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Shopping for stars: The 10 best European transfers so far

To see a list of completed deals in the summer window thus far, visit theScore's Premier League transfer tracker.

Silly season is in full swing and players swapping kits and countries at breakneck speeds. While it's premature to judge a club's purchases before the transfer window slams shut, there's no harm in identifying the best moves thus far.

Here's a look at the ten best summer signings on the continent, identifying marquee moves, the costs of doing business and the needs these players address.

Michy Batshuayi - Chelsea

With nary an assurance that Diego Costa will stay fit or not be banished to the sidelines for any number of violations, Antonio Conte has kicked-off his era by snatching Marseille's 17-goal man, Michy Batshuayi.

With central defenders and strikers standing out as Chelsea's two immediate areas of need, the club has addressed a dearth of attacking options. Considering Costa, Radamel Falcao, Loic Remy, and Alexandre Pato combined for 15 league goals last season, this has the looks of a solid if not necessary move.

Ousmane Dembele - Borussia Dortmund

Thomas Tuchel's imprint on Borussia Dortmund is taking shape if a half-dozen superb summer signings are any indication. Like with Tuchel's predecessor Jurgen Klopp, many of Dortmund's top talents are plucked by the continent's best only for the Wesfalenstadion to be replenished annually by a new crop of players.

Take for example Ousmane Dembele. Ligue 1's reigning Young Player of the Year thanks to a stellar debut campaign with Rennes, for a cut-rate €15-million fee, Dembele is the thrifty heir apparent to Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. A dozen goals and five helpers in 22 Ligue 1 starts is no mistake.

Breel Embolo - Schalke

It will be hard to top Swiss stud Breel Embolo's move from FC Basel to Gelsenkirchen's Schalke in terms of unexpected moves. Seemingly out of the blue, Embolo, 19, joined the Bundesliga side on a five-year deal for a reported €25 million amid speculation that the striker would enlist with one of the continent's marquee sides.

A robust figure in the mold of a Romelu Lukaku, Embolo burst onto the scene with 10 goals for Basel last season. With Franco Di Santo and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar manning the forward role at Schalke, incoming gaffer Marcus Weinzerl will profit from the addition of the youthful Swiss international in his starting XI.

Miralem Pjanic - Juventus

It's May 2017. Juventus has won a record sixth Scudetto on the bounce, smashing its own 2013-14 points standard of 102 by winning every fixture. Max Allegri, soaked in champagne, hands the top-heavy trophy to Miralem Pjanic, who hands it to a sobbing Paulo Dybala.

Only fair that Pjanic, 26, passes it off to Dybala, with the two forming a lethal attack duo during the 2016-17 campaign, the Bosnian the provider to the Argentinian's finishing.

Equal parts playmaking wizard and free-kick deity, Pjanic's €32-million move from Roma to Juventus not only makes Italy's best that much better, but to the delight of the Bianconeri faithful, it also relegates the rarely used Hernanes to permanent cup duty.

Grzegorz Krychowiak - Paris Saint-Germain

The Unai Emery era has begun at Paris Saint-Germain, as a gaffer with plenty of European honours replaces Laurent Blanc, who failed to get the four-time defending Ligue 1 champ beyond the quarter-final stage in any of his four attempts.

To bolster a central midfield that already features Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi, Adrien Rabiot, and Thiago Motta, Emery snatched his former Sevilla pupil Grzegorz Krychowiak on the heels of the Polish international's display at Euro 2016.

For a reported fee of €30 million, PSG has secured five years of one of Europe's best defensive midfielders. Spare a thought for sides like Lyon and Monaco as they try to narrow the gap at the top of the French top flight.

Mats Hummels - Bayern Munich

What do you get the person that has everything? In Bayern Munich's case, one of the world's best centre-backs. Like Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze before him, Mats Hummels has ditched the black and yellow of Dortmund for the swanky lederhosen of Bayern, and Carlo Ancelotti and Co. are better for it.

Hummels, 27, joined the Bavarians on a five-year term after spending nearly a decade in their academy, and will form a decorated tandem with Die Mannschaft mate Jerome Boateng. The move should remedy last season's central-defender-by-committee sweepstakes, with Medhi Benatia, Javi Martinez, and some combination of whoever is fit slotting in alongside Boateng.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Manchester United

If there was a top-flight side that employed a more boring brand of football than Louis van Gaal at Manchester United, then may it step forward?

With Jose Mourinho's erratic ethos pacing the bowels of Old Trafford, desperate to salvage a reputation of both a manager and a club, Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan was brought in to add some flavour to the Premier League's most humdrum side.

Unpredictable with the ball and boasting the ability to make diagonal runs with a talent for crossing, Mkhitaryan, 27, will add some much-needed attacking variety. Eleven Bundesliga goals at Borussia Dortmund coupled with 15 assists is not an anomaly, it's a reflection of one of the continent's most talented attackers.

Granit Xhaka - Arsenal

Francis Coquelin, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Mohamed Elneny. That five-pack of Arsenal central midfielders didn't necessitate a move for Granit Xhaka, though there's surely no harm in adding a spunky tough-tackling deep-lying mid to a squad that often lacks a fiery influence.

Switzerland's best player at Euro 2016, Xhaka, 23, is an elite passer among defensive midfielders, and his three red cards for Borussia Monchengladbach last season should more-than-adequately fill the void left by Mathieu Flamini's departure.

Raphael Guerreiro - Borussia Dortmund

From near-obscurity with Bretons Lorient to a Euro-winning campaign with Portugal, a spot on UEFA's Team of the Tournament and a high-profile move to Borussia Dortmund, 2016 has been kind to left-back Raphael Guerreiro.

The French-born Guerreiro, 22, will start immediately for Tuchel's lot while providing loads more than Marcel Schmelzer did in 28 appearances last season. For a bargain fee reported at €12 million, Guerreiro will slide alongside Marc Bartra in Dortmund's new-look back-line. What a signing.

Renato Sanches - Bayern Munich

May 10, 2016 has the potential to be the most notable date on the calendar for Bayern supporters. If the Hummels signing was that of an established star moving from a big side to a bigger side, the secretive switch for Benfica's teenage star Renato Sanches was a coup bound to infuriate the Bavarian clubs rivals.

Any unfounded doubts about the central midfielder were quickly dispelled at Euro 2016, as the 18-year-old talent paired two Man of the Match distinctions with the tournament's young player award.

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