From Chelsea's insane spending to PSG's perfect summer: Grading the transfer window for Europe's biggest clubs

Pure madness. Manchester United disproved the notion that you can't win anything with kids many, many years ago - but people often forget that Sir Alex Ferguson already had a solid base in place when he blooded 'The Class of '92'. Chelsea have no such foundation.

They signed potential stars of the future but they need success now in order to cover the cost of their historic expenditure. Chelsea have overpaid for nearly every single player they've signed, and while they should come good if Mauricio Pochettino is given time to develop the likes of Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer, there are no guarantees on that front, as Graham Potter learned earlier this year.

However, the most worrying thing is that despite another record-breaking window, which has taken the new owners' total outlay to more than a £1 billion (£860m/$1.1bn) since taking over, Chelsea still look at least four world-class players short of a title challenge - as Saturday's home loss to Nottingham Forest hammered home. It's often said that Todd Boehly & Co don't have a plan, but they do. It just doesn't appear to be a very good one. Grade: D-

Financial irregularities have hit Juventus hard. The Old Lady would have finished fourth in Serie A last season had they not been hit with a 10-point penalty deduction, and then they had their Conference League place taken away by UEFA.

So, after such a chaotic and costly campaign, it was unsurprising to see very little transfer activity in Turin. Indeed, Timothy Weah was the only new arrival, with the American replacing veteran wing-back Juan Cuadrado.

Leandro Paredes, Angel Di Maria and Leonardo Bonucci also left on free transfers, severely reducing the wage bill as Juve are forced to put their faith in youth, while the fans are ecstatic that a player-plus-cash deal involving Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku collapsed, meaning the Serbian could yet form a formidable partnership with fully-fit-again Federico Chiesa. Grade: D

Atletico Madrid didn't hang about when it came to getting some defensive reinforcements through the door, with Cesar Azpilicueta among four players to arrive during the first week of the window.

However, Diego Simeone made no secret of his desire to bring in another midfielder this summer, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sofyan Amrabat among those heavily linked with the Rojiblancos, but not one arrived.

Joao Felix's loan move to Barcelona removes an unwanted welcome distraction for at least a season, while Atleti have shown during the early rounds of the new campaign that they look more than capable of building on a tremendous second half of last season, but the fear is that they won't have sufficient strength in depth to sustain a title challenge. Grade: D+

This negative appraisal isn't a knee-jerk reaction to Sunday's loss at Arsenal; we called it after the transfer window closed - Manchester United are no stronger than they were last season despite investing nearly £200m in new players.

Rasmus Hojlund could yet develop into the prolific No.9 the club is so sorely lacking, Sofyan Amrabat should help solidify the midfield once he's eligible to play, while Andre Onana is already showcasing his fantastic array of passing. But there are a lot of question marks surrounding these signings.

Furthermore, it already looks like the money spent on Mason Mount should have been put towards a world-class centre-back. The fact that United finished the game against Arsenal with both Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans on the field tells you everything you need to know about United's worrying lack of strength in depth in defence. Grade: C-

It's been a tough few months for Borussia Dortmund and their supporters. Blowing the Bundesliga title on the final day of last season was devastating - as was the loss of Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid for just €103m (£88m/$111m). It's good money, of course, but a relatively poor price when one considers what the likes of Chelsea and the Saudi Pro League clubs are paying for lesser talents. Seeing Raphael Guerreiro join Bayern Munich on a free transfer also hit the fans hard.

Still, Dortmund are excellent at identifying new stars and Felix Nmecha is an exciting signing, while Marcel Sabitzer and Niclas Fullkrug don't lack for experience. However, they arguably haven't done quite enough to finally break Bayern's stranglehold on the Bundesliga title, or get out of their terribly intimidating Champions League group.Grade: C

Champions League finalists just three months ago - and yet it's very difficult to see Inter going as deep this season, even if the group-stage draw was relatively kind to Simone Inzaghi's side.

Indeed, despite their surprise, money-spinning run to Istanbul, Inter were once again forced to sell a key player because of their ongoing financial issues, with Andre Onana departing for Manchester United. Yann Sommer has been brought in from Bayern Munich, but is nowhere near as comfortable or influential with the ball at his feet.

Marcelo Brozovic had form and fitness issues last season but he will be sorely missed in midfield, even if David Frattesi is an exciting and dynamic addition from Sassuolo. Benjamin Pavard will help shore up the defence, but there's no denying that losing Milan Skriniar for nothing is a hammer blow.

Inter are arguably better off without Romelu Lukaku, who is grossly unreliable in every sense, particularly with Marcus Thuram already starting to click with Lautaro Martinez, but seeing thirty-somethings like Alexis Sanchez and Marko Arnautovic return to San Siro rather sums up Inter's budgetary restrictions. Grade: C+

Toni Kroos was right to point out that spending €100m (£86m/$108m) on a player is no guarantee of quality. However, Jude Bellingham is a truly special talent. We knew that even before he rocked up at Santiago Bernabeu this summer. The England international has been so good, though, that he's already looking like a bargain.

However, the worry is that Madrid are relying far too heavily on the midfielder for goals. They did sign a striker this summer, of course, but Joselu is 33 and cannot be considered anything other than a decent reserve.

Karim Benzema's decision to turn down a new contract obviously took everyone at the club completely by surprise, but the Frenchman did at least leave Florentino Perez with plenty of time to find a replacement. And yet no proven goalscorer arrived in the Spanish capital before the window closed.

Maybe Perez knows something we don't know; maybe Kylian Mbappe is going to arrive next summer - but even if that's the case, Madrid are quite clearly lacking in quality up front right now, particularly with Vinicius Junior currently sidelined through injury.

Madrid have taken a big gamble and they'll need Bellingham's help to ensure that it doesn't backfire badly. Grade: C+

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis successfully priced every member of Europe's elite out of a move for Victor Osimhen, while rumours of Saudi Arabian interest fortunately came to nothing. There weren't any concrete bids for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia either, meaning the Serie A champions have retained the services of the two most exciting attacking talents in Italy.

However, Napoli's defence has been severely weakened by the loss of Kim Min-Jae to Bayern Munich - and for just €50m because of the release clause in the South Korean's contract. In addition, a deal for the hugely exciting Gabri Veiga collapsed because of the young Spaniard's "embarrassing" decision to move to Al-Ahli, meaning Napoli had to snap up Jesper Lindstom instead.

However, the most worrying development from the fans' perspective is the loss of Luciano Spalletti, the tactical genius behind last season's historic and thrilling title triumph. The new Italy boss left the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after falling out with De Laurentiis and Rudi Garcia - last seen being sacked by Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr - is a distinctly underwhelming replacement. Grade: B-

Well, Mikel Arteta can't say the club didn't back him in the transfer market - and while West Ham took Arsenal to the cleaners over Declan Rice, he is already looking like an excellent addition to the midfield, the kind of dynamic and versatile player they lacked during last season's demoralising title run-in.

The problem, though, is Jurrien Timber, who was so impressive in his first couple of outings, could miss the entire season through injury, while Kai Havertz is looking as pointless a signing as everyone - bar maybe Arteta and Edu - immediately feared.

All things considered, Arsenal are still looking short on quality replacements in key areas. Grade: B-

It was all going so well, and then Bayern had a disastrous deadline day. The Bavarians' two main goals going into the window were to strengthen the defence and belatedly bring in a replacement for Robert Lewandowski. It was mission accomplished in that regard, with Kim Min-jae arriving from Napoli for a bargain €50m fee after a stellar season in Serie A, and Harry Kane signed from Tottenham

However, the decision to let Ryan Gravenberch leave for Liverpool backfired as Bayern failed to complete a deal with Fulham for Joao Palhinha, meaning Thomas Tuchel is worryingly short in the middle of the park. The defence is also a cause for concern, as the void left by Benjamin Pavard, who joined Inter just before the close of the window, was not filled either.

Bayern undeniably have a starting line-up capable of winning the Champions League, but the fear now is that their bid could be undone by a lack of strength in depth. Grade: B

Barcelona's summer was far from perfect. They were absolutely shafted by Ousmane Dembele, who absconded for Paris Saint-Germain a year after signing a new contract at Camp Nou, while they ended up having to replace club legend Sergio Busquets with Oriol Romeu - which tells you everything you need to know about the Catalans' ongoing financial issues.

However, you simply have to hand it to Joan Laporta and new sporting director Deco for pulling off the impressive feat of balancing books while strengthening a squad. Despite only spending around €10m, they've managed to bring in Ilkay Gundogan, Inigo Martinez (both free), Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix (both loans) to add a mix of quality and depth to Xavi's Spanish champions.

Again, not all of those players are sure to succeed, but given Barca's budgetary constraints, they've dealt wonderfully well with this window. Grade: B+

There's no denying that Manchester City have lost a couple of key contributors to their success over the past few years, chief among them Ilkay Gundogan. A serious injury to Kevin De Bruyne also came as a devastating blow, given the Belgian is irreplaceable.

However, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes could both prove more successful at the Etihad than the previous clubs, while Jeremy Doku has the pace and skill to take the Premier League by storm. In addition, Josko Gvardiol looks like the perfect Pep Guardiola centre-back.

The absolute best thing about City's window, though, is the fact that three quarters of their outlay has been covered by the sale of players that were surplus to requirements, including youth academy player Cole Palmer, who fetched a staggering £42m ($53m). Grade: B+

All's well that ends well, as far as Liverpool are concerned. The Reds hit the ground running, making two excellent early additions to the squad in the shape of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, but their attempts to completely overhaul their midfield came to a grinding - and embarrassing - halt. Liverpool didn't just lose one defensive midfield target to Chelsea; they lost two, with both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia bizarrely choosing to move to Stamford Bridge instead of Anfield.

Liverpool responded well, though, picking up Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo and then clinching a deal for Ryan Gravenberch on deadline day. The failure to secure another centre-back could well come back to haunt a team that have been burned before by a lack of numbers in defence, but Jurgen Klopp's primary objective was overhauling his midfield this summer - and that's exactly what he's done.

So, if Liverpool now manage to hold onto Mohamed Salah until after the Saudi Pro League window shuts (it seems highly unlikely they'll sell at this stage, given they wouldn't be able to sign a replacement), they'll be very happy with their business. Grade: A-

The alarm bells were ringing at San Siro after the disgracefully handled dismissal of club legend Paolo Maldini, which was promptly followed by the shock sale of potential future captain Sandro Tonali to Newcastle.

However, the American owners' daring approach to player recruitment is paying early dividends, with Milan having won their first three games of the new Serie A season, with 'Moneyball' signings Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders impressing.

Unsurprisingly, Christian Pulisic is looking looking like a man reborn after leaving behind the chaos at Stamford Bridge, with the United States star thriving alongside veteran attacker Olivier Giroud and the Rossoneri's star man, Rafael Leao, who signed a new contract in June - which was arguably the club's most significant deal of the summer.

Consequently, anxiety has given way to anticipation at San Siro, but the Milan derby after the international break will tell us much about whether Stefano Pioli's squad can reclaim the Scudetto - and escape from the Champions League's 'Group of Death'. Grade: A

For a long, long time, this looked like it was going to be the summer that Kylian Mbappe finally left Paris Saint-Germain. His relationship with the club appeared to have completely broken down. And yet there we are, with the window closed and Mbappe banging in the goals for arguably the strongest squad of the Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) era.

Indeed, for once, PSG have shunned superstar signings, opting instead to strengthen their midfield and defence with sensible signings such as Manuel Ugarte and Milan Skriniar. They also managed to get a deal for Randal Kolo Muani over the line at the very last minute.

Did they overpay for the France international? Definitely, and it was a similar story with Goncalo Ramos, but let's face it, the summer was all about keeping Mbappe happy and he should enjoy lining up alongside compatriots Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele, and having a proper No.9 to play off in Ramos.

Throw in the fact that Marco Asensio has already made a promising start to his Parc des Princes career and one can begin to understand why the fans have already forgotten about Neymar and Lionel Messi - who, rightly or wrongly, came to symbolise QSI's previously flawed recruitment strategy. A summer of discontent has turned out pretty perfectly for PSG. Grade: A+