The week in transfers – July 18-24

It’s time for another installment of Sports Pundit’s weekly transfer update with a number of top European clubs making moves for quality players this week.

English Premier League

It hasn’t been the busiest week of transfer activity in England, although big-spending Manchester City have been downsizing with a few sales. Irish goalkeeper Shay Given has been sold to Aston Villa, who already lost stopper Brad Friedel during the off-season. The Sky Blues have also offloaded Brazilian striker Jo to Internacional.

Fulham have added to their squad with a pair of youngsters in exciting Swiss teenage midfielder Pajtim Kasami from Palermo, while they’ve also secured 23-year-old Czech midfielder Marcel Gecov. Meanwhile, John Pantsil have signed with Leicester on a free after spending the last few years at Craven Cottage.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have loaned out Brazilian midfielder Denilson back to his homeland to join Sao Paulo. Elsewhere, Matthew Taylor has left Bolton to join relegated West Ham United. Newly-promoted QPR have moved to sign West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon on a free transfer.

Other moves:

Chris Mavinga > Liverpool > Stade Rennes - Undisclosed

Paul-Jose M’Poka > Tottenham > Standard Liege – Undisclosed

Kyle Naughton > Tottenham > Norwich City - Loan

Bongani Khumalo > Tottenham > Reading - Loan

Filip Kiss > Slovan Bratislava > Cardiff City – Loan

Spanish La Liga

Finally the move has been made and Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez has left Udinese to FC Barcelona for a fee of €37.5m. It was a drawn-out transfer saga but it’s now been settled. Heading to Italy from Barcelona is young striker Bojan Krkic who has joined AS Roma for €12m. Youngster Oriol Romeu has also left Barca to Chelsea for €5.1m.

There’s been more money moving around at Malaga, with the club completing a €23m swoop for Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla from Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine has signed Javier Camunas from Osasuna for €2.3m. Spain’s Joan Capdevila has also left Villarreal joining Benfica on a free transfer.

In another big money move, Sevilla have sold 23-year-old Spanish winger Diego Capel to Portuguese outfit Sporting Lisbon for €4m. Young defender Jose Angel has completed his switch from Gijon to Luis Enrique’s AS Roma for €4.5m.

Spanish youth international striker Adrian Lopez has left relegated Deportivo Coruna to join Atletico Madrid on a free transfer. Atletico, who lost David De Gea earlier this summer, has signed Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois on loan.

Other moves:

Kabiru Akinsola > Granada > Cadiz – Loan

Carlos Aranda > Osasuna > Levante - Free

Odion Ighalo > Udinese > Granada - Loan

Nacho Gonzalez > Valencia > Standard Liege - Free

Chico > Genoa > Real Mallorca – Loan

Noe Pamarot > Hercules > Granada – Free

Cristiano Pereira > Braga > Valencia - Free

Italian Serie A

AS Roma have continued their busy off-season, with Luis Enrique securing Bojan Krkic and Jose Angel from Spain, while he’s also acquired Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze on a free transfer from Olympique Marseille.

Meanwhile there’s some movement with teenager Keko joining Catania from Atletico Madrid, while Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes has left Juventus on a free transfer to join Atletico Madrid.

Udinese have lost star attacker Alexis Sanchez to FC Barcelona as expected, while following him out the exit door was Antonio Candreva who has joined Cesena on loan. Roberto Guana has also joined Cesena, moving from Palermo on a free transfer.

Honduras striker David Suazo has agreed to a deal with Cagliari, meaning he has left Inter Milan for an undisclosed fee, while Andrea Lazzari has left Cagliari to join Fiorentina. Robert Acquafresca has completed a loan switch from Genoa to Bologna.

Other top clubs

In Germany, Werder Bremen completed a deal for Greek full-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos who joined from Italian club Genoa, while Borussia Moenchengladbach bolstered their forward options with the acquisition of Japanese striker Yuki Otsu from Kashiwa Reysol.

In France, defender Laurent Bonnart left Monaco to join champions Lille and it’s likely he’ll replace Ederson who looks set to move to Portuguese club Benfica.

In Portugal, it’s been a busy week for FC Porto with the signings of Brazilian midfield prospect Danilo for €13m from Santos. They’ve also added Santos left-back Alex Sandro for €9.6m. Sporting Lisbon also signed Diego Capel from Sevilla, while Benfica secured Joan Capdevila from Villarreal.

In Greece, Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen agreed to a deal to join AEK Athens, while Quincy Owusu-Abeyie penned a deal to join Panathinaikos on loan. Spanish midfielder Francisco Yeste looks set to join Olympiakos from UAE club Al Wasl.