10 deals already ‘done’ ahead of the summer

The end of the 2020/21 season is near, which means the summer transfer window is almost upon us again.

The summer window is often the most bizarre time in football as rumours fly around with absolutely no veracity to them, generating mountains of hype while substantial deals can sometimes slip under the radar. It’s impossible to avoid getting caught up in it, especially when names as colossal as Erling Haaland, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi himself might be moving this summer.

But enough about “might” – what about players that we are almost certain are moving? Either because the move is already official or as good as official? Those kind of transfers do exist, and we’ve found 10 of them for you here:

Eric Garcia

From: Manchester City
To: Barcelona
For: Free

In the beginning is the end. A wonderkid is leaving Manchester City. This one has been as good as done for almost a year as Pep Guardiola confirmed that Eric Garcia wasn’t renewing his contract because he wanted to re-join Barcelona prior to the season even beginning. The Catalan coach made it “official” recently with his comments praising Garcia’s attitude despite his non-existent game time.

“Most of the time he’s not on the bench because he’s going to move to Barcelona, I hope so. It’s tough, but it is what it is,” said Guardiola. Garcia has waited patiently for his move and will join a Barcelona in much better shape than he would have, had he got the move in 2020. The Blaugrana have won the Copa del Rey and are in the hunt for La Liga with a vibrant team full of young talent that Garcia should fit perfectly in with, as he looks to take his game to the next level.

Sergio Aguero

From: Manchester City
To: Barcelona
For: Free

Sergio Aguero has taken his game to some of the highest levels a player can go and now he wants a new challenge. To that end he is leaving Manchester City, and according to TyC Sports and AS, that challenge will see him suit up in Blaugrana alongside his best friend Messi. Aguero has been presented a contract and is all but sure to sign, eventually. Having a poacher as lethal as Aguero playing back-up to Barcelona’s young forwards like Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembélé could be a lethal mix.

Angelino

From: Manchester City
To: RB Leipzig
For: £16m

Another Man City exit and again one they may not notice. Angelino has been on loan at RB Leipzig all season and impressed them so much (being their top scorer as they qualified second in their Champions League group, eliminating Manchester United on the last day) that they have taken up the purchase option in his contract. He will join officially become a full-time member of the German side in the summer when his loan expires.

Ibrahima Konate

From: RB Leipzig
To: Liverpool
For: £30.5m

Leipzig aren’t just buying, they’re selling too. Liverpool’s need for a centre-back has been obvious this season and so they’ve gone for Leipzig’s defensive wonderkid Ibrahima Konaté. The young Frenchman has all the skills necessary to explode under Jurgen Klopp much as Virgil van Dijk did; just gotta watch out for those injuries.

Dayot Upamecano

From: RB Leipzig
To: Bayern Munich
For: €42.5m

Losing one wonderkid centre-back is bad enough but Leipzig are going to have to start again at the back as they are also losing Dayot Upamecano. They say all roads in the Roman Empire led to Rome, well all players in the Bundesliga seem to eventually join Bayern Munich and Upamecano is no exception. Kicker report that he will join for a hefty fee and will no doubt form a key part of Bayern’s new back-line under Julian Nagelsmann.

Omar Richards

From: Reading
To: Bayern Munich
For: Free

Bayern’s summer recruitment didn’t end with Upamecano, however, as Sky Sports say they plan to dip into the Championship to sign Omar Richards. The young Englishman would serve as back-up to Alphonso Davies on the left (with Nagelsmann in charge, it’s easy to see Davies and Richards sharing that left wing-back role Angelino thrived in at Leipzig).

David Alaba

From: Bayern Munich
To: Real Madrid
For: Free

All these incomings at Bayern balance out the fact that club stalwart David Alaba is going to leave the club on a free transfer. It’s been an open secret since January that the versatile Austrian will be signing for Real Madrid, where he could be their back-up left-back, back-up centre-back, or enter into their midfield rotation with Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro.

Boubakary Soumaré

From: Lille
To: Leicester
For: £25m

Let the raiding begin! Lille are on the verge of winning Ligue 1 and so, like Monaco before them, their most promising talents are ready to be poached by larger clubs. The first of these is Boubakary Soumare, the 22-year-old central midfielder who is on his way to Leicester. Nothing official yet but Fabrizio Romano has been reporting the deal as close to being done and Wesley Fofana tweeted (and later deleted) some cryptic message hinting that a deal for his France u-21 team-mate was close. Soumaré is an excellent talent, solid defensively and with a wonderful ability to escape pressure with the ball at his feet. He should fit in well under Brendan Rodgers.

Weston McKennie

From: Schalke
To: Juventus
For: €18.5m

Weston McKennie joined Juventus on loan from Schalke last summer, with Juve probably hoping he could develop into decent squad depth. However, he has exceeded all expectations and is now one of the most important midfielders in Andrea Pirlo’s side. Consequently, they exercised their buy option for this coming summer, securing the American for just under €20m.

Matteo Darmian

From: Parma
To: Inter
For: €1.8m

Remember Matteo Darmian? Manchester United reject? Well he’s about to win Serie A with Inter, where he’s on loan from Parma. That loan deal has an obligatory buy clause that Inter will be all to happy to pay as the Italian has proven an incredibly useful squad player this season, even contributing two game-winning goals to the Nerazzuri cause and pushing them to the brink of ending Juve’s near decade-long strangehold on Serie A.

Fikayo Tomori

Fikayo Tomori is the first English player to score for AC Milan since David Beckham in January 2009. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yc3F3TbSHh

— Squawka (@Squawka) May 9, 2021

From: Chelsea
To: Milan
For: €25m

Staying in Milan, the brilliant defender Fikayo Tomori who is on loan there from Chelsea and was most recently seen dominating the Juventus attack in a 3-0 win for the Rossoneri, is going to make the move permanent. Manager Stefano Pioli has said he wants to see Tomori back next season and everyone is reporting that a deal will be done as Milan activate the purchase clause in his loan contract. Like Thanos, this seems inevitable.

Kayky

From: Fluminense
To: Manchester City
For: £9m

In the end is the beginning. A wonderkid is joining Manchester City. Kayky is the latest in a long line of promising young dribbling forwards in the Brazilian leagues. He is set to join the club, albeit not until the end of the Brazilian season, and Man City will be glad to have secured his services now because the wondergoal he recently scored turned the world’s eyes on him.

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