SerpApi.Org
The 2026 FIFA World Cup concluded Sunday, bringing to an end a breathless six weeks of nonstop international soccer. Now, attention turns back to domestic matters, where clubs are in the thick of a transfer window, attempting to get their squad in order ahead of the 2026-27 season which starts again in August.
Usually, the transfer market slows to a near-halt during a World Cup as players focus on the task at hand, but this year was different. One Premier League club signed six players, the record fee paid for a British player's transfer was smashed twice, and many of Europe's top sides added at least one new arrival.
Do you feel like you've missed a few storylines recently? Fear not, we'll get you up to speed quickly. Here are 10 things you might have missed in the transfer market while the World Cup was on.
Spanish giants made an early splash
The first major deal of this transfer window was announced before summer officially started, with Newcastle United and England forward Anthony Gordon joining Barcelona for €70 million in late May. It was a signal of the Catalan giants' newfound spending powers after improving their position with regard to LaLiga's strict spending rules.
Not to be outdone, their archrivals Real Madrid also secured a marquee early deal, signing left back Marc Cucurella from Chelsea for €55 million before he went on to win the 2026 World Cup with Spain as Madrid's only representative. That pursuit was no doubt driven by José Mourinho, who has returned to manage Los Blancos in what is sure to be another blockbuster tenure.
The remarkable Julián Álvarez saga dragged on
The drama in Madrid continued throughout June, courtesy of a wild presidential election.
Florentino Pérez's rival candidate, Enrique Riquelme, claimed he had a deal agreed to bring Manchester City's star striker Erling Haaland to the club if elected, which prompted threats of legal action from City.
Meanwhile, Pérez promised to make a €150 million bid to land an "unnamed Galactico" if reelected. There was speculation that Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise might be the target, but it turned out to be Atlético Madrid striker Julian Álvarez -- who was also the subject of intense interest from Barcelona and Arsenal.
The Madrid bid was rejected, as was Barça's (which was for €100 million), which prompted a bizarre set of social media posts from Atleti, making jokingly derisory bids for Pedri and Raphinha that included tickets to a Bad Bunny concert.
The current status of this deal is that Álvarez says he wants to move on, but Atleti insist the Argentina international is going nowhere. Madrid appear to have backed down for now, but Barça and Arsenal are still in the race. You have not heard the last of this one.
AC Milan joined the party in a big way
Italy's Serie A is rarely the home of big spending these days, so that made AC Milan's €74 million signing of PSG striker Gonçalo Ramos all the more jaw-dropping.
It is a huge bet to make, as the Portugal international -- while clearly a talented finisher -- has been far from first choice in Paris over the last two seasons. Is he an elite striker in waiting, or was there a good reason for him holding a backup role for club and country (outside of giving 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo game time) these last few years?
The Rossoneri will be hoping it's the former, and they'll be hoping that their marquee hire in the dugout this summer -- fellow Portuguese Rúben Amorim -- is the key to unlocking it all. This is Amorim's first job since Manchester United sacked him in early January and this is a big opportunity to bounce back from a torrid time at Old Trafford. How will his famous 3-4-2-1 formation fare at San Siro?
The free transfer market went wild
It was a bumper year for free agency, as some incredible names called time on their tenure at one club and sought new adventures.
Real Madrid were again heavily involved in this action, as they scooped up 31-year-old midfielder Bernardo Silva from Manchester City and center back Ibrahima Konaté from Liverpool. Meanwhile, their two main rivals were weakened, as forward Antoine Griezmann (Atletico) and striker Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) departed for MLS, to Orlando City and Chicago Fire, respectively.
In the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur made a splash in this market too; center back Marcos Senesi was signed from AFC Bournemouth in a major move, and left back Andy Robertson completed his protracted transfer from Liverpool too.
Spurs spent big
Senesi and Robertson only represented the beginning of what quickly became a huge start to the window for Spurs.
By mid-June they had agreed a £52 million deal to sign Brighton center back Jan Paul van Hecke, allowing manager Roberto De Zerbi to reunite with a player he coached on the south coast.
Then at the start of July, Spurs struck two massive deals for central midfielders: £85 million for West Ham United's Mateus Fernandes and £92.5 million (potentially rising to £100 million) for Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali. It represented a complete revamp of the midfield and a major upgrade in quality -- albeit for an eye-watering overall cost.
To offset some of this spend, Spurs have already sanctioned the departure of promising 19-year-old defender Luka Vuskovic to Brighton for an initial £46 million, while 20-year-old midfielder Lucas Bergvall is also expected to depart, as Nottingham Forest are interested in him as a replacement for a certain someone ...
Elliot Anderson (briefly) broke a transfer record
Midway through the World Cup, Manchester City and Forest finally struck an agreement over the transfer of Anderson, whose future had been in limbo since the end of the season. A £116 million fee made him the most expensive British player ever (for about three weeks).
But sheer cost aside, there's another reason this represented a landmark transfer: it set the tone for some of the early Premier League spending, as the deal set a benchmark for other central midfield acquisitions. Suddenly, the fees ratcheted up, and that no doubt played a part in the final figures which Tonali and Fernandes eventually moved to Spurs for.
Manchester United, ironically, refused to get involved
One club that refused to pay that benchmarked rate was Manchester United. There's a certain irony attached to that, as the club have long been criticized for initially refusing to pay exorbitant asking fees, only to return later and do exactly that.
But United have found a smarter way this summer. On July 13 they signed Andrey Santos for £48 million, a promising young Brazilian midfielder who played around 2,500 minutes for Chelsea in 2025-26. The next day, they paid the £35 million release clause to sign 29-year-old midfielder Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, adding a proven top-end creator and progressor from central midfield.
Interestingly, in response to Tielemans' exit, Villa signed Wolves' João Gomes for £34 million, further re-establishing that the real market for central midfielders is in that price bracket. Whether it stays there or jumps back up to the levels of Tonali and Fernandes remains to be seen.
Newcastle couldn't catch a break
As Premier League clubs up and down the country were busy bolstering their squads ahead of the new campaign, Newcastle United were doing the opposite. Gordon's and Tonali's exits -- albeit for big fees -- were just the beginning of a series of unfortunate events.
The Magpies had agreed a €40 million deal to sign Osasuna and Spain winger Víctor Muñoz, only for Liverpool to steal in and take him. Then a fee in the region of £50 million was then agreed to sign Freiburg attacker Johan Manzambi after he impressed at the World Cup for Switzerland, only for Aston Villa to hijack that move too.
Getting gazumped is an extremely triggering experience for Newcastle fans these days, as they spent all of last summer being beaten to a long list of striker targets -- including João Pedro (Chelsea), Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool) and Benjamin Sesko (Manchester United) -- and getting left in the lurch late in the window.
The Magpies have managed to get some deals done: 6-foot-6 goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen (£18.5 million from Stade de Reims), winger Bazoumana Touré (£42.8 million from TSG Hoffenheim) and midfielder Sean Steur (£19.6 million from Ajax) are all talented youngsters who can refresh the squad. But excitement over their potential impact has been dampened by the persistent rumors that captain Bruno Guimarães wants to add to the exodus and join Arsenal.
Bayern moved quietly and efficiently
Bayern lined up two deals during the World Cup, both for players they know well.
First through the door was PSV Eindhoven forward Ismael Saibari for €55 million, who excelled for Morocco at the finals and, intriguingly, played well against Bayern in the Champions League last season. He looks a good stylistic fit for the role Harry Kane has carved out up front, and will act as his backup.
Next was left-back Nathaniel Brown, who joined for around the same fee as Saibari and shone so brightly in the German Bundesliga last season for Eintracht Frankfurt that he forced his way into Germany's starting XI for the World Cup.
Morgan Rogers broke Anderson's record
Three weeks after Anderson's record-breaking £116 million move to Man City was agreed, his England teammate Rogers agreed his own move to Chelsea for £1 million more. While both players were expected to move this summer for big fees, it was Rogers' £117 million deal that caused greater shock waves.
Much of that was down to the fact Rogers had been widely expected to join Arsenal, not Chelsea. The Gunners launched a charm offensive to sign the 23-year-old forward, but in the end, weren't willing to meet Villa's valuation. The Blues were and, as soon as a window of opportunity opened, got the deal wrapped up quickly.
Rogers can now call his best friend Cole Palmer a teammate, and new manager Xabi Alonso has a fascinating new attacking option who managed 31 goals and 29 assists in 125 games for Villa.
There's much more yet to be determined ...
While plenty has already happened in this summer's transfer market, there are still many dominoes left to fall. The next six weeks should bring us the clarity we've been craving over the futures of a number of star names.
Where does Marcus Rashford's future lay, given Barcelona opted against signing him permanently for his €30 million clause in June? It appears he intends to return to Manchester United if he can't find another club on the continent to play for, but how will that affect the club's budget and movements in the market?
Mohamed Salah will depart Liverpool on a free transfer a year before his contract expires as agreed, but where will he go? There have been links to Sporting Kansas City in MLS and Beşiktas in Turkey in the last week, as his World Cup campaign with Egypt has been over for a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the future for 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande is unclear, with PSG at the head of a queue of elite clubs hoping to sign him. The question is whether Leipzig have the steel to reject what would inevitably be bids of over €100 million.
But should Diomande move to Paris, what would that mean for Bradley Barcola, who has been freshly linked with Arsenal following their failure to secure Rogers? If Barcola departed but Diomande wasn't signed, would that open up a path for PSG to sign AS Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche? Or is the plan to sign both anyway?
Then there's the hot topic of Enzo Fernández's future. Will the Argentina midfielder remain at Chelsea, or be granted his wish to leave the club? In order to go, he'll need a club to stump up a bid of over €100 million or more, and his stock just took an untimely hit as he was sent off in the World Cup final.
