In the news-hungry world of modern football, transfers - whether fanciful or fully formed - are gold. It can feel as though some fans spend the long stretches between the official transfer windows impatiently wading through matches before the relentless sequence of buying and selling begins once again.

While the Premier League's summer transfer window opened as early as 14th June, most European leagues have to wait until 1st July to complete any deals in which money exchanges hands. But that hasn't stopped some well-prepared clubs from lining up moves to trim their squad.

Prodigious teenagers, legendary veterans and every type of professional in between have been involved in the churn of personnel this summer. Here's a closer look at each and every deal between clubs from Europe's top leagues during the 2024 window.

June 28

Ian Maatsen started the summer wracked by devastation. After losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid, a game in which he gifted the Spanish giants their second goal, Borussia Dortmund's Chelsea loanee was left out of Ronald Koeman's Netherlands squad for Euro 2024. Before the end of June, Maatsen had earned a spot on the Dutch roster, replacing the injured Frenkie de Jong, and was the subject of a £37.5m move to Aston Villa.

Hakim Ziyech is all too aware of how quickly things can change in football - particularly at Chelsea. The Moroccan playmaker had a deadline day move to Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023 fall through due to an administrative error. Ziyech eventually secured a loan to Galatasaray and will permanently join the Turkish champions this summer.

June 27

Five years after scoring fewer goals for Newcastle United than Ciaran Clark, two years on from watching Real Madrid as a fan in the stands and 12 months after suffering a second consecutive relegation, Joselu fired his boyhood club to the La Liga and Champions League titles. "My dreams are not as beautiful as today has been," he gushed after Madrid's triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.

Real Madrid made Joselu's loan move from Espanyol permanent on 27th June, exercising a £1.3m release clause in his contract. One short day later, the 34-year-old striker was sold to Qatari side Al-Gharafa for the same fee.

June 26

Despite acting as the goalkeeper for a Sheffield United side which broke the record for the most goals conceded in a single Premier League season, Wes Foderingham managed to stay in the division after securing a move to West Ham United once his contract with the Blades ended in June. The beleaguered shot-stopper didn't have much protection, facing an average of almost seven shots on target per game last term.

If Foderingham's move was a surprise, Bayer Leverkusen's capture of Andrea Natali promises to be a coup. The highly rated 16-year-old Italian centre-back was lured away from Barcelona to the Bundesliga champions after contract discussions stalled. Barcelona's financial offer for Natali was, in the words of his agent Vincenzo Raiola, "very, very far from what many teams in Europe proposed".

June 25

As Toni Kroos was afforded a grand farewell from Real Madrid, Nacho Fernandez watched on in envy. The club captain hadn't yet finalised his move to Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League and so couldn't officially confirm his departure. "I would have loved to say goodbye to the Bernabeu like Kroos had," Nacho later sighed.

Plans are in the works for an understated farewell at Madrid's training ground, which is more befitting the career of a long-serving academy graduate who was never considered to be an undisputed first-choice option at the club. But that perennial status as a reliable utility player didn't stop Nacho from lauding his own career. "I consider myself one of the best," the defender claimed. "I give myself a 10."

June 24

Jack Harrison wasn't short of reasons for extending his loan spell at Everton this summer. "I think the club in general," the Leeds United winger explained, "the fans, the staff, the manager, my teammates." Everton's delicate financial position is one glaring explanation as to why the Toffees haven't made the move for Harrison permanent.

Romain Perraud hasn't played for Southampton since they suffered the cruel fate of relegation in the summer of 2023 and won't reap the rewards of the club's return to England's top flight this year. After an underwhelming loan spell at Nice, the French left-back only started two league games for the side with the best defence in Ligue 1, Perraud has moved to Real Betis in a £3m deal.

June 23

​​​​​​​One day after Everton spent £9m on Aston Villa's Tim Iroegbunam, the Midlands club returned the favour by coughing up £10m for one of the Toffees' scarcely used academy products. Lewis Dobbin was the subject of this particular example of creative accounting. Unlike Iroegbunam, Dobbin did manage to have an impact on the past campaign, emerging off the bench to double Everton's lead in a spirited 2-0 victory over Chelsea in December.

Sean Dyche seemed to be more enamoured with the "very authentic manner" of Dobbin's celebration, which did not include any "silly dances". If Iroegbunam does get a goal at Goodison Park, he would be best advised to choose his next move very carefully.

June 22

Despite being in such dire financial straits that they were deducted eight points for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, Everton were able to fund a £9m ​​​​​​​move for Aston Villa's Tim Iroegbunam. Part of the same talented generation which produced Chelsea's Carney Chukwuemeka, Iroegbunam was limited to just one Premier League start during the 2023/24 campaign. As a homegrown player, the deal represents 'pure profit' for Villa.

This was the first of numerous exchanges of academy graduates between English clubs trying to balance their books ahead of 30th June - the end of the financial year. Arsenal didn't demand a fee when they let long-serving goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo make his loan move to Wrexham permanent.

June 21

Marseille's all-time record signing Vitinha - the Portuguese striker rather than Paris Saint-Germain’s creative midfielder - never settled in the south of France. Responsible for just six goals in 43 appearances, Vitinha was offloaded to Genoa in January. Despite an injury-riddled six months which only produced two goals, the Serie A side made that deal permanent in June. Marseille lost half of their £27m investment on Vitinha in 18 underwhelming months.

Built in the same mould as Germany’s Euro 2024 striker Niclas Fullkrug, Tim Kleindienst scored as many Bundesliga goals last season for newly promoted Heidenheim as the Borussia Dortmund forward (12). Borussia Monchengladbach only boasted one double-digit scorer last term and so secured Kleindienst’s services in the off-season.

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June 20

Rober Gonzalez’s loan spell in the Eredivisie with NEC Nijmegen didn’t get off to the best start, to say the least. The Real Betis academy product came on for the final 25 minutes in the opening home game of the season while his new employers led Excelsior 3-2. Gonzalez watched on as the visitors scored twice to steal three points.

A sticky period of adaptation gave way to a windfall in the second half of the season. When NEC travelled to the home of Dutch giants Ajax, it was Gonzalez who scored a 95th-minute equaliser to secure a famous 2-2 draw. The Spaniard’s tally of 10 goals helped NEC climb up to sixth place, the club’s highest league finish in more than two decades. Despite reports of some reticence from Gonzalez, NEC made his loan deal permanent in June.

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June 19

​​​​​​​Never let it be said that Luca Waldschmidt is not a trier. The slight German forward promised to "give 111%" to his new employers, FC Koln. A former senior international, who was tipped to have a big future after excelling for Freiburg shortly before the pandemic, never lived up to the £12.7m fee which Benfica coughed up in 2020. Injuries have plagued Waldschmidt since he returned to Germany with Wolfsburg and now the 28-year-old has been forced to drop into the second tier to help Koln return to the Bundesliga. Bayer Leverkusen’s promising teenager Noah Mbamba is also preparing for a campaign in 2. Bundesliga, but has only signed for Fortuna Dusseldorf on loan.

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June 18

AC Milan and Stuttgart, runners-up in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively, quickly secured loan deals for a pair of promising youngsters. While Marko Lazetic will hone his craft in Serbia with FK TSC, Stuttgart's teenage midfielder Laurin Ulrich heads to freshly promoted SSV Ulm in Germany's second tier.

Tete Morente was the master of his own future. The Elche fan favourite ended his time with the Spanish club after four years in Alicante. Snapped up on a free transfer by Serie A outfit Lecce, the fleet-footed forward may have a new home but will never forget the side that gave him his first taste of top-flight football. "From a distance, you will have one more Elche native forever," Morente wrote on social media.

June 17

Chelsea never waste any time wading into the transfer market under the volatile ownership of BlueCo. The capital club were thought to be closing in on Brazilian right-back Pedro Lima only to be gazumped by Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite finishing eight places and 17 points behind Chelsea in the 2023/24 Premier League season, Wolves managed to convince the Sport Recife defender to move to Molineux. While the deal was confirmed by the Brazilian second-tier club on 17th June, Lima cannot officially join Wolves until turning 18 on 1st July.

Sergio Ramos is a defender emphatically at the other end of his career. The World Cup champion - who is more than two decades older than Lima - confirmed that he had left Sevilla for a second time ahead of a potential move to MLS.