The £600m big money Man Utd, West Ham and Liverpool summer transfers predicted by Football Manager

The summer transfer window is just under a week away from opening and a number of major questions will be answered as the new season draws ever closer.

Will Declan Rice’s final act as West Ham United captain be lifting the Europa Conference League trophy as he heads off to pastures new? Will Manchester United bring in a number nine that could fire them into contention for a Premier League title? Where will James Maddison play next season after he was unable to prevent Leicester City avoiding relegation? And will England duo Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham become club team-mates at La Liga giants Real Madrid?

An intriguing few months lie ahead as the serious business gets underway so we thought we would delve into the virtual transfer market with the aid of Football Manager 2023 to see how the world’s most popular management simulation believes the summer transfer window will play out across the Premier League and Europe.

Here are the ten most expensive additions made:

James Maddison - Leicester City to Chelsea (£45m)

Reportedly in-demand in the Premier League followed the Foxes’ relegation, England star Maddison had interest from several clubs in the virtual transfer window before making a surprise move to Chelsea. Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Internazionale were all considered before opting to move to Stamford Bridge.

Mikel Merino - Real Sociedad to Real Madrid (£45m + add-ons)

The former Newcastle United midfielder was the subject of a bid from Manchester City but he chose to remain in Spain and swapped one Real for another as he left Sociedad to move to the Bernabeu.

Joao Mario - Benfica to Liverpool (£50m + add-ons)

Much like is expected in the real world, Jurgen Klopp oversaw something of an overhaul of his midfield options and the addition of Benfica star Joao Mario proved to be the only one of three new faces to come from overseas. Bristol City youngster Alex Scott and someone coming later in this list were the other two additions...in case you were wondering. In real life, they’ve just got Alexis Mac Allister off Brighton for an absolute bargain fee.

Matheus Nunes - Wolves to Newcastle (£51m +add-ons)

Newcastle are expected to be active this summer and the virtual Magpies wasted little time in added further presence to an already strong midfielder as they lashed out over £51m on Wolves star Matheus Nunes, seeing off competition from Arsenal and Liverpool in the process.

Ruben Neves - Wolves to Arsenal (£55m)

And there was a further dismantling of the Wolves midfield as Arsenal moved on from missing out on Nunes by signing his midfield partner Ruben Neves for £4m more.

Joao Palhinha - Fulham to Liverpool (£55m + add-ons)

So here it is, the costliest new addition to the Liverpool midfield as an initial fee of £55m was agreed with Fulham - but that figure could raise to almost £70m if he makes a number of appearances and helped Jurgen Klopp’s side land some serious silverware during his time at Anfield.

Joao Cancelo - Man City to Real Madrid (£60m)

Cancelo’s return from his loan spell at Bayern Munich did not last long - a week to be precise. It’s the Bernabeu for the full-back after £60m was enough to see him heading to La Liga and ending his time at City.

Goncalo Ramos - Benfica to Manchester United (£70m + add-ons)

One of the most wanted forwards in Europe in the real world has similar appeal in the virtual one as Manchester United won the race to sign Ramos ahead of Barcelona, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United.

Declan Rice - West Ham United to Real Madrid (£85m + add-ons)

All good things come to an end and Declan Rice’s love affair with West Ham United is over...on Football Manager anyway! He joined Real Madrid, as the Spanish giants continued their rather costly transfer window with an £85m deal for the England midfielder - although a number of add-ons mean the fee could end up just shy of £100m.

Rafael Leao - AC Milan to Manchester City (£90m)

The Portuguese forward was the most expensive deal in the entire transfer window as he left AC Milan to join Manchester City in a £90m move. He will form back of a mouthwatering attacking quartet that also includes Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and, of course, Erling Haaland.