I tried all my possible best to stop Him from joining Chelsea but Instead He still choose to join them,I still can’t believe what He sees in that team though’: Kylian Mbappe CONFIRMED His £80m have agreed personal terms to join Chelsea in the summer
So, the January transfer window was a bust. Premier League clubs only spent just over £100 million on new players — a mere 1/8th of 2023’s eye-popping £800m+ outlay. With profit and sustainability rules (PSR) looming large and both Everton and Nottingham Forest charged with breaches, clubs were cautious with their money.
There was no Saudi Arabian cash to fuel manic spending sprees this time around either, and the knock-on effect that had on the rest of Europe was keenly felt on deadline day, as very little actually happened.
But fear not! The summer will be different. Many Premier League clubs will turn the page on a new financial year and be able to spend, Saudi Arabia will stalk the market once again and that will bring the rest of Europe into spending contention too.
With that in mind — and with a wish to forget 2024’s truly dry January in haste — let’s take a way-too-early look ahead to major transfer deals we could see happen this summer.
Sources have confirmed to ESPN that Mbappé will finally make a free transfer to Real Madrid this summer when his contract expires, bringing an excruciating saga to a close (although we have said that before!)
There’s still plenty to figure out before this one actually gets rubber-stamped, like the Frenchman’s weekly wage and Summer Olympics availability, but the most important factor — Mbappé’s own decision — is now cemented.
Should he move to the Santiago Bernabéu this summer, he’ll forgo a huge bonus payment of around €80m owed to him by PSG and join forces with the electric trio of Vinícius Jr., Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, forming perhaps the most feared attacking quartet in the world
Summer 2024 already promises to be tough for Liverpool, as long-serving manager Jürgen Klopp has announced he’ll step away from the club. The last thing they need is fearful speculation over Salah too, but it’s almost guaranteed Al Ittihad — who bid €170m to sign him last summer — will try their luck again a year on.
At that stage Salah will have just one year left on his deal, handing something of an advantage to Al Ittihad in negotiations, as they’ll play on the fact they could sign the Egypt international for free the following summer. This is essentially Liverpool’s last chance to pick up a mammoth transfer fee, which judging by history, is something they’ve always been willing and cold-blooded enough to do.
Mohamed Salah: Liverpool to Al Ittihad, €120m
Summer 2024 already promises to be tough for Liverpool, as long-serving manager Jürgen Klopp has announced he’ll step away from the club. The last thing they need is fearful speculation over Salah too, but it’s almost guaranteed Al Ittihad — who bid €170m to sign him last summer — will try their luck again a year on.
At that stage Salah will have just one year left on his deal, handing something of an advantage to Al Ittihad in negotiations, as they’ll play on the fact they could sign the Egypt international for free the following summer. This is essentially Liverpool’s last chance to pick up a mammoth transfer fee, which judging by history, is something they’ve always been willing and cold-blooded enough to do.
Just think: Klopp and Salah gone? That truly would feel like the end of an era.
Ivan Toney: Brentford to a ‘top six’ club, €60m
Toney has never hidden his desire to play for a top Premier League side and having just returned from an eight-month betting suspension, that desire will likely only have intensified as he seeks to make up for lost time
Like Salah, Toney’s contract expires in 2025, meaning he’ll enter the final 12 months of his deal this summer. A club like Brentford, who continually punch above their weight by moving players on for transfer profit, will almost certainly accept it’s time for him to leave. But they will still demand a significant fee.
Chelsea and Arsenal are likely to enter that conversation, perhaps others too. If he impresses for England at Euro 2024 then it could complicate things, but by September it’s almost certain Toney will have a new home.
Karim Benzema: To leave Al Ittihad, Free
Benzema was touted for a late January transfer due to the untenable situation he finds himself in at Al Ittihad: He’s reportedly training in isolation after falling out with management and made it clear that he wanted to depart. Chelsea, Arsenal and his boyhood club Lyon were all mentioned as possible rescue destinations, but his astronomical wages (over €100m per year, tax-free), age (36), and concerning injury record probably all contributed to teams eventually steering clear.
Perhaps over the next five months he and Al Ittihad will reconcile, leading to his re-introduction to the team. But if not, Benzema will need to find a new club. It could be as simple as reallocating him within the Saudi Pro League, but he was not keen on that idea for a January loan and a return to Europe could once again be on the cards.
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