Granit Xhaka, Joan Garcia and the top 10 best-value deals of the 2025 summer transfer window

If you cast your mind back to the 2023 summer transfer window, there was a certain Spanish playmaker who dominated the gossip columns. Fresh off a breakout season with Celta Vigo during which he scored 11 goals and provided four assists, Gabri Veiga was expected to join one of Europe's big boys. Barcelona and Chelsea were among the clubs tipped with an interest, which is why it was such a surprise when he opted to move to Saudi side Al-Ahli instead.

After two seasons in the Middle East, Veiga, who is still only 23, is back in Europe after signing for Portuguese giants Porto at a snip £12m - just over £20m less that what Al-Ahli paid to Celta. With Benfica and Sporting CP dominating Liga Portugal in recent years, he's the sort of player who could help the Dragons become the dominant force in the country again.

Sure, Rayan Cherki has endured a mixed start to his Manchester City career, but let's not judge him too quickly in that direction. After all, he's the sort of flair player that will take some time adjusting to the Premier League once he returns to full fitness in the coming months.

Manchester City's rebuild saw them stump up an initial £32m to sign the French wizard from Lyon as they look to replace the genius of Kevin De Bruyne with a few players rather than like-for-like. The 22-year-old brings with him an ingenuity that has been missing in their recent plight, and his ability to strike a ball on either foot only adds to his unpredictable dribbling.

There are few Premier League players who can match Cherki when it comes to technical ability. Now, it's about whether he and Pep Guardiola can put his skill to good use.

Alright, so we just said we shouldn't overreact to a few games into a new season, but holding your own away at Liverpool in place of William Saliba is a hard ask of any centre-back, let alone one who's only 21. That's enough of a reason to think that Cristhian Mosquera represents fantastic value for money.

Amid Valencia's financial woes, Arsenal were able to muscle their way to the front of the queue and sign the versatile defender for an initial £12m. In this market, it's conceivable to make a significant profit on that even if performances don't live up to the hype.

Regardless, Mosquera was solid in La Liga last season and with his profile, it's easy to see him further adapting to the rigours of the Premier League too. Whatever you say about Arsenal and their defensive nature nowadays, you have to give it to them that they know what they're doing.

It wasn't too long ago that Pervis Estupinan was in the conversation for one of the Premier League's best left-backs. Such is the value in Brighton's trading model that they decided to move him on for young blood this summer.

The lucky team on the other end of the deal were AC Milan, who decided to accept an offer from Saudi outfit Al-Hilal for Theo Hernandez. In need of a top-quality replacement, they found Estupinan up for sale and were able to acquire him for £17m, immediately coming in as a standout left-back in Serie A.

For the first time, the Rossoneri have an Ecuadorian in their ranks, and if he can replicate his performances from the Amex Stadium at San Siro, then he will easily win over the Rossoneri faithful.

A striker worth their salt goes for absolutely loads of money. That's almost always been the case, but particularly nowadays in the age of ridiculous inflation - negotiations for Yoane Wissa starting at £25m and ending at £55m is perhaps the best example to point to here.

For Chelsea, a club cursed by their record in signing No.9s and handing them that particular shirt number, they have plenty of reasons to be optimistic that Liam Delap will be a hit. He took the Premier League by surprise last season with 12 goals for an Ipswich side that created very little on their way to relegation, and his proficiency at bringing others into the game bodes well for the Blues' assortment of wingers and attacking midfielders.

The £30m release clause in his contract was triggered once it became clear the forward favoured a move to west London, and those at Stamford Bridge will be sweating on the severity of a hamstring injury sustained in Saturday's controversial win against Fulham. Delap could do without his monstrous physicality being taken down a notch.

Ederson may not be the finest shot-stopper in the goalkeeping game, but he's absolutely perfect for what Guardiola and City want (we'll come back to this point later). It's a wonder why they're so happy to see him walk away so cheaply, even with the Catalan's policy of allowing players to leave should they so wish.

After talks with Galatasaray hit an impasse, their eternal rivals from the other side of Istanbul, Fenerbahce, swooped in to take advantage of the situation. City needed to shift Ederson to buy another goalkeeper themselves, and he himself was open to leaving the Etihad Stadium in search of a fresh challenge.

The result is the Brazil international signing for Fener for £11m. As the old rule of Soccernomics goes, you only really need one standout goalkeeper in a 25-person squad, and their ability to play late into their thirties means you can get a fair bit more out of them than outfielders. This is a fantastic deal for a side who sacked Jose Mourinho two weeks into their domestic season.

You'd forgive Premier League fans for forgetting about the existence of Nuno Tavares, the once-promising Arsenal youngster who Mikel Arteta screamed at during their Amazon Prime documentary. He spent last season on loan at Lazio, which would have turned into an obligation to buy under certain circumstances. Those aren't disclosed, but they were met nonetheless.

The capital club must have been laughing their socks off at the Stadio Olimpico. After a fantastic debut season in Italy which saw him muscle his way into the Portugal national team setup, Tavares was signed permanently for a mere £4m. Four million pounds. In this economy.

It's a deal that Arsenal will try to forget about having left so much money left on the table, but one that Lazio should be patting themselves on the back a thousand times over for.

There's a very real chance that Gianluigi Donnarumma's time at City is undone by his inability to play the Guardiola way, but on the face of things in September 2025, this is a remarkable piece of business from a club who haven't been afraid to spend vast sums when they deem it necessary.

Donnarumma was one of Paris Saint-Germain's top performers on their way to Champions League glory last season, coming up with some mightily important saves in order to make sure their brilliance on the ball didn't go to waste. Yet he has been cast aside by Luis Enrique, who fought hard to bring in Lille's Lucas Chevalier as the Italian's replacement.

In spite of his technical deficiencies, Donnarumma is both a commanding presence and a leader, bringing two intangibles that City sorely lack amid this rebuild in the post-De Bruyne era. At £30m, it's hard to knock the deal right now.

Joan Garcia's remarkable rise is showing little sign of stopping. He went into the 2023-24 season on Espanyol's bench in the Spanish second tier with little prospect of ever getting a game, and to that point of his career had only played eight senior games in total. Fast-forward to the present day and he's being heralded as Barcelona's best piece of business in a long while.

Garcia won the Espanyol starting spot during their promotion campaign before quickly announcing himself as more than merely a flash in the plan, solidifying his status as one of La Liga's very best goalkeepers. Even with club captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen refusing to leave, Barca still thought it was a worthwhile use of their scarce resources to poach Garcia from their city rivals.

A Spain call-up can't be far away, especially after he saved Barcelona's skin in a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on the eve of the international break. All the noises out of La Liga suggest he will soon be recognised on a global scale.

The Premier League really is the real-life super league, isn't it? In what other country could a newly-promoted team so easily convince a crucial player from a recent title winner to join and be the face of their project?

Granit Xhaka's renaissance is a story to behold. He was nearly forced out of Arsenal in 2019 after clashing with fans, which saw him stripped of the captaincy as the club was plunged into crisis. Over the next four years, he rebuilt his reputation as one of the division's outstanding midfielders, shaking off his reputation as a liability. At the peak of his powers, the Swiss midfielder opted to return to the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, where he again took his game to another level under Xabi Alonso, helping them win their first-ever title as well as a DFB-Pokal in an unbeaten domestic season.

Though Leverkusen failed to retain either of their crowns in 2024-25, Xhaka was still one of the better midfielders in Germany as they finished runners-up to Bayern Munich. That's why it seemed nonsensical when links to Sunderland, promoted back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs, arose.

The Black Cats, who have strengthened their squad immeasurably this window, signed Xhaka for £12m. He brings a wealth of experience, leadership and elite-level quality. It's by a large margin the best-value deal of the summer.