer transfer window. Pic.twitter.com/Z9d7eE8Cs2

- Scipio (@Scipionista) October 5, 2020

  • In Bordeaux, move around there is no market

Ah yes, we did not want to finish this assessment without mentioning the transfer window of the Girondins.

Zero euros spent, not the slightest recruit on the horizon, it is Jean-Louis Gasset who must be happy Tuesday morning.

After all, it's not like the team has the manpower to play the top of the table.

Courage to the supporters, the season may once again be very long.

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