World Cup wishlists, early movers, big clearouts: 2026 summer transfer window trends

On the move: Real Madrid’s Yan Diomande, Sevilla signing Robbie Ure and new Liverpool winger Víctor Muñoz.

Composite: Guardian picture desk On the move: Real Madrid’s Yan Diomande, Sevilla signing Robbie Ure and new Liverpool winger Víctor Muñoz.

Composite: Guardian picture desk World Cup wishlists, early movers, big clearouts: 2026 summer transfer window trends At the end of a busy transfer window which spanned the World Cup, here are some of the subplots of the summer On the World Cup wishlist … The World Cup is always a good shop window.

Yan Diomande was already a rising star at RB Leipzig but shining for Côte d’Ivoire in the US helped push up his price tag before a £115.7m move to Real Madrid.

There were other breakout stars: Switzerland’s Johan Manzambi, whose signature Aston Villa pipped Newcastle to; Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Kerim Alajbegovic, who went to Juventus; and Ghana’s Caleb Yirenkyi, who is now in the Premier League with Coventry.

Cape Verde’s cult hero Vozinha now keeps net for the Chilean giants Colo-Colo and Morocco’s attacking dynamo, Ismael Saibari, has rocked up at Bayern.

Billy Munday Time is of the essence While Europe’s wealthiest clubs generally allowed the World Cup to run its course before moving for their main targets, there were some exceptions.

Real Madrid announced the signing of Marc Cucurella for £52m as he was getting ready to start Spain’s opener against Cape Verde, then Bernardo Silva before Portugal began their campaign two days later.

Liverpool spent heavily early on as they signed Víctor Muñoz for £34.5m in mid-June and completed their pre-agreed £60m deal for Jérémy Jacquet at the start of July.

Tottenham had spent almost £230m on Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali before the last 16 was over, also adding Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers.

Other clubs seemed to treat the World Cup as an opportunity to do deals under the radar.

Bayer Leverkusen moved quickly, just as they did in January, to sign promising youngsters in Kennet Eichhorn and Afonso Moreira for a combined £32.8m in June.

Brighton were among the most proactive squad builders in the Premier League, spending just over £50m on Zadok Yohanna, Costinha and Pascal Struijk before the World Cup action had moved beyond the last 32.

Will Magee Zadok Yohanna was an early arrival for Brighton, who did not wait around to make signings.

“It’s boiling right now and it’s going to erupt.” He was not wrong.

In the end, the promoted Premier League side signed 18 players this summer for a combined sum of £156.5m.

Ipswich went even further, splashing £194.7m on 15 additions, while Coventry spent £122.4m on 11 new signings.

It is a far cry from a few years ago when many promoted teams were frugal, often relying on the players who took them to the promised land.

As recently as 2021 the three promoted teams, Norwich, Watford and Brentford, spent a combined £98.8m – with the latter’s acquisition of Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic the most expensive signing at £13m.

The fact that Premier League newcomers are spending so lavishly is a reminder of the division’s financial dominance and the game’s increasingly extreme economic disparities.

Marcus Christenson French talent factory ups its output In sharp contrast to the Premier League, where eight clubs had a net spend over £100m and only six made a net gain, 15 out of 18 Ligue 1 clubs made money on player trading this summer.

Paris Saint-Germain led the way thanks in no small part to the £123m deal which took Bradley Barcola to Liverpool, making a net profit of more than £150m overall.

Lille, who made around £100m, sanctioned big-money departures for Ayyoub Bouaddi and Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who joined Manchester City and Newcastle for £85.7m and £51m respectively.

Strasbourg, the smaller cog in BlueCo’s transfer machine, brought in almost £90m as they moved on Diego Moreira, Julio Enciso, Abdoul Ouattara, Guéla Doué, Valentín Barco and Emmanuel Emegha – the latter two moving to, that’s right, Chelsea.

While Ligue 1 has been a conveyor belt of talent for some time, its output is reaching new levels.

Of the 15 biggest fees ever received by French clubs, five have come in this window.

WM Bradley Barcola was the most expensive of numerous acquisitions from Ligue 1 clubs.

After battling relegation for much of last season, eventually finishing 15th in Serie A, the Viola have moved on 34 players either permanently or on loan, with Moise Kean and Tariq Lamptey among the high-profile departees.

No other club in Europe’s “big five” leagues can match that but Chelsea, with 33 leavers (18 on loan), are not far off.

While Chelsea made a net profit of around £60m thanks to the £125m deadline-day deal for Enzo Fernández, Fiorentina have spent more than £100m net on a rebuild from the ground up.

Depending on interpretation, that’s either a sign of Premier League money taking on a bizarre and irrational life of its own, or a lesson in the eye-watering cost of fixing a failed recruitment strategy.

WM skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Inter order the full English There has been a steady stream of English players heading to Italy in recent years, but it’s not often three turn up at one club in quick succession.

Inter have opened the floodgates this summer, signing John Stones from Manchester City on a free, Djed Spence from Tottenham for £25.6m and Curtis Jones from Liverpool for £25.7m.

The pantheon of Inter cult heroes includes Paul Ince and Ashley Young, who won the Scudetto in 2021, so the club has a longstanding Anglophile streak, but Serie A has also become an increasingly attractive destination.

With Omari Hutchinson joining Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek at Milan, the derby will have a distinctly English flavour.

WM Curtis Jones savours victory against Cagliari on his Inter debut.

Perhaps inspired by their pre-season trip to Dublin, Real Betis spent £17.1m to sign Troy Parrott from AZ, where he scored 31 goals in the Netherlands last season.

Manuel Pellegrini said moving to La Liga is a “leap” for Parrott, but it’s not as big a jump as Robbie Ure has made.

The £5.6m Glasgow-born striker, uncapped by Scotland, has become Sevilla’s new No 9 off the back of 15 goals in 15 games in the first half of the Swedish season for the unlikely Allsvenskan leaders, Sirius.

“I wanted to be in top-class environments,” the 22-year-old said.

BM Transfer tumbleweed and tight pockets They may have been the least active club in Europe’s top leagues this summer with zero new arrivals but, given their tradition of only signing players born or trained in the Basque Country, Athletic Bilbao have a good excuse.

Marseille, not so much.

Other than fulfilling their pre-agreed obligations to buy Timothy Weah and Hamed Traorè, OM have not brought in a single player while stripping their squad back to the bare bones in a drastic attempt to repair their finances.

Then there are the clubs with modest budgets who have opted for a thrifty approach.

Málaga, newly promoted to La Liga, have brought in seven players but not paid a single transfer fee.

Le Mans, new arrivals in Ligue 1, have limited themselves to two undisclosed fees while making nine signings, also allowing five players to leave without receiving a fee in return.

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