Aubameyang, Antony and the transfer deadline day XI

FT Desk

2 Sept 2022 05:00 BST
3 min read

The summer 2022 transfer window has slammed shut. Is this the best combined XI possible of players who have moved on deadline day?

Antony is the most expensive of the bunch, the Brazil winger completing his €99 million transfer from Ajax to Manchester United after a protracted battle with his former employers.

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He is joined in a mouth-watering final third by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Amine Gouri. Former Arsenal captain Aubameyang is back in English football after a fruitful six months in Barcelona in which he scored 13 times in all competitions. Chelsea have paid €14 million with Marcos Alonso moving the other way.

Gouiri was reportedly a target of Real Madrid with the European champions cognisant of needing a long-term replacement for Karim Benzema. For now, the French youth international stays in France, joining Rennes from Nice.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the line in a deadline day XI! — © ProShots

Liverpool have been in need of a midfielder with Thiago, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlad-Chamberlain all injured. They have one now in the shape of Arthur Melo, who has joined on loan from Juventus with an option to make the deal permanent next summer for €37.5m.

While Arthur's departure lightens Juventus's midfield, Leandro Paredes's arrival give it some much-neede weight. The Argentina international is, like Arhur, on loan for the season - in his case from French champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Who's the maths genius?

At the back, Manuel Akanji made perhaps the most surprising transfer of the selection. Frozen out at Borussia Dortmund after the arrival of Germany international centre-backs Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck, he went and signed for English champions Manchester City in a €17.4m deal that Pep Guardiola will be hoping proves a snip.

The team is backstopped by Martin Dubravka, who swapped the world's richest club for its most valuable in moving down the road from Newcastle to Man Utd. On a season-long loan, will he remain David de Gea's understudy?

PSG feature prominently, with Abdou Diallo and Layvin Kurzawa leaving for RB Leipzig and Fulham respectively, while Benfica-bound Julian Draxler only narrowly missed the cut.

On the opposite flank from Kurzawa is Serginio Dest, who has joined AC Milan from Barcelona on loan with an option to buy. No swap deal with Man Utd for Aaron Wan-Bissaka after all...