The 10 best transfers of the season in Europe

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 14 May 2024 12:31 BST
• 5 min read

The 2023-24 season is now into its final fortnight, with four of the five major European leagues settled.

The Premier League title race, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League have their final showdowns still to come.

But which transfers from the summer of 2023 have stood out most?

READ MORE: Premier League summer transfers 2024: All the Done Deals

Cole Palmer – €47m, Manchester City to Chelsea

Todd Boehly’s spending has come under massive scrutiny since his 2022 but Chelsea’s purchase of Cole Palmer from Manchester City has proven to be a bargain, with the 22-year-old proving to be a revelation this season.

Although the €47m fee raised eyebrows at the time, the attacking midfielder has provided a stunning 21 goals and ten assists this year, leading to his first England caps and a nomination for the Premier League Player of the Season award.

READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2023/24: Who is Europe’s leading striker?

Declan Rice – €116m, West Ham to Arsenal

Another summer signing in the running for the Player of the Season award is Declan Rice, with the Arsenal midfielder taking his game to a new level since his big money move from West Ham.

Rice’s €116m transfer was the biggest buy in Premier League history before Moises Caicedo’s move to Chelsea later in the summer but the England international has been worth every penny with his seven goals and nine assists this season helping Arsenal push for the title.

Jude Bellingham – €103m, Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham has enjoyed a sensational first season at Real Madrid following his €103 million move from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

His first half of the season was barely believable as he hit 17 goals in his first 20 games and while he has dipped a touch in the second half of the campaign he has proved to be a colossus for the Blancos.

Bellingham’s performances have helped lead Madrid to the league title and to the final of the Champions League.

He is a Ballon d’Or contender for 2024.

Artem Dovbyk - €7m, Dnipro to Girona

Together with Bologna in Italy, Girona have been one of the great romantic stories in European football as they qualified for the Champions League.

Artem Dovbyk has been one of the stars of not only Girona’s season but of the whole La Liga season.

He is the top scorer in La Liga with 20 goals and has also contributed an impressive seven assists.

Yann Sommer - €6.75m, Bayern Munich to Inter

When Inter sold Andre Onana to Man Utd last summer and replaced him with a 34-year-old Yann Sommer the overwhelming consensus was that Inter had massively downgraded.

After all, Onana had been arguably the best goalkeeper in the Champions League last season, keeping the most clean sheets in the competition as Inter reached the final.

READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2023/24: Who is Europe’s leading striker?

However, the opposite has been true. Sommer has been the best goalkeeper in Serie A, keeping more clean sheets than anyone else in Europe’s top leagues. Inter cruised to the Scudetto, while Onana has been a big disappointment for a Man Utd side who have had a disastrous campaign.

Sommer cost €6.75 million, while Onana was sold for close to €60m. Great business from Inter.

Riccardo Calafiori - €4m, Basel to Bologna

Bologna have been the fairytale story of the 2023-24 Serie A season.

The provincial side, coached by Thiago Motta, are set for a shock Champions League finish.

While the likes of Joshua Zirkzee and Lewis Ferguson have earned most of the plaudits in the attack, Calafiori has been equally important at the back.

Converted from a left back into a centre back, Calafiori has been a tower of force and is now knocking on the door of an Italy national team call-up.

Christian Pulisic - €22m, Chelsea to Milan

Christian Pulisic lost his way at Chelsea in his last seasons, and he jumped at the chance to resurrect his career at Milan.

He has well and truly done that, forming an exciting attacking line-up together with Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud.

Pulisic has been the highest scoring midfielder in open play in Serie A, with 12 goals - none of them from the penalty spot.

His next step is to bring these performances into the Champions League and against the very best teams.

Harry Kane - €95m, Tottenham to Bayern Munich

The Harry Kane curse goes on. Despite joining a team who had won 11 Bundesliga titles in a row, Kane still hasn’t won a trophy in his career.

Bayern finished behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and were knocked out of the DFB Pokal and Champions League.

But individually Kane has had a brilliant first season at Bayern, scoring 44 goals in 45 games in all competitions.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Free Transfer, Chelsea to Marseille

The 2023-24 season has not been a great one for Ligue 1 transfers but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been one of the exceptions to this.

The Gabon striker returned to Ligue 1 last summer on a free transfer and has enjoyed a goal-filled season with 29 goals in all competitions.

He top scored in the Europa League with 12 goals as Marseille reached the semi-finals.

Viktor Gyokeres – €24m, Coventry to Sporting Lisbon

Viktor Gyokeres has been a revelation ever since joining Sporting Lisbon from Coventry for €20 million plus €4m in bonuses last summer.

He has a sensational 41 goals in 47 games in all competitions to lead Sporting to the league title.

His 27 league goals means he is certain to finish the season as Primeira Liga top scorer.