The transfer window is well underway, and we’ve already seen some exciting moves.
Jude Bellingham is currently the biggest move of the summer, racking up a fee of over £100 million as he joined Real Madrid.
Whether the young Englishman keeps his place at the top of the chart remains to be seen. There are still plenty of big-money moves in the pipeline, some of which could break the nine-figure mark.
Here are five transfer sagas to look out for this month.
Harry Kane to Bayern Munich
Since the end of the season, Harry Kane has been one of football’s most talked-about figures.
Many people believe that he has outgrown Tottenham Hotspur – will he spend another year of his career at the Lilywhites?
Bayern Munich have expressed a strong interest in the England captain. If they match Spurs’ asking price, they will present a fascinating dilemma to Kane.
The Bavarians are guaranteed to win silverware and also offer a realistic shot at the Champions League.
However, the forward would have to jeopardise his chances of breaking Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League goalscoring record, which he has been working towards for the best part of a decade.
This may also be a test of Daniel Levy’s resolve. The Tottenham owner is renowned for being one of the game’s toughest negotiators and is unlikely to back down easily.
However, Kane has just one year left on his contract. By refusing offers, Levy runs the risk of losing his most valuable asset for nothing.
Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe is in a similar situation at Paris Saint-Germain. He has a year left on his current deal and has already indicated that he will not renew.
The Frenchman is widely viewed as the best player in the world. If he had a longer contract, he would likely fetch a world-record fee.
Real Madrid have eyed up the forward for a very long time, and it seems like only a matter of time before he eventually makes the switch to the Bernabeu Stadium. But could it be this summer?
Both clubs have an interesting decision to make. Los Blancos could splash out an astronomical sum to grab him immediately, or they could wait a year and potentially grab him on a free transfer. By doing that, however, they run the risk of him changing his mind, as he did in 2022.
PSG face the opposite conundrum. They could cash in now and guarantee themselves a fee, or they could gamble on him being convinced to stay over the course of the season.
Andre Onana to Manchester United
David de Gea has been one of Manchester United’s most hotly-debated players in recent years. As a shot-stopper, there haven’t been many better than the Spaniard in the modern era.
However, his all-round game has room for improvement. This leaves many people questioning whether he is suited to Erik ten Hag’s system.
Following a series of reports and cryptic Tweets, De Gea’s contract expired earlier this month. A new deal is apparently being negotiated, but it is unlikely that he will be a starter for the Red Devils next term.
Ten Hag’s first choice to replace the 32-year-old appears to be Cameroonian stopper Andre Onana.
The pair spent five years working together at Ajax from 2017 to 2022, winning five domestic trophies and reaching a Champions League semi-final.
Onana enjoyed a positive debut season at Inter Milan last year. He helped them to glory in the Coppa Italia and played a big part in their run to the Champions League final.
Perhaps more importantly, he is known as a ‘modern’ goalkeeper. His sweeping and ball-playing abilities have been singled out for praise.
Josko Gvardiol to Manchester City
Manchester City come into the new season off the back of a treble-winning campaign. How exactly do they improve on that? Win the quadruple? Go invincible? Get 101 points?
Pep Guardiola’s men have an opportunity to set another record in English football. If they take the crown again this year, they will become the first-ever side to win four English consecutive top-flight titles.
But it’s far from a foregone conclusion. Arsenal provided a stern test last year before falling apart towards the end, and the Gunners have already shown their intent in the transfer window.
Meanwhile, Man City have also wasted little time in the market. Four-time Champions League winner Mateo Kovacic has been brought in to replace the departing Ilkay Gundogan, and big-money bids for Declan Rice and Josko Gvardiol have been submitted.
The Croatian defender is an interesting one. He’s one of the most promising young centre-backs in the world, as he showed in his fantastic 2022 World Cup campaign. If City can snag him, they would go a long way to consolidating their position at the summit.
Although, he’s proving to be an expensive option, valued at around €100m by RB Leipzig. As their Rice bid proved, City are happy to walk away from a deal if the price isn’t right.
Gvardiol is obviously a good player, but he’s not an immediate necessity. Guardiola already has Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte to choose from at centre-back.
You’d expect at least one of these to depart if the 21-year-old was signed.
Moises Caicedo to Chelsea
In recent years, there has been an interesting relationship between Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Blues poached Graham Potter and Marc Cucurella off the Seagulls, while Billy Gilmour and Levi Colwill went in the opposite direction.
Brighton have won the battle so far, but that could change this summer. Chelsea are known admirers of Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo, who played a crucial part in Roberto De Zerbi’s side last term.
Caicedo was close to joining Arsenal in January and previously spoke of his desire to move to the north Londoners. However, their interest in the midfielder has likely cooled with the impending arrival of Declan Rice.
Chelsea have cleared out several midfielders this summer, selling N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mateo Kovacic, among others. Manager Mauricio Pochettino will want new faces in the middle of the park.
But a deal for Caicedo could be complicated. Recent reports suggest Brighton owner Tony Bloom values the youngster at as much as £120m.
