Transfer deadline day 2021: The window that really delivered
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Lionel Messi, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Cristiano Ronaldo were among those who moved in the summer
It was a transfer window that really delivered the goods. For a lot of teams, anyway.
Some of Europe's big clubs threw money around like it was confetti, Cristiano Ronaldo went 'home' after Lionel Messi finally moved out, and Chelsea took it right to the wire to sign Saul Niguez.
Let's start where it all finished...
Deadline day
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It started with Nikola Vlasic to West Ham and ended with Saul Niguez to Chelsea, via Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United, and Daniel James to Leeds plus plenty more beside.
It had become traditional for Saul to be linked with an English club in a transfer window, and hopefully the football Twitter wags among you saved those Better Call Saul memes as psd files so you could flip in the appropriate club badge - Chelsea's, as it turned out.
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Elsewhere, Real Madrid's pursuit of Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe fell through.
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And after a pretty quiet window, Liverpool finally got some deals done - though the handshakes were only on contract extensions for Jordan Henderson, Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.
We also discovered former England goalkeeper David James is a big Superman fan.
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And that was just the story of the final day.
Here are some of the highlights and takeaways from the window as a whole.
Manchester's prodigal son returns
The big story in the closing days of the transfer window was the return of Ronaldo to Manchester United, for whom he last played over a decade ago.
The Red Devils paid an initial 15m euros (£12.85m) to bring their (36-year-old) boy home.
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The five-time Ballon d'Or winner had a decorated first spell with the club, winning three Premier League titles and the Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The deal was agreed a few days before the window shut, but the announcement was saved until deadline day.
Ronaldo wrote on Instagram: "I'm right here! I'm back where I belong! Let's make it happen once again!"
He added: "PS - Sir Alex, this one is for you…"
Had he joined Manchester City - as previously mooted - that message may not have been as touching!
But Ronaldo completed a summer of three big deals for United, with Jadon Sancho joining from Borussia Dortmund for £73m and Raphael Varane signing from Real Madrid for £34m.
PSG enjoy a few freebies
A couple of weeks before Ronaldo returned home, his old foe Lionel Messi finally flew the nest.
Why? Because, quite simply, his keepers could no longer afford to have him around. A relatable dynamic.
Barcelona were the only professional club Messi, 34, had played for before he joined Paris St-Germain.
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The striker has won the Ballon d'Or a record six times and lifted 35 trophies, scoring 672 goals in 778 games for Barca.
Not a bad free transfer signing - one of four PSG pulled off, having also snapped up Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Spain defender Sergio Ramos and Netherlands midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
With Mbappe's potential move to Real hitting the buffers, PSG can now field a frontline of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar. Frightening.
Chelsea Luk to the past
Manchester United weren't the only English club going back to the future, with Chelsea paying a club record £97.5m to re-sign striker Romelu Lukaku.
The 28-year-old, who exited the Blues in 2014, left Inter Milan after helping them win their first Serie A title in 11 years.
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The deal means more money has been spent by clubs signing Lukaku than on any other player in history - it's more than £300m.
The new king of Manchester?
Jack Grealish said he "teared up" during his departure from Aston Villa, whom he joined aged six.
Well he's been tearing it up for his new club Manchester City, since joining in early August.
A goal on his home debut against Norwich helped endear him to the fans.
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Grealish didn't come cheap - City broke the British record when they signed him for £100m.
They may have ended up breaking that record again within the same window if they had managed to strike a deal for Harry Kane.
But in the end, it seemed Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy told the England captain he was grounded.
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Money isn't everything...
And, finally, a cautionary tale.
Arsenal have spent almost £150m this summer, with Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu the last through the door on deadline day.
It is still early days, of course, and the ink is barely dry on Tomiyasu's contract, but he joins a team bottom of the Premier League after three successive league defeats.
They did, though, keep Ainsley Maitland-Niles when it looked like the 24-year-old may join Everton.
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It all seemed to be OK in the end, though...
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