The 8 Biggest Transfers That Should Happen in the 2024 Summer Window
Our thoughts are with football transfer expert/journalist Fabrizio Romano at this difficult time.
The January transfer window was, in a word, underwhelming. No team in Europe's top five leagues spent more than $34 million on a player, and few big names packed their bags for pastures new.
Perhaps some clubs were saving their pennies for the summer window, or maybe some were spooked by recent punishments for teams that have been judged to have broken financial fair play rules.
Whatever the reasons, the winter market was barren, and now the transfer daydreaming will focus on possible moves that could happen ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Here are a few of the big players who should head to new clubs in the next transfer period.
Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid
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Is it really a "transfer" if a player moves on a free? Regardless of the technicalities, the summer of 2024 is when Kylian Mbappé should finally end a saga that has dragged on way longer than necessary and head to the Santiago Bernabéu.
The Frenchman and Real Madrid have been doing a courtship dance for what feels like an eternity, and despite whispers that Liverpool still have a chance of signing one of the best forwards in world football, few can turn down the allure of Los Blancos.
Paris Saint-Germain will offer him all kinds of ridiculous numbers to stay in the French capital, but surely it's time for the 25-year-old to try his luck outside of Ligue 1?
Adding the UEFA Champions League to his well-stocked trophy cabinet is surely Mbappé's goal, and PSG have come up short on every occasion despite the cash they've spent to assemble a team to grab the silverware.
Signing for Real Madrid, who have won the European Cup 14 times in their illustrious history and five times in the last 10 years, would appear to be the best way to achieve European glory.
This should finally be the window in which Mbappé swaps blue for white.
Victor Osimhen to Chelsea
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Napoli's Serie A title defense has been a disaster. The Partenopei sit ninth in the Italian top flight and are four points out of the league's final Champions League spot for next season.
The departure of Luciano Spalletti at the end of that successful campaign has proved disastrous, with replacement Rudi Garcia sacked in November and incumbent Walter Mazzarri picking up just five wins across 14 games in all competitions.
Victor Osimhen, the Nigerian striker whose 26 goals powered Napoli to domestic glory last season, has had a strange season in Naples.
Despite leading the club's scoring ranks again with seven in 13 Serie A games, the 25-year-old has dealt with a social media storm and threatened legal action following a TikTok video posted by the club in September that seemed to mock him for missing a penalty.
Despite the fallout from the misjudged video, he then signed a new contract with Napoli in December. However, Italian media (h/t Reuters) suggested that the agreement contained a release clause, making a possible exit this summer a lot more straight-forward.
As one of the most coveted goalscorers in world football, he won't be short of offers, and Chelsea seems to be the most obvious landing spot.
The Blues haven't been afraid to splash the cash since Todd Boehly's arrival, but that hasn't resulted in success just yet. The West London club desperately needs a true striker, with Christopher Nkunku struggling to stay fit and Cole Palmer more suited to a supporting role.
Osimhen seems gettable, and he could swap one shade of blue for another in the summer.
Florian Wirtz to Bayern Munich
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If you're one of the Bundesliga's top talents, it won't be long until Bayern Munich come knocking.
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen's attacking midfielder, should be welcoming Bayern officials at his door any day now.
The 20-year-old has rebuilt his stock following a cruciate ligament injury in 2022 and scored eight and assisted 12 across all competitions for league-leading Leverkusen.
Of course, swapping the table-toppers for the team in second doesn't seem so appealing right now, but Bayern are inevitable and will probably leapfrog the underdogs by season's end, and you can't argue with their standing in the German game.
Other clubs will no doubt battle for the signature of one of the most coveted young stars in the game, and the future of Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso amid Liverpool rumours might have some impact on his decision.
However, Bayern seems like the most obvious route for Wirtz, and the German giants are likely to pull off yet another deal for one of the country's most promising players.
Ivan Toney to Arsenal
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Arsenal need a goalscorer, Ivan Toney wants to play for a bigger club. This one seems like a perfect fit.
After missing most of the season while serving a ban for breaking the Football Association's betting rules, the 27-year-old has returned to Brentford and scored twice in two league appearances.
The links to Arsenal were around before that ban, and his form after a long period out shouldn't quiet them down.
On Toney's part, he's been fluttering his eyelashes at bigger clubs for a while, and after missing eight months of football during the suspension, he'll want to make up for lost time.
Arsenal are in the thick of the title hunt, sitting five points behind league-leading Liverpool with nearly half of the campaign to go. But the Gunners' main striker, Gabriel Jesus, has scored just four Premier League goals in that pursuit, so it's clear that a more prolific goal-getter is needed for this young, hungry Arsenal squad to finally get back to the big time.
Ambition meets ambition in this potential transfer, and Toney should be swapping west London for north London in the summer.
Alphonso Davies to Real Madrid
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The rich get richer again in this potential transfer, with lightning-fast left-back Alphonso Davies swapping the Bundesliga for La Liga.
The Canada international will be out of contract in 2025, and talks over a new Bayern Munich deal don't seem to be going anywhere.
That leaves the door open for Real Madrid to swoop, and rumors that Los Blancos have already been in touch are circulating, as Sky Deutschland (h/t Goal) detailed.
Center back is the more pressing need for the Spanish giants, but the chance to add one of the most promising young defenders on the planet will be difficult to pass up.
While waiting until 2025 to snag him on a free will likely be preferable, expediting that process and tossing some money Bayern's way to get their man early isn't out of the question.
The 23-year-old has thus far attempted to quieten the noise surrounding an exit, telling Kicker (h/t Marca) that he is "very comfortable" with the German champions. But a lot can change in a short period of time, and the chance to link up with some of the brightest young talents in the game could prove irresistible.
Thiago Alcantara to Barcelona
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This potential transfer would have been a bigger story three or four years ago, but an emotional return for Thiago Alcantara to Barcelona is difficult to not feel fuzzy about.
The 32-year-old has missed all of the 2023-24 season so far after recovering from hip surgery, and his contract with Liverpool is set to expire at the end of the campaign.
While he's shown flashes of his undoubted class at Anfield, those appearances have been far too few, and an extensive rebuild in the middle of the park for the Reds has seen Thiago left as the odd man out.
With Barcelona operating on a budget and the slower pace of La Liga offering the midfielder a chance to take things easier, a romantic reconciliation is too perfect not to happen.
Lautaro Martinez to…Somewhere?
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Lautaro Martinez is again lighting up Serie A, scoring 19 goals in 19 league games for table-topping Inter Milan.
The resurgence of the Milan sides in Italy's top flight has been welcome, and despite Inter's rich and successful history, Serie A feels like a stepping stone for the world's top talents in the 2020s.
At 26 years old and with two years to run on his deal, the Nerazzurri might be getting concerned that grander stages and bigger paychecks might be too much of a draw for their star striker.
For Martinez, he won't be short of suitors. Manchester City and Chelsea seem like potentially good fits in the Premier League, while PSG could offer him plenty of money to join their lengthy quest for a Champions League title.
On the Argentinian's part, he told Sportmediaset (h/t the Associated Press) in December that he is keen to sign a new deal with Inter. But if the right offer came along, the club and the player might find it tough to turn down.
Mohamed Salah to the Saudi Pro League
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The mass exodus of star players to the Saudi Pro League seems to be slowing down a bit.
Jordan Henderson left Al-Ettifaq FC after six months, and Karim Benzema is said to be unsettled at Al-Ittihad after interest from former club Lyon, as broadcaster Ben Jacobs noted on X, formerly Twitter.
But the league's interest in bringing in Mohamed Salah is no secret, and Liverpool rejected an offer in the region of $255 million (£200 million) in the summer for the Egyptian, according to Matt Hughes of the Daily Mail.
Another bid is expected, and Jürgen Klopp's impending exit from the Reds might even push Salah further out the door if a difficult period of transition is approaching.
With a year left on his contract and the player set to turn 32 in June, a similar fee might be too enticing to pass up, and the next person in the Anfield dugout will have some welcome transfer funds to start off their reign.
While the influence of the Saudi Pro League has waned a little, a run at Salah doesn't seem out of the question, and it would herald a truly fresh era at Anfield.
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