With just under two weeks to go until the European transfer window closes, clubs are busy putting the finishing touches on their rosters for the new season.
However, although there have already been some very important passes (Manchestery City spent £ 100 million to incorporate Jack Grealish, Chelsea spent £ 97.5 million to sign Romelu Lukaku and Manchester United invested £ 73 million in Jadon Sancho) despite the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, elite clubs are still struggling to get their players out to balance the books.
That means there are a lot of disgruntled players and clubs, and great uncertainty for some heading into the window stretch.
Here’s a list of some top players who could use a change of scenery if they can negotiate a way out to new pastures.
MAN UNITED: Jesse lingard
Lingard 2.0 had four excellent months on loan at West Ham last season, when he scored nine goals and five assists in 16 games, and it was enough to convince Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to give him a shot at Manchester United’s first. The problem is that the player who precedes him in the hierarchical order is Bruno Fernandes. Lingard bolstered his confidence with some stellar performances, but that will quickly dissipate if he gets sidelined on the bench too often. All the big clubs must rotate players to compete in multiple competitions, but the feeling is that Lingard’s career will suffer if he sticks around.
MAN CITY: Bernardo silva
Manchester City is well stocked with offensive midfielders and the £ 100m addition of Grealish only gives them new variants. However, Silva would have made it clear that he wants to leave, and coach Pep Guardiola took the unusual step of mentioning him by name during a press conference earlier this month, when he said: “Not just Bernardo, there are two or three players. they want to leave Manchester City, but they are our players, and when they bring an offer and want to leave, we are open to discuss it, although it depends on them. ” Silva’s problem is that he wants to move to LaLiga, where Barcelona and Real Madrid suffer unprecedented financial limitations. City wants around € 60 million for it, and there are simply no buyers at that price.
LIVERPOOL: Xherdan Shaqiri
For a player of Shaqiri’s quality, 63 games in three seasons is not enough top-notch football. The Swiss midfielder is a great alternative as a substitute, but he’s not happy playing behind Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino. It’s certainly hard to break that trio, and with Diogo Jota back in shape, he has another player ahead of him in the hierarchy. But for the sake of his career, Shaqiri would do well to move on – especially when Liverpool has a ready substitute in young Harvey Elliott – and Lyon is interested. Forward Divock Origi is another who could be reconsidering his future at Anfield after having played just 17 times last season.
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ARSENAL: Hector Bellerín
ESPN first reported in February that Arsenal had an agreement with Bellerín to allow it to find a new club this summer after a decade of service. The right-back is just 26 years old, and the Gunners have reportedly explored trade options with both Atlético and Barcelona, while talks with Inter Milan have been unsuccessful, but there seem to be few interested parties. Arsenal are well-equipped on the right-back with Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and also left-back Nuno Tavares, who played there last weekend, but none are top-notch, and Bellerín deserves more for your loyalty over the years to be evacuated out the back door.
CHELSEA: Callum Hudson-Odoi
Chelsea is a specialist in getting players who later cannot be released: the careers of Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Davide Zappacosta, Baba Rahman, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi are the proof. But Hudson-Odoi is in a different category and could raise some money if the Blues decide to let him go. Sources informed ESPN that Bayern Munich was interested last year, and while that may have cooled off, the English winger could see the £ 34 million departure of center forward Tammy Abraham to Roma this summer as a sign that you may want to start over.
TOTTENHAM: Harry winks
After a great 2016-17 season in which the midfielder made his debut for England’s senior team, Winks’ career has stalled a bit. At 25, he made just 15 Premier League appearances last season and it remains to be seen whether he has the confidence of new coach Nuno Espírito Santo. Winks did not come off the bench in the win over the champions Manchester City in the opener as they opted for young Oliver Skipp instead, and although he has spent his entire career at Tottenham, perhaps the time has come to move on. if you still have international ambitions.
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BARCELONA: Philippe Coutinho
Where to begin? With total debt amounting to € 1.35 billion, despite the departure of Lionel Messi, Barcelona is in the midst of financial disaster. They would clearly accept offers for most of the members of their squad – except for Ansu Fati and Pedri – and the defender, Samuel Umtiti, along with the midfielder, Miralem Pjanic, are topping the list among the highest earners, but no one beats Coutinho. . The Brazilian was signed for € 160m from Liverpool in 2018 but has not impressed, and it is striking that he is still at the club. Maybe he’ll get another chance (and the No. 10 jersey) now that Messi is gone, but without a doubt Coutinho has had enough of the Camp Nou.
REAL MADRID: Luka jovic
Real Madrid knows what it’s like to invest big in a player who later doesn’t turn out as expected, and their € 60m outlay to add Jovic in 2019 saw him score twice in 33 games. He turned four into 18 after re-joining his old team, Frankfurt, on loan last season. But despite the fact that Madrid has no backing for Karim Benzema at the front, Jovic is likely to relocate again. Inter Milan and West Ham have been linked to loan moves by the Serbian international, who really needs to put his nightmare at the Bernabéu behind him.
ATLETICO MADRID: Saúl Ñíguez
Having signed an incredible NINE-year contract in 2017, Saúl was going to have a hard time forcing an exit if his career plans changed. This summer it seems that he wants to leave the LaLiga champions after being disadvantaged under Diego Simeone, but Atlético is asking for more than € 50m to release him. Sources have told ESPN that Barcelona briefly explored a trade with Antoine Griezmann before negotiations collapsed, while Premier League giants Man United and Liverpool have been repeatedly linked to a move by the midfielder.
BAYERN MUNICH: Corentin Tolisso
Bayern have been outstanding in adding free-pass players in recent years (Leon Goretzka and Robert Lewandowski, for example) but after losing David Alaba for nothing to Real Madrid this summer, they could see Tolisso do the same on next year when your contract expires. The 27-year-old midfielder does not appear to have a future in Munich, but it is known that he wants to terminate his contract and evaluate his options. A change or a loan agreement could be among the possibilities before the window closes, but only if the player and the club agree.
DORTMUND: Julian Brandt
Brandt is one of those players who seems to have been at this for years, but is still 25 years old. However, having signed with Dortmund for € 25m in 2019 from Bayer Leverkusen, his career has fallen short of expected heights as he has been overshadowed by young talents such as Gio Reyna, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. He has racked up more than 40 games per season in Dortmund, but has been linked with Milan and Arsenal as doubts remain regarding his future.
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PSG: Mauro Icardi
With two goals in three games so far, Icardi’s future already seemed defined. But after the signing of Lionel Messi, suddenly everything seems to indicate that the lower-level Argentine could leave. The former Inter Milan striker has always drawn attention for his lifestyle alongside his wife and agent, Wanda Nara, off the pitch. But a return to Italy has been suggested for a while. It has been reported that Juventus could add him to a loan, and that could help PSG’s efforts to lower its payroll after the move by Messi.
JUVENTUS: Paulo dybala
One of the reasons why Juve would be behind Icardi would be doubts regarding the future of Dybala. The Argentine forward has reportedly been in the midst of negotiations over his contract for months as it will expire in 2022, with speculation of moves to Tottenham, Man United, Barcelona and Man City in recent years. His class is more than clear, with 100 goals in 254 games since joining Juve in 2015, but the fact that he has not yet been able to reach a renewal agreement after spending six years with the club could point to a deeper question. If he manages to be the main attraction when Cristiano Ronaldo leaves, maybe that could be enough for him to stay?
INTER MILAN: Alexis Sanchez
Sánchez has had a strange career. After his emergence with Udinese, he failed to live up to expectations in Barcelona. And then after restarting his career with Arsenal, he became one of the worst signings in Premier League history with Man United. He is now approaching something akin to his old form with Serie A champions Inter Milan, but the club is in the midst of a financial crisis and has been forced to move its best men. Most recently linked to a move to Napoli, staying in Italy would appear to be the best bet for the 32-year-old winger’s career.