Have we Witnessed the Biggest Transfer Window in Recent Football History?

Messi to PSG. Ronaldo to Man United. The transfer window that we have just witnessed will be one of the most influential we will see in football. PSG's transfer window alone is enough to make any of their competitors in the French league quiver as the Parisians set their site to dominate both in France and in Europe. Will we see a transfer window as incredible as this in the coming seasons?

Football changes on a year by year basis. Gone are the days of the legions of one club men. Ryan Giggs, Carles Puyol and Franceso Totti are all examples of men who pledged their allegiance to the clubs that made them who they became. These days however, more and more footballers are showing a desire to broaden their horizons and show that they are able to conquer in more than one league.

This growing culture of finding value in wearing different strips and representing different clubs somewhat defined the transfer window that has just come and gone. Two of world football's biggest stars were on the move this time, which led to all of the sport's fans and followers to stand still, and later erupt.

Messi's move to PSG however did not necessarily fall into the category of players wanting to move on. Messi was hellbent on staying in Catalonia, however Barcelona's hand was forced by new La Liga laws that prevented the Spanish giants from extending the contract of their favorite son. As a result, Leo Messi, the 6 time ballon d'or winner was left without a club as a free agent.

A number of clubs began circling the situation like hungry sharks surrounding a school of fish, but PSG were the first to offer a contract that tickled Messi's fancy, along with a team that was packed to the brim with talent. PSG had already had a busy transfer window, signing Gigi Donnarumaa, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Ashraf Hakimi, among others, but added the most influential signing of their club's history when Messi joined in August.

PSG's newly boosted squad has led many bookmakers in the world to believe that PSG are frontrunners to win the French League with online betting operators in South Africa giving the Parisians especially short odds to secure silverware once again.

The next big move of the summer transfer window was of course world football's other candidate for the best to ever do it in Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Messi differ in their endeavours in Europe, as while Messi played all but all of his football for Barcelona, Ronaldo has been more open to moving about.

Starting his career at United, Ronaldo has come full circle, as the Portuguese was once again on the move to Manchester in the transfer window that has just passed. Having signed for United in 2003, Ronaldo spent 6 years etching his name into Manchester Folk Lore, before a dream move to Real Madrid. After achieving all that any player could at one club, Ronaldo joined Juventus in 2018, and three years later, he is returning to where he started as a hero.

Other notable transfers in this window include Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay to Barcelona, Jack Grealish to Manchester City, Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano to Bayern, Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, and Raphael Varane to Manchester United. Football fans from all around the world would consider themselves lucky to ever see a transfer window as bountiful as the one that's just passed again in the near future.