There is now just a week to go before the 2025 summer transfer window slams shut, meaning the clock is very much ticking for several players still waiting for the moves they’ve been so desperately seeking. Consequently, agents all over Europe are scrambling around right now trying to tempt clubs to bid for the clients.
There is, though, a division to be drawn between those stars that want a transfer and those that actually need one. For example, we know that Alexander Isak has his heart set on a switch to Liverpool, and his attempts to make the move happen have upset pretty much everyone at Newcastle. However, it’s not as if Isak has to leave St. James’ Park because Eddie Howe wants him out; on the contrary, the manager is desperately hoping to hold onto his striker and has been very clear about his belief that he could successfully reintegrate the Swede into his squad.
Other players, though, know that if they don’t find a new club, they’re going to spend the coming campaign sitting either on the bench or in the stands – and not by choice. So, with deadline day on September 1 looming, BALLGM picks out the big names that need a transfer for the sake of their careers…
There is now just a week to go before the 2025 summer transfer window slams shut, meaning the clock is very much ticking for several players still waiting for the moves they’ve been so desperately seeking. Consequently, agents all over Europe are scrambling around right now trying to tempt clubs to bid for the clients.
There is, though, a division to be drawn between those stars that want a transfer and those that actually need one. For example, we know that Alexander Isak has his heart set on a switch to Liverpool, and his attempts to make the move happen have upset pretty much everyone at Newcastle. However, it’s not as if Isak has to leave St. James’ Park because Eddie Howe wants him out; on the contrary, the manager is desperately hoping to hold onto his striker and has been very clear about his belief that he could successfully reintegrate the Swede into his squad.
Other players, though, know that if they don’t find a new club, they’re going to spend the coming campaign sitting either on the bench or in the stands – and not by choice. So, with deadline day on September 1 looming, BALLGM picks out the big names that need a transfer for the sake of their careers…
Where to begin at Chelsea?! Just like last summer, the free-spending Blues have a plethora of players in dire need of a transfer going into the final week of the season.
Ben Chilwell is searching for a new home for the second consecutive summer after making little impact during a six-month spell at Crystal Palace last season, and he has been re-joined in Enzo Maresca’s dreaded ‘bomb squad’ by Raheem Sterling who failed miserably to turn his loan stay at Arsenal into a permanent transfer. Axel Disasi is also surplus to requirements following his own loan spell at Aston Villa, though speculation is mounting that he could soon secure a move to either Bournemouth or Wolves.
It would also be a big surprise if forward duo Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are still at Stamford Bridge when the window shuts, with Maresca having made it painfully clear that he has no interest in retaining the services of either player.
Nkunku could well return to RB Leipzig if the reported interest of Bayern Munich and Tottenham doesn’t materialise into at least one concrete offer, while Jackson is a potential solution to Aston Villa or Newcastle’s striking problems.
One doesn’t necessarily have to feel sorry for Gigi Donnarumma. AC Milan supporters certainly won’t have a lot of sympathy for the academy product who left the Rossoneri for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer four years ago. However, any football fan would be forced to admit that Donnarumma is desperately unfortunate to have been deemed surplus to requirements at Parc des Princes by Luis Enrique – despite playing an absolutely pivotal role in PSG’s historic Champions League triumph last season.
Also, even accounting for the fact that Lucas Chevalier had already arrived to replace Donnarumma, there appeared little need to freeze the Italy international out of the first team in order to force him into finding a new club. Donnarumma and his inner circle are unsurprisingly upset by the way in which he has been treated by PSG, but the only thing that matters now is him securing a transfer to a top team in the next seven days.
The good news for one of the best shot-stoppers in world football is that he only has one year left on his contract, so PSG can’t charge too much for his services – which is why Manchester City are said to be interested in signing Donnarumma if Ederson leaves.
Endrick is very clearly a special talent, but making the grade at Real Madrid is never easy – especially not for a teenager coming from a different league, country and culture. Remember, Endrick’s fellow Brazilians Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo both took time to nail down a regular starting spot at Santiago Bernabeu.
Furthermore, nobody is suggesting that the Palmeiras product should give up on his dream of becoming a superstar in the Spanish capital. However, the common consensus is that Endrick needs game time at this important stage of his development – and he’s not guaranteed any under new Madrid boss Xabi Alonso. Indeed, the Spaniard seems to view academy product Gonzalo Garcia as a more reliable understudy to first-choice striker Kylian Mbappe than Endrick, who has yet to see a minute of game time in La Liga this season.
It would, therefore, be best for everyone involved if Endrick were to go out on loan this season. If not, the 19-year-old attacker, who has already been capped 14 times by Brazil, runs the risk of missing out on Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for next year’s World Cup.
Randal Kolo Muani knew he needed a change of scenery after making just 10 Ligue 1 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain during the first half of last season, so he jumped at the opportunity to join Juventus in January. That loan spell worked out wonderfully well for both the forward and his new team, with Kolo Muani becoming the first player since the great Roberto Baggio to score in his first three Serie A games for the Bianconeri.
A permanent move to Turin, thus, appeared a formality but Juve have yet to agree a deal with PSG with just a week of the summer window remaining. According to reports in Italy, the French outfit have increased their asking price, much to the frustration of the cash-strapped Old Lady.
Kolo Muani, for his part, remains so intent on joining Juve that he’s reportedly willing to take a pay cut to help make the move happen, while it’s also been claimed that he’s resisting advances from elsewhere. A breakthrough is required sooner rather than later, though, as Kolo Muani wants to represent France at the 2026 World Cup – and that won’t happen if he ends up back at PSG.
Just like Chelsea, Manchester United have their own ‘bomb squad’. The big difference between the two clubs, though, is that the Blues have proven themselves far more adept at clearing dead wood than the Red Devils.
Still, United appear to be close to agreeing a deal with Napoli for £64 million flop Rasmus Hojlund who is definitely no longer required at Old Trafford following the arrival of Benjamin Sesko and could well benefit from returning to Serie A to work with Antonio Conte. There’s also ongoing hope that Chelsea, of all clubs, might actually take Alejandro Garnacho off their hands, with the Argentine rather amusingly viewing Stamford Bridge as the right place to kickstart his career.
However, it feels like Jadon Sancho needs to have a serious conversation with his representatives about the direction in which he’s been taken, given the word in Italy is that exorbitant agent fees are blocking a proposed transfer to Roma, who have apparently now walked away from the negotiating table.
As for Antony Real Betis reportedly remain keen on signing the Brazilian, who made such a positive impact on loan with the Spanish side last season that he forced his way back into the Brazil squad – something nobody at Old Trafford saw coming given the disastrous nature of his performances for United. Rumours are rife, though, that Betis might even hold off until deadline day before making an offer, which would hardly be an ideal situation for the wantaway winger.
Finally, Tyrell Malacia is also facing an anxious wait to see if anyone will bring an end to his misery in Manchester, with the Dutch defender now training away from the rest of the United squad after returning to the club following a six-month loan spell at PSV during the second half of last season.
Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice were immense for England at Euro 2020. It looked like the Three Lions midfield was set for years to come.
Unfortunately, the two players’ careers have gone in very different directions since then. Rice is showing why Arsenal made him a £100m player, but Phillips is once again looking for a new club after failed loan spells at West Ham and Ipswich Town, having suffered an even more dramatic decline at Manchester City than Jack Grealish.
The crazy thing is that Phillips is still only 29 and the hope is that rumours of a return to Leeds come to fruition, as going back home would at least give him a shot at finishing a once-promising career with a flourish.
Adrien Rabiot was unquestionably one of Roberto De Zerbi’s best players at Marseille last season. Over the past week, though, the midfielder became persona non grata at the Stade Velodrome.
Although the exact details of what happened in the Marseille dressing room after last week’s shock Ligue 1 loss at Rennes are unknown, what we do know is that Rabiot and team-mate Jonathan Rowe were involved in a heated row. The two players were promptly suspended and then placed on the transfer list, much to the shock of Rabiot and his representatives, who believed that everyone would quickly move on after the incident.
However, Marseille president Pablo Longoria claimed that in all their years in football, neither he nor De Zerbi had ever seen anything like what happened at Roazhon Park, describing it as an “event of extreme gravity and violence” that left the French side with no option but to get rid of both Rabiot and Rowe.
The latter has already agreed to move to Bologna, but Rabiot’s future remains unclear.
De Zerbi suggested on Saturday that there could be a way back for Rabiot, revealing that while the 30-year-old had\”made a misake, there’s a chance to fix things”. According to TF1 the Marseille players are also open to Rabiot rejoining the squad.
However, Rabiot has never made any secret of the fact that it has always been his “dream” to one day play in England, meaning there are also rumours that he’s now looking to join a Premier League club as he remains upset by the way in which he’s been ‘hung out to dry’ by Longoria and other key figures at the Velodrome.
Rodrygo has a very difficult decision to make. The Brazil international didn’t see a single second of action in Real Madrid’s Liga opener against Osasuna last Tuesday, which appeared to confirm that coach Xabi Alonso sees no room for Rodrygo in his first-choice 11.
However, the 24-year-old was selected in his preferred position on the left wing ahead of Vinicius Jr in Sunday’s game at Real Oviedo. The issue for Rodrygo, then, is that Alonso seems to view him as little more than a rotational player – which is a frustrating position for the versatile attacker to find himself in, given he was once considered so crucial to Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid.
Unfortunately for Rodrygo, that’s the nature of the situation and his hopes of regular starts certainly weren’t aided by the fact that he contributed little against Oviedo before being replaced by Vinicius, who chipped in with a goal and an assist.
It would be a surprise, then, if Rodrygo didn’t push for a transfer before deadline day, as he simply cannot afford to spend his time sitting on the bench in a World Cup year. However, who is even capable of paying the massive fee Madrid are demanding – let alone willing to do so – at this stage of the window? As it stands, Liverpool and Manchester City look like the only possible candidates.
Kostas Tsimikas had a pretty good 2024-25 season. He played 18 times during Liverpool’s title-winning campaign and put first-choice left-back Andy Robertson under more pressure than at any previous point of his spell on Merseyside. However, the summer signing of Milos Kerkez, who is unquestionably viewed as Robertson’s long-term successor, has relegated Tsimikas to third in the pecking order at Anfield, meaning a change of clubs is utterly essential.
Truth be told, it’s shocking that the Greece international hasn’t already left Liverpool, given there was talk of interest from other English clubs earlier in the window, including Nottingham Forest. It’s been claimed that Tsimikas’ preference is for a move abroad, though, and there have been rumours in recent days that both Roma and Marseille are mulling over a move, while a return to Olympiacos hasn’t been ruled out.
What we do know for certain is that a transfer is in everyone’s interests, which is why reports that Liverpool are now even willing to consider a loan deal make an awful lot of sense. Arne Slot just doesn’t need three left-backs in his squad this season, while Tsimikas, at 29 years of age, should be playing regular first-team football.
Dusan Vlahovic once claimed that he could reach the same level as Erling Haaland and a multi-million euro move to Juventus provided him with the platform to do so. However, the Serbian’s time in Turin has just gone from bad to worse over the past couple of seasons, with Vlahovic even booed by his own team’s fans in a pre-season friendly just over a week ago.
Vlahovic was targeted again when he came off the bench in Sunday’s Serie A opener against Parma, so when he scored just a few minutes later, he stood defiantly in front of the curva with his arms aloft and a defiant expression on his face as jeers turned to cheers.
Coach Igor Tudor has repeatedly defended Vlahovic – and did so again after the 2-0 win but he freely admitted that he has no idea if the striker will still be at Juve when the window closes, revealing only that the cash-strapped club will continue trying to cash in on a player who has just one year left on his contract.
The Bianconeri have, thus far, struggled to find any interested buyers but that’s a little strange as there’s clearly still a potentially lethal No.9 in there – as underlined by the fact that Vlahovic has managed to score 44 times in 105 Serie A appearances for a struggling Juve side. Indeed, there’s every chance that Vlahovic could have a big season – but only if he manages to find a way out of Turin.
It’s funny to think about it now, but during their impressive starts to life at the Emirates, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus were considered game-changing signings for Arsenal, a couple of serial winners from Manchester City capable of turning Mikel Arteta’s team into champions.
As a defender blessed with the ability to step seamlessly into midfield, Zinchenko looked like an especially astute signing. However, despite the Ukrainian’s impressive versatility, Arteta can no longer find any real use for Zinchenko, who even struggled to even get a game at left-back last season ahead of right-footed team-mates.
With Riccardo Calafiori fit again (for now at least), Zinchenko’s first-team prospects are almost non-existent right now as he is also behind Myles Lewis-Skelly in the pecking order while Jurrien Timber can cover both flanks, and, as the 28-year-old recently said himself, “A player who doesn’t play is nothing.”
One can only hope, then, a side comes in for Zinchenko in the coming days.
