Transfer windows with the greatest immediate and transformational impact

[SinNombre]

I was listening to the Bilic interview and I have to admit that Klopp's 2018 summer window is one of the greatest ever in terms of immediate impact.

Liverpool bought Alisson, van Dijk and Fabinho after a season where they finished 4th and comfortably behind Jose's United, leave aside City.

2017-18 Liverpool : -5 xPts (they underperformed expected points)
2018-19 Liverpool : +15 xPts
2019-20 Liverpool : + 25 xPts (highest ever of any team)

Liverpool went from a team that dropped points in games they shouldn't have, to a team that habitually won games they were outplayed in.


From a United perspective, 2006 when we bought Carrick and sold RvN is surely in with a shout.

We went from a dysfunctional midfield to one of the best in Europe overnight, and also freed up Ronaldo and Rooney as wide forwards.


Cheating a bit, 1993 with Cantona and Keane would be a contender as well. Team needed leadership and belief, and goals from midfield and Cantona (and later Keane) provided that.


Any others I missed?

RM when they bought Ronaldo, Kaka doesn't count. There was no immediate transformation and that process took a few more cycles to have a significant impact.

 

[Invictus]

A fairly obvious nomination is Juventus — when the club sacked Delneri to appoint Conte, and signed, among others, Pirlo on a free transfer (architect of the team), Vidal from Leverkusen (engine of the team) and Lichtsteiner from Lazio (multi-purpose operator).

Before and after from 2010/11 to 2011/12:

From 7th to campioni with +26 for points, +11 for goals scored and -27 for goals conceded to complete the resurrection of the club in the post-Calciopoli era and establish one of the most abiding league dynasties of the post-modern era. They had a decent base in situ (including the quartet of Buffon-Chiellini-Bonucci-Barzagli) but Conte's work and the signing of those players pushed them over the edge, and the future addition of the likes of Tévez and Pogba helped them set even more formidable benchmarks.

 

[United58]

@SinNombre van Dijk was January, but completely agree it's arguably the best ever.

I think Inter Milan's 2009 summer window wins though - signing Motta, Sneijder, Eto'o, Milito and Lúcio while selling Ibra for an insane fee. Went on to win the treble.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/inter-mailand/transfers/verein/46/saison_id/2009

 

[Yagami]

I've been on a Diego Ribas binge lately, and probably my favourite period of his career was his 2011/12 season on loan at Atletico Madrid. I always found it an incredible shame that Atletico couldn't make the move permanent because of a lack of funds, but I digress.

Anyway, this is about Atletico rather than Diego himself. After watching some games from that season I looked up their transfer history, and couldn't believe the amount of great buys they had in this one window. The same window in which we signed de Gea and Aguero left for City.

Courtois, Miranda, Tiago, Gabi, Diego, Turan, Adrian and Falcao.

So, they signed two players for their defence in Courtois and Miranda that would go on to form a great backline for years alongside Godin, Juanfran and Filipe Luis.

Then they signed two of their three first choice central midfielders that would provide the base of said midfield for years in Gabi and Tiago to go alongside Mario Suarez.

And finally, the fantastic four:

This foursome, all bought in one window, provided some of the most entertaining link-up play I've seen. Falcao would usually remain as the 9, but, behind him, Diego, Arda Turan and Adrian would all interchange. When watching them, you could evidently see a square shape when in possession, with Juanfran and Luis providing support and width.

The one problem they had was depth. When Falcao wasn't available, or having an off day, they didn't have someone capable of filling in for him. Adrian in terms of general play was good, but he wasn't a consistent goal threat. Plus, when he had to fill in at CF, there was another noticeable drop off with his replacement in the AM position. They started fixing that the following season when they brought back Diego Costa from his loan.

 

[rimaldo]

united summer 2023. went from a team on the cusp of being back, to mid-table chokers.

 

[Yagami]

united summer 2023. went from a team on the cusp of being back, to mid-table chokers.

We do that a lot, to be fair. Whenever we have the least bit promising season, we follow it up with a terrible transfer window.

I'd say van Gaal's first season was promising. Especially the last bit with that mini run. Then our following transfer window didn't build on what van Gaal was trying to build. It was so bad we ended up having to promote what felt like every youngster we had in the academy!

José's first season was his best. Three trophies, and our football was the best it was under him. I remember a compilation of Pogba passes that should've been assists. He was creating for fun that season. Especially for Zlatan. Then, again, we didn't build on that, José imploded around the Sevilla games, and really should've been sacked that season.

Ole was a bit different. We built a bit on his first season, finishing 2nd and runner up to the Europa league. Then, we signed to over the hill players in Ronaldo and Varane, and an overrated kid in Sancho and imploded.

It's the same again here. EtH has a promising season, we then have a horrendous transfer window which fails to build on what he was trying to achieve, and we've imploded yet again. I mean, what even is this Mount transfer.

Anyway, we're off topic. That Atletico Madrid transfer window, though!

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

I was listening to the Bilic interview and I have to admit that Klopp's 2018 summer window is one of the greatest ever in terms of immediate impact.

Liverpool bought Alisson, van Dijk and Fabinho after a season where they finished 4th and comfortably behind Jose's United, leave aside City.

2017-18 Liverpool : -5 xPts (they underperformed expected points)
2018-19 Liverpool : +15 xPts
2019-20 Liverpool : + 25 xPts (highest ever of any team)

van Dijk wasn't bought that summer. He was bought in January 2018.

Also xPts is complete garbage. It doesn't actually mean anything. You can just use their actual point tally.

RM when they bought Ronaldo, Kaka doesn't count. There was no immediate transformation and that process took a few more cycles to have a significant impact.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here.

Real Madrid went from a 78 point league finish to a 96 point league finish (without winning the title) after signing those players.
Liverpool went from a 75 point league finish to a 97 point league finish (without winning the title) after signing those players.

It's practically the same shift.