Have transfer prices really tumbled following pandemic? Looking at 20 most expensive moves of the summer so far

If we have a look at the biggest deals of the summer it may lead us to the conclusion that clubs across Europe are not going to tighten their belts.

Even Napoli, who are not the richest side in football, splashed a whopping £73.2m on Victor Osimhen from Lille, which is even more than they pocketed for Nicolas Pepe a year ago (£72m).

Overall, as of August 1, clubs in the top five European leagues have completed 256 deals worth £892.7m.

Top 20 deals during this transfer window so far:

• 1. Victor Osimhen (forward — Lille to Napoli) - £73.2m
• 2. Arthur (midfielder — Barcelona to Juventus) - £66m
• 3. Alvaro Morata (forward — Chelsea to Atletico Madrid) - £59.2m
• 4. Miralem Pjanic (midfielder — Juventus to Barcelona) - £54.8m
• 5. Timo Werner (forward — RB Leipzig to Chelsea) - £47.5m
• 6. Mauro Icardi (forward — Inter to Paris Saint-Germain) - £45m
• 7. Nathan Ake (defender — Bournemouth to Manchester City) - £41m (to be confirmed)
• 8. Leroy Sane (winger — Manchester City to Bayern Munich) - £40.9m
• 9. Hakim Ziyech (winger — Ajax to Chelsea) - £33.6m
• 10. Francisco Trincao (winger — Braga to Barcelona) - £28.3m
• 11. Ferran Torres (winger — Valencia to Manchester City) - £24.5m
• 12. Emre Can (midfielder — Juventus to Borussia Dortmund) - £22.8m
• 13. Jude Bellingham (midfielder — Birmingham City to Dortmund) - £22.8m
• 14. Suso (winger — Milan to Sevilla) - £21.7m
• 15. Tomas Soucek (Slavia Prague to West Ham United) - £19.1m
• 16. Helder Costa (winger — Wolverhampton to Leeds United) - £16m
• 17. Anthony Knockaert (winger — Brighton to Fulham) - £15m
• 18. Karl Toko Ekambi (forward — Villarreal to Lyon) - £14.1m
• 19. Pablo Mari (defender — Flamengo to Arsenal) - £14m
• 20. Mario Pasalic (midfielder — Chelsea to Atalanta) - £13.5m