Who's going where? A roundup of the 2023 transfer window so far
The transfer window has only been open for a few weeks, but we have already seen some huge moves. So let’s take a look at who’s moved where so far and some concrete rumours of transfers nearing the finish line!
One of the most talented midfielders in the world, Bellingham’s rise to the top has surprised no one as he was able to secure his move to Real Madrid aged just 19 (he turned 20 on 29/06/23). The deal is worth an initial £88.5m rising to £115m, breaking the record for the most valuable British player.
This came a little out of the blue (no pun intended) as the ex-Chelsea player wasn’t expected to move this summer. Still, Mikel Arteta has identified him as his Granit Xhaka replacement leading Arsenal to splash £65m on the German.
With Maddison unable to keep his Leicester side in the Premier League last season, a move was all but guaranteed. Tottenham have got a steal by signing the Englishman for ‘just’ £40m adding some serious firepower to their attack.
Whilst Saudi Arabia welcomes an influx of aging superstars, the 26-year-old has decided to move in the prime of his career. Wolves received £47m for the Portuguese who is set to earn around £500,000 a week!
Despite City winning the treble last season, they were unable to convince club captain Gundogan to stay as he left for Barcelona after his contract expired. City’s loss is Barca’s gain as they bolster their midfield with the experienced German.
Never a team to sit on their laurels, City were quick to replace their loss in midfield snapping up Kovacic from Chelsea. The Croatian adds steel and technical quality to a City side already dripping with both.
Whilst this isn’t 100% confirmed, by all accounts the Korean is moving to Bavaria after a successful spell at Napoli. Munich won the Bundesliga last season despite having a down year and look to be reloading for the future with Kim Min-jae as a key cog moving forward.
Despite interest from Man City, Declan Rice looks to be joining the North London club in a move worth £105m. Arsenal are opening the chequebook in this window as they look to go one better than their second-place finish last year and Rice will instantly take them up a level.
Real Madrid were very open to keeping the Frenchman, but ultimately an expected salary of around 100 million Euros per season was too big to turn down. Saudi football is in the midst of a state-backed revolution with crazy money being thrown around and Benzema is one of the biggest names moving to the Gulf state.
One player the Saudis couldn’t lure was Lionel Messi who is taking his talents to South Beach. David Beckham’s Inter Miami side, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, pulled out all the stops to secure the Argentine’s signature, including a revenue share of the league’s streaming rights.
Chelsea’s insistence on signing every attacking player in the world continued with the signing of the talented Frenchman. Nkunku’s signing was all but confirmed in January with the switch made official earlier this month. Chelsea again showed their willingness to pay the big bucks, spending £52m for the ex-Leipzig player.
One of the bargains of the window so far with Liverpool activating Mac Allister’s release clause of £35m to strengthen their aging midfield. The World Cup winner looks a ready-made player for Klopp’s system and should see them return to title contention next season.
Another Arsenal transfer which, whilst not confirmed, seems inevitable at this stage with Ajax expecting to receive around £43m for the versatile defender. Stan Kroenke is certainly doing his best to leave his ‘Silent Stan’ nickname behind.
Despite nearly a month of talks, this transfer is yet to reach its conclusion with United rumoured to be willing to walk away from the deal if Chelsea don’t accept their most recent bid of £55m. Talks are ongoing so don’t be surprised to see this one going ahead fairly soon.
Bayern Munich have identified Kane as their number one attacking target after Madrid and United backed out of talks for the Spurs captain. Whether this deal happens or not is tough to tell with Spurs owner Daniel Levy known for his tough negotiation tactics.