The yearly buzz of the summer transfer market is one of a kind. The constant rumours from every club are very hard to follow. This can lead to people missing some bigger transfers. Well, I’m here to help. Looking through the list of transfers this summer, I usually find some surprise transfers that went under the radar, so let me take you through some of these transfers, ones that didn’t have massive media coverage so you might have missed them. Let’s begin.
Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa
After a long saga with links to clubs from across the globe, an ambitious Aston Villa has ended up winning the Diaby race. I personally love Diaby, and while its completely possible that he ends up as another Leon Bailey, he’s much better than Bailey ever was at Leverkusen. After losing him in 2019, PSG will be regretting not keeping this winger, especially as he would have been a superb Messi replacement. Although a 55 million euro price tag is a lot for Aston Villa, Diaby will prove that he is worth it.
Lois Openda to RB Leipzig
As well as the Xavi Simons loan and Benjamin Sesko signing, RB Leipzig have made shrewd business this window. The star forward of Lens’ title charge and another player with loads of pace and still fairly young, Lois Openda has the potential to become an Mbappe lite type of player. Pairing Openda with a player like Timo Werner in attack, defenders will be dreading the games vs Leipzig this season.
Jota to Al Ittihad
This is a really head scratching move. After two amazing seasons at Celtic, Jota seemed like he’d get his big move to a top team in a top European move, but he instead joined Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante in the Saudi Pro League. Sure, he’s getting some money now, but this is a red flag on his ambition. He could have joined a big European club and gone to Saudi in a few years for even more, but he’s seemingly a firm believer in the saying “One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.
Evan Ndicka to Roma
5 successful years at Frankfurt later, Evan Ndicka joins Jose Mourinho’s Roma side. I believe Mourinho will revolutionize Ndicka’s game, and in a few years, Ndicka will join a major club for the prime of his career. However, it is Mourinho’s 3rd Roma season, so anything can happen.
Konrad Laimer to Bayern
After 16 years in the Red Bull system, Konrad Laimer has made the big move to Bayern. However, exactly who is he replacing? As long as Ryan Gravenberch is a Bayern player, he should be first in line to replace any of the midfielders, even if both Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich have been linked with moves away from Bayern. If neither leave, Laimer is in even worse of a position. If Laimer just wants trophies, this is a great move for him. If he wants to improve his standing and career though, He’ll just be a bench player at Bayern.
Nathan Collins to Brentford
Nathan Collins needs to stop making sideways moves every window. The move for him would have been a team like Brighton or Spurs who need a solid defender. Brentford are just as in danger of relegation as Wolves were, but maybe he’ll prove me wrong. The Center Back is the hope of Irish football, and distinguished himself at Wolves last season. Hopefully he can progress more into a Ben White type defender, or even better, he’s only 22, so who knows?
Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting
While Viktor Gyokeres’ name went under the radar in mainstream news, it was impossible to escape his name in Championship spaces. The talisman in a Coventry team which made it to the playoff final against the odds, Gyokeres has decided to take the leap to Sporting to make a name for himself in Portugal. He can make it happen with Paulinho getting older, and I think that Gyokeres will either do so well that he moves to a Top 5 league or he could stay and be Sporting’s starting striker for at least the next half decade.
Marcel Sabitzer to Dortmund
Having switched players 9 times in the last 9 years with players like Mats Hummels and Mario Gotze switching clubs multiple times, the “rivals” don’t really seem like it in the transfer market. Having inherited the #22 shirt from the departed Jude Bellingham, Sabitzer has big boots to fill. While his form at Bayern and his 6-month Man Utd loan is a warning, Dortmund are hoping that his Leipzig self turns up at Dortmund. Honestly, it would be hilarious if Sabitzer helps Dortmund win the league at Bayern’s expense and I would love to see it.
Anthony Elanga to Nottingham Forest
What happened to Anthony Elanga? Just 2 seasons ago, this kid was living his dream, scoring goals in the UCL vs Atlético Madrid, scoring every other week in the league, and one disappointing season later, he’s out of the club. Forest have pulled a coup of sorts, but in the transfer market, need to change their transfer strategy from signing every single player their scouts bring back. They have as well this window, only adding two new players, in Elanga and an Ola Aina loan.
El Chadaille Bitshiabu to RB Leipzig
Another one bites the dust. After losing so many promising youth players only to have them succeed at another club, This one was surprising. After being in and out of the PSG first team this season and distinguishing himself as a top prospect to potentially be a staple in PSG and France’s defences in the future, but he’s gone for RB Leipzig, who also signed Christopher Nkunku from PSG in 2019, and is overall a great youth development club. I hope he does well.
That’s all for this post. I hope I at least covered a few transfers you didn’t know had happened. I may do another after the transfer window ends in August, but for now, I’m Jim James, and I’ll see you next time.