THE 2024 summer transfer window is still to catch fire, despite a multitude of moves being finalized in recent weeks.
Among them are some intriguing captures for sure, with Manchester United securing a highly promising centre-back in Leny Yoro as well as Joshua Zirkzee, a 6ft 4 forward who loves a dribble or three. The Dutchman averaged 4.32 of them per 90 in Serie A last term.
Elsewhere, young fearless wingers are the flavour of the month and that’s to be celebrated. Brazilians Savio and Luis Guilherme, along with Yankuba Minteh, will get bums off seats at the Etihad, London Stadium and the Amex respectively in the season to come, and beyond.
Yet for all the excitement they promise, where is the big, blockbuster transfer that every window needs to hang its hat on? The one that gets everybody talking and elicits headlines days after the event. That still awaits us. That still eludes us.
Would Marc Guehi switching to Anfield fulfil this grandiose criteria? Probably not given his position, but in every other context it would be a highly significant swoop, it featuring an England star transferring from a mid-table top-flight side to a title challenger. In that regard it has echoes of John Stones moving to Manchester City and Harry Maguire to United.
Furthermore, it would be Liverpool’s first recruitment post-Klopp and what a statement buy it would be, the defender having long established himself as one of the best around and a consistent totem for Crystal Palace.
This summer his performances at the Euros has seen his stature elevated further and it’s interesting to note that his Three Lions team-mates nicknamed Guehi ‘Uncle’ for his calm and authoritative demeanour.
That has echoes of Virgil van Dijk.
So will the Reds get their man, a player who has topped their defensive wish-list from the get-go?
For a while it seemed like Arsenal’s interest was complicating matters, that was until the Gunners were put off by the player’s £70m price-tag, a premium fee partly explained by Chelsea being due 20% of any deal. That put Arsenal out of the equation.
That was until stories began to surface this past week, suggesting they were back in contention, but it’s important to go to the source here, and acknowledge the lack of substance.
In essence, a Sunday Sport journalist remembered that Crystal Palace were very keen on Eddie Nketiah a while back and then observed that the striker is likely to depart the Emirates this summer. Two and two were put together and a swap-plus-cash deal was proffered in print, a hypothetical scenario that was widely shared by others.
In reality, Arsenal are set to sign Riccardo Calafiori and are out of the conversation, as too are United after procuring Yoro. Liverpool therefore have a clear-ish run at their number one target, just so long as they can drive the price down to nearer £60m
It bodes well incidentally, that Palace have brought in Chadi Riad from Barcelona, possibly in preparation of Guehi leaving.
Another transfer fancied to happen prior to September 1st is Jadon Sancho to PSG, a club he terrorized last season in the Champions League while on loan at Dortmund.
Much has been made of Erik Ten Hag publicly drawing a line under last season’s fall-out that saw the Dutchman be critical of his winger’s application in training. This led to Sancho insisting he had become a ‘scapegoat’ at Old Trafford.
This in turn led to exile, first via a suspension, then a loan spell in the Bundesliga.
The 24-year-old turned out for the Reds last weekend in a friendly against Rangers, his first outing for his parent club since last August, but don’t for a minute believe that all is now well between the warring factions.
Because while Ten Hag is advocating peace and reconciliation the club are offering their prized flop around to potential suitors, pricing him in the region of £40m. As for the disgruntled player, it is telling that he hasn’t posted once on social media about his return to United.
There is no mention of them in his bio. There has been no ‘The second act starts now’ post trumpeting a comeback, accompanied by a photo of the winger training hard in United gear. Indeed, any reference to the Reds remains deleted from his Instagram page.
It’s a small detail but revealing, nonetheless. Dortmund have shied away from the player’s valuation while there has been tepid interest from Juventus. PSG, however, are in the hunt for two wingers this summer with Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Sancho at the very top of their shopping list.
Sometimes a transfer just makes sense, such is the way of Ivan Toney going to Tottenham.
According to reliable accounts, the striker is keen on a move to North London – preferring Spurs to West Ham, the other dog in this race – and furthermore has issued a veiled threat of running his contract down unless Brentford lower their £65m valuation
There have even been suggestions that personal terms have already been agreed between the England star and his potential next employer.
As a counter-balance to the above, there are some within the Spurs fan-base who insist that Toney doesn’t fit Ange Postecoglou’s profile, in terms of his age and personality. The clubs meanwhile remain miles apart in their valuations.
Yet with the Bees signing Igor Thiago from Club Brugge for £30m they seem resigned to losing a player who has blasted 72 goals in 141 appearances for them. As for Spurs, they need a centre-forward, plain and simple.
Should a compromise be reached this feels like a goer. Moreover, it just makes sense.
It’s hardly a secret that Arsenal are in the market for a striker this summer, while it’s common knowledge that Viktor Gyokeres is the player that most interests them.
As he should. Because after showing himself to be several levels above the Championship while at Coventry, ending his final season there by topping every metric going in the division, from shots on target to chances created, the Swede then moved to Portugal whereupon he’s performed wonders.
In 50 outings for Sporting, in the the Primeira Liga and continental competition, the imposing targetman has fired 43 goals and carved out 15 assists. That amounts to a goal involvement every 71.8 minutes.
The player’s £84m release clause has been a sticking point to this juncture, with the Gunners only prepared to go as high as £60m. The expected sale of Eddie Neketiah to Marseille however could change that narrative quite quickly.
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