Rodrigo Mora's £21.4m Roma switch tops the summer window's best-value bargains
In an era of relentless transfer inflation, genuine value has become the rarest commodity in the market. English football's promoted clubs alone spent eye-watering sums this summer — Ipswich, Coventry and Hull collectively shelled out £450m net on new players — while the Bundesliga's trio of promoted sides got by with a combined £7.2m net. Yet bargains were still there to be found across Europe, from Roma's cut-price raid for Porto's teenage playmaker Rodrigo Mora to Deportivo landing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a nominal £1.3m. Here are the deals that made every pound count.
Rodrigo Mora: Porto to Roma — £21.4m
Even in this era of relentless inflation, a fee of more than £20m does not usually represent a bargain, but Roma's move for the Porto playmaker may be an exception. The teenager has been on the radar of Europe's elite teams since starring for Porto's B-team at 15, and Porto braced themselves for his €70m (£59.5m) release clause to be met in the summer of 2025. That never happened, and Mora then fell out of favour under the new head coach Francesco Farioli.
Roma swooped with an offer of €25m (£21.4m), plus a 50% sell-on fee that can be bought out, and the project intrigued the youngster, who was eager to play under Gian Piero Gasperini.
“He played a big part in my decision to come here because he likes players with my qualities, and I'm a fan of the way he wants his teams to play,” Mora said.
The early signs are positive, with Mora netting his first Roma goal against Lecce as the Giallorossi made a flying start in Serie A.
Elliot Stroud: Mjällby to Hull — £3.5m
Getting promoted to the Premier League is an expensive business, and this summer Ipswich, Coventry and Hull collectively spent £450m net on players. Amid such frantic investment, Hull's move for the 24-year-old Sweden international looks like excellent business.
The wide player was a standout for Mjällby as the small-town club won the Swedish title last year, earning a place in Graham Potter's World Cup squad, and Sergej Jakirovic identified him as a key squad addition after Hull's playoff final success.
“He's a very good player; he's very versatile,” the Hull manager said. “He can play full-back, wing-back, left-winger, and in the middle. He's a runner too, so I think he will suit us very well.”
Stroud has been a pacy creative outlet for Jakirovic's hard-working unit.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Marseille to Deportivo — £1.3m
On the face of it, paying a nominal fee to sign a striker of Aubameyang's class and experience is a no-brainer. Still, the former Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund forward is 37 and has endured a nomadic career since leaving Barcelona: an unsuccessful stint with Chelsea has been followed by two seasons with Marseille, sandwiching a year in Saudi Arabia.
Aubameyang's goal return has remained impressive, with 44 goals across the last three campaigns, and he has reportedly accepted a greatly reduced salary to play regular La Liga football. Deportivo's ambitious project looks the perfect fit — with Aubameyang scoring five goals in seven league games so far.
Satoshi Tanaka: Fortuna Düsseldorf to Schalke — £900,000
The Bundesliga's trio of promoted clubs, in sharp contrast to their English counterparts, spent a combined £7.2m net on signings. Second-tier champions Schalke secured some notable names on loan — including boyhood fan Robin Gosens — but the holding midfielder Tanaka was their most expensive permanent recruit, at €1m.
The 24-year-old still represents something of a gamble, his only previous experience of German football coming since January with Fortuna, who were relegated to the third tier. But Tanaka caught the eye of Schalke's director of football, Youri Mulder.
“His work rate and intensity fit our game really well,” Mulder said.
On his Bundesliga debut, Tanaka's battling qualities helped his team hold Bayern Munich to a goalless draw, and he could be key to whether Schalke stay clear of trouble.
Nico Elvedi: Borussia Mönchengladbach to Leeds — £6.8m
Leeds have a clear recruitment model: sign reliable, experienced players with strong physical attributes, preferably from the Bundesliga. The Swiss centre-back Elvedi fits that mould perfectly.
Daniel Farke might have anticipated an adjustment period for a player who had spent 11 years at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Instead, Elvedi has settled quickly alongside his fellow newcomer Tarik Muharemovic, mostly playing on the left of Farke's back three. It is a welcome reunion with his former Gladbach coach.
“It was just one year but I loved him as a manager,” Elvedi has said of Farke. “I learned a lot from him and I will learn a lot now.”
He is learning fast already.
Gabriel Vidovic: Dinamo Zagreb to Paderborn — £2.6m
Paderborn have returned to the Bundesliga with a bang after shocking Wolfsburg in the promotion/relegation playoff, smashing their transfer record — which, admittedly, was only £700,000 — to sign Vidovic and the striker Marvin Pieringer for €3m each.
Vidovic is a former Bayern Munich academy talent brought through by Julian Nagelsmann, but the Croatian playmaker could not become a regular there. A successful loan in Zagreb led to another chance to impress with Mainz, yet he barely featured and Bayern cut the loan short. After moving back to Dinamo permanently, the Bundesliga looked a distant prospect until Paderborn pounced.
“His sporting CV speaks for itself,” their sporting director, Sebastian Lange, said.
The 22-year-old's arrival is a risk for a club with limited means, but the potential ceiling spotted by Nagelsmann makes it one worth taking.
Giovanni Reyna: Borussia Mönchengladbach to Strasbourg — £2.6m
As the self-styled “league of talents”, Ligue 1 functions as a development pool for young players who are sold on for hefty fees. Strasbourg, a partner club to Chelsea, are closely tied to this model: four of their summer signings were drawn from the vast stock of spare players at Cobham, while Valentín Barco and Emmanuel Emegha went in the other direction.
Into that environment comes Reyna, picked up from Mönchengladbach for just £2.6m — another low-cost bet in a league built on turning potential into profit.
How last year's picks have fared
Last year's value-hunting exercise produced a mixed harvest: some picks powered their clubs into Europe, others barely kicked a ball.
Robin Roefs — NEC to Sunderland, £9.1m
The Dutch keeper's commanding presence was key as Sunderland secured European football. He kept 10 clean sheets in 35 league games, with only three teams conceding fewer goals than the promoted Black Cats.
Ferran Jutglà — Club Brugge to Celta, £4.7m
Made a solid start at Celta with nine La Liga goals, but struggled to make an impact in Europe. Hit a purple patch in March and is now playing more regularly as a No 9 rather than out wide.
Ernest Poku — AZ to Leverkusen, £8.7m
Featured regularly in his first season at Leverkusen but was allowed to join Besiktas on a loan-to-buy deal this summer. The winger has made a slow start in Turkey but scored in their Europa League win over Marseille.
Adrien Truffert — Rennes to Bournemouth, £11.4m
The left-back settled quickly in Bournemouth's rebuilt defence, helping his side qualify for Europe. Called up by Zinedine Zidane for the Nations League, he could win his second France cap four years after making his debut.
Santiago Hidalgo — Independiente to Toulouse, £2.5m
Enjoyed a promising first season in France with nine goal involvements in Ligue 1. May need to find another goalscoring gear this term with Toulouse struggling early on.
Borna Sosa — Ajax to Crystal Palace, £3m
Played in 18 games for Palace last season but managed just 99 minutes in the Premier League as he struggled for consistency. Now on loan at Cologne, he looks unlikely to have a future at Selhurst Park.
Berke Ozer — Eyupspor to Lille, £3.9m
Kept a league-best 13 clean sheets in his first season, helping Lille finish third. Ozer has retained the No 1 spot despite the arrival of Paraguay World Cup hero Orlando Gill, and was voted fans' player of the month in August.
Christian Ordóñez — Vélez Sarsfield to Parma, £6.7m
One of six Argentinian players in the current Parma squad, Ordóñez has admitted to being “surprised” at the step up in quality, but has featured regularly in a solid first season in Serie A.
Carlos Soler — PSG to Real Sociedad, £6.9m
The midfielder has enjoyed a much more pivotal role at Real Sociedad, scoring in the Copa del Rey final shootout victory over Atlético to help deliver a trophy.
Nikola Stulic — Charleroi to Lecce, £4.3m
Signed to replace his namesake Nikola Krstovic at Lecce, the centre-forward had a middling first season, scoring four of his side's 28 league goals.
Two windows' worth of bargain hunting point to the same lesson: value rarely lies in the biggest names or the biggest fees, but in clubs identifying the right player at the right moment at the right price. Roma will hope Mora proves the point in Serie A this season.