It was a defensive week in the transfer market — a run of new centre-backs, full-backs and goalkeepers across the Premier League — and it ended with a bang. Here is our Friday round-up of the moves that mattered.
Liverpool’s Anfield bomba
The headline belongs to Liverpool. The Reds agreed a shock season-long loan for Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araújo, with an option to buy and a medical set for Friday. It is a statement addition for Andoni Iraola, whose back line has been thinned by injuries to Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Jérémy Jacquet. Full story: Araújo agrees Liverpool loan.
Chelsea keep spending
Chelsea pressed on with the summer’s biggest rebuild, agreeing a deal worth around £16m for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarría to replace Marc Cucurella. It caps a window in which the Blues have broken records and outspent everyone — the context is in our previous round-up.
Down the back line: Bournemouth, City and United
The defensive theme ran right through the week. Bournemouth completed the official signing of Sevilla right-back Juanlu Sánchez for a fee in the region of £11m, an attacking full-back for Rose’s side. Manchester City agreed a deal for veteran Marseille goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli to serve as understudy to Gianluigi Donnarumma. And Manchester United confirmed the arrival of 18-year-old Colombian midfielder Cristian Orozco, a long-term project bound for the Under-21s.
Still to resolve
The window’s longest-running saga rumbles on: Arsenal remain in negotiations with Newcastle over Bruno Guimarães, with the clubs still apart on the fee. With the window not closing until early September, there is plenty of business left to do.
All deals reported by reliable sources including Fabrizio Romano, Sky Sports, David Ornstein and ESPN, and covered in full across our news section. We will be back with the next round-up next Friday.