While everybody knows about Enzo Fernandez’s Premier League record-equaling £125 million move to Manchester City, plenty of deals flew under the radar on transfer deadline day.
It’s often the busiest day in the summer transfer window as clubs across Europe frantically try to add players to their squad.
Now that the window has officially closed, we’ve highlighted 12 deadline day transfers that you may have missed.
During an impressive breakthrough season at Barcelona in 2024-25, Casado made his Spain debut and was compared with club legend Sergio Busquets.
But the midfielder played a bit-part role last campaign and fell further down the pecking order following Rodri’s arrival from Manchester City.
Earlier this summer, sporting director Deco had agreed a £23million deal with AS Monaco, only for Casado to reject the move to the Ligue 1 side.
The 22-year-old ultimately agreed to leave Camp Nou on deadline day and joined newly-promoted Deportivo La Coruna on a season-long deal, which includes an option to make the move permanent for €30million.
Alongside the move for Casado, Deportivo also bolstered their defensive options on deadline day by signing Gimenez on loan from Atletico Madrid.
He has spent the last 13 seasons at Atletico, making 384 appearances and helping the club win two LaLiga titles, a Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup.
The 31-year-old Uruguay international represents another impressive coup for Deportivo, who also signed Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Angelino earlier in the window.
Premier League fans will remember Kean from his underwhelming spell at Everton, where he scored just four goals in 39 appearances and was famously subbed on and off in the same match.
The striker also struggled at Juventus but rebuilt his reputation with Fiorentina, netting 35 goals in 79 appearances in all competitions.
Como and Cesc Fabregas identified him as a top transfer target after securing Champions League qualification, but saw an initial bid rejected by La Viola.
A deal was eventually completed on deadline day, with the Italy international arriving on a €10million season-long loan with a €25million obligation to buy, plus up to €5million in add-ons.
It was a relatively quiet transfer deadline day at Arsenal, with the Gunners unable to persuade Julian Alvarez to return to the Premier League.
But Gabriel Jesus was sold to Barcelona and there was also a late move for Vieira, a player many Arsenal fans may have forgotten was even on their books.
The midfielder has spent the previous two seasons on loan at Porto and Hamburg and has now rejoined the latter on a permanent deal worth €10million.
“I’m very happy to be back. I already know the club, the fans, and many of my teammates,” Vieira said. “It feels great to be a part of it again.
“I knew from the beginning that there was a possibility for me to come back here. I felt that HSV had made a real effort to bring me back. Now I’m back and can’t wait to get started again.”
It’s now 18 years since Manchester City sent shockwaves through football by signing Robinho in a £32.5million deal on transfer deadline day.
His son was just eight months old at the time, but Robinho Jr has now completed his own deadline day transfer.
The winger came through the academy at Santos and was in the headlines earlier this summer after being slapped by Neymar during a training session.
He’s now made his first move to European football by joining Serie A side Genoa on an initial loan deal, which includes an option to buy.
Sunderland were at the centre of one of the biggest stories on deadline day, with the Black Cats signing Malick Fofana from Lyon after surviving a late hijack attempt by Crystal Palace.
The Fofana saga may have taken the spotlight, but they also announced a deal for Angulo, who is one of the most highly-rated teenagers in South American football.
The 18-year-old striker netted six goals in 15 league appearances for Independiente del Valle and had previously been linked with Barcelona and Manchester United.
“There were a lot of big clubs around Europe chasing his signature, so this signing demonstrates the attraction of Sunderland AFC,” director of football Florent Ghisolfi said.
“His physical qualities are obvious, but he also has good movement, technical ability and a natural instinct for scoring goals.”
Ruben Amorim famously created a ‘bomb squad’ of players not in his plans at Manchester United and has taken a similar approach at AC Milan.
Fofana was among the players deemed surplus to requirements by Amorim and looked set to reunite with former Milan manager Paulo Fonseca at Lyon, with a loan deal agreed.
But the uncertainty surrounding Malick Fofana’s future saw Lyon pull out of the deal to sign the midfielder, as they wouldn’t have been able to register him if the winger wasn’t sold.
Sevilla took advantage of the situation and acted quickly to sign the France international on a straight loan deal for the 2026/27 season.
After leaving Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023, Diaby spent a season at Aston Villa before accepting a lucrative offer from Al-Ittihad.
He won the Saudi Pro League and the King’s Cup in 2024-25, but has now accepted a significant pay cut to return to Leverkusen for a second spell.
The Bundesliga side fought off competition from Inter Milan to secure his signature and announced the €27 million deal on transfer deadline day.
“When the enquiry came in and the move became possible, I didn’t hesitate for a second,” Diaby said. “The club has grown even bigger since then – the prospect of competing for titles with Bayer 04 is a wonderful thought and a huge goal of mine.”
Ceballos also completed a return to a former club on deadline day, putting pen to paper on a three-year contract at Real Betis.
The midfielder came through their academy and made 107 appearances for the first team before moving to Real Madrid in 2017.
He reached an agreement to terminate his Madrid contract at the start of the summer, despite still having one year remaining on his deal.
The 30-year-old had also been linked with Napoli, Juventus and Ajax, but snubbed those offers to return to the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Arsenal were willing to spend £92million to sign Lemar on deadline day in the summer of 2017, before the deal collapsed at the eleventh hour.
He moved to Atletico Madrid a year later and won the LaLiga title in 2020-21 but has since fallen out of favour under Diego Simeone.
After spending last season at Getafe, the 30-year-old winger has now joined Elche on a season-long loan deal that also includes an option to buy.
Enzo Fernandez was the most high-profile exit from Chelsea on deadline day, with the Argentina international moving to Manchester City for a record-equalling £125million.
But Guiu also bid farewell to Stamford Bridge on deadline day, joining RB Leipzig on a permanent deal worth up to £14.6million with add-ons.
The striker wasn’t a first-team regular but did still score eight goals in 29 matches across all competitions, including six goals in their Conference League-winning campaign in 2024-25.
Leeds United were busy on deadline day and agreed a deal to sign Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Jean-Matteo Bahoya on an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy next summer.
His arrival paved the way for Gnonto to join Fiorentina on a season-long loan deal, while the Serie A side have an option to make the move permanent.
The Italy international played a key role in helping Leeds win the Championship title in 2024/25 but made just four Premier League starts last season.
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