Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Christian Pulisic and the 21 best signings of the 2023-24 European season – ranked

Until a serious knee injury ruled him out for the remainder of 2024, PSV were desperately trying to turn Sergino Dest’s loan spell at the Philips Stadion into a permanent transfer – and it’s easy to understand why.

After failing to make the grade at Barcelona before struggling seriously at AC Milan, the Ajax academy product has regained his swagger since returning to the Netherlands. Before the United States defender’s season was cut short in April, he’d contributed seven assists from left-back to PSV’s runaway title win.

A second successful loan spell for Xavi Simons, who illuminated the Eredivisie during his time at PSV in 2022-23 before only further enhancing his burgeoning reputation during a fine campaign with RB Leipzig that yielded 10 goals and 13 assists.

Where the versatile forward spends next season remains to be seen, as Paris Saint-Germain reportedly want Simons to spend another year out on loan. What’s clear, though, is that Simons is capable of living up to the hype that’s surrounded him since his days at La Masia.

After making his Netherlands debut against Wales during the June international break of 2022, Jerdy Schouten didn’t receive another call-up for almost 18 months. Now, he’s almost certain to be a part of Ronald Koeman’s squad for Euro 2024 as he’s been outstanding since joining PSV from Bologna last summer.

Indeed, because of his fantastic work-rate, the defensive midfielder is expected to start in the Netherlands engine room alongside Frenkie de Jong.

Leipzig are renowned for making big money on players acquired for small sums, but they were willing to smash their transfer record to take Lois Openda from Lens. Now we know why.

After a stellar season containing 28 goals in all competitions, including a brace against the mighty Manchester City, the 24-year-old Belgium international is being tipped to join one of Europe’s elite sooner rather than later, meaning that historic fee is already looking like a bargain.

We knew right away that Liverpool were getting a bargain when they acquired Alexis Mac Allister for a knockdown fee because of the buyout clause in his Brighton contract – and so it’s proved.

Whether playing in a deeper role in front of the back four or in a more advanced position, the Argentine World Cup winner served the Reds so well, chipping in with seven goals and as many assists. In our humble opinion, Liverpool’s player of the season.

Manchester City don’t make an awful lot of mistakes, but selling Cole Palmer to Chelsea – and at such a paltry price – was an absolute clanger.

Palmer was one of the revelations of the season, the main reason why the “billion-pound bottle-jobs” will be back in continental competition next season after being involved in a whopping 42 goals in all competitions – the fourth-highest tally across Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues.

Arsenal were determined to win their bidding war with Manchester City for Declan Rice and the Gunners will feel they were 100 percent right to pay a club-record fee for the former West Ham captain.

Mikel Arteta’s men didn’t manage to win a trophy, but Rice was excellent, adding steel and control to the midfield, as well as being involved in 16 goals in all competitions.

It was something of a surprise to see Bayern Munich pay such a lofty fee for a 30-year-old centre-forward, but they were in dire need of a world-class finisher and, in Harry Kane, they got one.

The former Tottenham man is, infamously, still waiting for his first trophy, but the Premier League legend has proven even more prolific at the Allianz Arena than anyone expected, breaking one goal-scoring record after another during a season that ended with him netting 44 times in total – a figure made all the more impressive for the fact that the Bavarians endured a terribly turbulent campaign under Thomas Tuchel.

There was a fear that Isco’s trophy-laden career might come to a premature end because of his inability to find a new club after being released by Sevilla in December 2022, but city rivals Real Betis offered the classy midfielder a chance to continuing playing top-flight football last summer, and the gamble has paid off spectacularly.

Indeed, less than six months after signing a one-year deal at the Benito Villamarin, Isco signed an extension until 2027 – just reward for a 32-year-old who has created more chances than both Rafael Leao and Mohamed Salah this season, as well as scoring nine goals and registering seven assists.

AC Milan may have their issues at the moment, but Christian Pulisic’s decision to leave Chelsea for the Rossoneri rather than Lyon last summer has been well and truly vindicated. Whereas the United States forward was struggling for game time Stamford Bridge, now he’s starring on one of the game’s grandest stages at San Siro.

With 15 goals and nine assists, this is already the most productive season of ‘Captain America’s’ career.

Is there a better transfer market operator than Inter CEO Beppe Marotta? Less than a year after picking Andre Onana for nothing, he sold the Cameroonian for £43.8m ($55.7m) and replaced him with Yann Sommer for a fraction of the fee.

The 35-year-old Swiss has slotted seamlessly into the best backline in Europe, keeping more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in Europe (25), which played a big part in Inter’s Serie A Scudetto success.

You’ve got to hand it to Granit Xhaka: the Swiss left Arsenal last summer but actually managed to join an even more exciting young team managed by an even better coach!

At 31 years of age, Xhaka is actually playing the best football of his career, with his mix of experience, tenacity and technique proving invaluable to Xabi Alonso’s sensational – and still undefeated – Bayer Leverkusen side, who are now just two games away from a treble having already won a first-ever Bundesliga.

Riccardo Calafiori is one of the best examples of the miraculous work done at Bologna by coach Thiago Motta and technical director Giovanni Sartori, with the 21-year-old playing a pivotal role in the Rossoblu sensationally qualifying for the Champions League for the first time ever.

A left-back bought from Basel for pittance has been transformed into one of the classiest central defenders in Serie A, as so perfectly illustrated by the second of his two goals in a 3-3 draw with Juventus on Monday.

Liverpool fans were devastated when the details of Jude Bellingham’s transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid were revealed. Even though the fee could yet rise to €134m (£114.5m/$145.6m), that still looked like a steal for the most exciting young midfielder in the world – and so it’s proved, with Bellingham looking like he could be a Madrid regular for the next decade after producing arguably the most impressive debut season we’ve ever seen from a Galactico.

Bellingham has scored 23 goals, including two stoppage-time Clasico winners, and could next week get his hands on the Champions League trophy.

Another Marotta masterstroke, Inter beat off stiff competition to snap up Marcus Thuram on a free transfer after the expiration of his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach.

With his pace, hold-up play and selfless running, the France forward proved the ideal foil for Lautaro Martinez, as well as weighing in with 15 goals himself. No wonder Inter fans have forgotten all about Romelu Lukaku!

Viktor Gyokeres was playing Championship football last year; now he’s being linked with some of the biggest clubs in European football after taking the Primeira Liga by storm this season.

The Swede has an outrageous record of 43 goals in all competitions for Sporting CP, who have already won the title and can now complete a domestic double by beating Porto in the Taca de Portugal final on Sunday.

How good a buy has Victor Boniface been for Bayer Leverkusen? Well, he missed two-and-a-half months of the season through injury, but has still scored 21 goals and made a further nine.

Put quite simply, he was the leading man that Alonso knew he needed, the powerful, prolific and pacey target man capable of tying the whole attack together. Boniface is now worth three times what Leverkusen paid Union SG for him less than a year ago.

Girona have been one of the stories of the European season, with Michel having taken a small club backed by the City Football Group into the Champions League for the first time via a shock third-placed finish in La Liga.

Artem Dovbyk has been utterly integral to this remarkable rise to prominence, with the Ukraine international scoring 21 goals – three more than striking legend Robert Lewandowski.

The man poised to pip Dovbyk to the Pichichi award as La Liga’s top scorer, Alexander Sorloth has belatedly blossomed in Spain after struggling at Leipzig.

The Norwegian slowly but surely found some form during a two-year loan stay at Real Sociedad before exploding this season at the Madrigal, scoring 23 times in 33 Liga games to top the scoring charts by two goals with just one matchday remaining.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Chelsea career was doomed from the moment former mentor Tuchel got the sack five days after the forward joined the club – but he’s bounced back in stunning fashion at Marseille.

A player who will turn 35 in just a few weeks’ time has been involved in more goals this season than young guns like Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden – which is made all the more impressive by the fact that he was playing for the eighth-best team in Ligue 1.

It’s only right that the signing of the season belongs to the team of the season, particularly as Leverkusen’s historic campaign has been founded on the genius of Alonso and the club’s staggering success rate in the transfer market. So, who better than Alex Grimaldo to top the list, given the Spaniard arrived from Benfica for nothing?

As well as adding a winning mentality to a club previously accustomed to losing, Grimaldo formed the most devastating wing-back pairing in world football with Jeremie Frimpong, with the 28-year-old creating a whopping 17 goals alone, as well as scoring 12 himself.