Football Features

    Eight summer transfer deals you might have missed in June so far, from Lacazette to Forster

    By Ben Green

    Published: 14:00, 16 June 2022

    With the 2022/23 season starting early this year to accommodate the winter World Cup, clubs are getting business done sharply.

    In the Premier League Manchester City didn’t want to risk another protracted striker search like Harry Kane last summer so splurged over £50m on Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, while European champions Real Madrid have already strengthened with Aurelien Tchouameni and Antonio Rudiger.

    We’re only a fortnight into June, but business is getting done left, right and centre across the continent, so it’s only natural one or two names may have slipped under your radar. Away from the Haalands and Tchouamenis, we’ve picked out several deals that you might have missed in June so far.

    Alexandre Lacazette

    From: Arsenal

    To: Lyon

    Fee: Free

    In the end Alexandre Lacazette fell behind Eddie Nketiah in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order and so, the 31-year-old Lyon-born Frenchman has returned to where it all began for him: Lyon. Joining his boyhood club on a free transfer, the 16-time capped France international ends a five-year stint in the Premier League, during which time he netted 71 goals in 206 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions. He will be hoping to rediscover his former form at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, having bagged 129 goals across 275 games.

    Fraser Forster

    From: Southampton

    To: Tottenham

    Fee: Free

    Not quite the marquee acquisition many Spurs fans were expecting of Antonio Conte this summer following the club’s Champions League return and £150m “equity injection” from their majority shareholders, but Fraser Forster fills a pretty significant void after Pierluigi Gollini’s loan spell ended from Atalanta. The former Southampton ‘keeper will serve as a pretty adequate back-up to Hugo Lloris next campaign.

    Hector Herrera

    From: Atletico Madrid

    To: Houston Dynamo

    Fee: Free

    It will be sad to see Hector Herrera leave the European scene after nearly a decade on the continent, but he’s now set to test his luck stateside with Houston Dynamo. The 32-year-old midfield maestro was an archetypal Diego Simeone player in his tenacity and industrious edge, but those qualities will now be bolstering the Orange Crush midfield across the Atlantic after he traded Madrid for Texas.

    Rasmus Kristensen

    From: Red Bull Salzburg

    To: Leeds United

    Fee: £10m

    Salzburg’s continued ability to bring in top talent often leaves them ripe for poachers, and one of those doing the plundering is a man who was once the victim of the club’s ‘stepping-stone’ policy. Jesse Marsch has already brought in American sensation Brenden Aaronson from his former club and has now picked up Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen from the Red Bull Arena. The 24-year-old right-back was a mainstay in the club’s XI last term, scoring 10 goals and registering eight assists as the club won an Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup double.

    Adam Hlozek

    From: Sparta Prague

    To: Bayer Leverkusen

    Fee: £11.1m

    One of the most highly-regarded teenagers across the continent, Adam Hlozek has linked up with Czech team-mate Patrik Schick at Leverkusen and will be testing his luck in the Bundesliga next term. At just 19, the precocious forward has already racked up 15 caps for the Czech Republic, and scored 40 goals in 132 matches for his boyhood club Sparta Prague.

    Isaac Hayden

    From: Newcastle

    To: Norwich

    Fee: Loan

    Eddie Howe has started his summer revolution by first trimming the fat from his squad, and that has seen Isaac Hayden leave for the Championship on loan, looking to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking with Norwich City, which will likely happen for English football’s ultimate yo-yo club. Following the recruitment of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton discovering he’s actually pretty good in central midfield, Hayden has seen his place in the Tyneside pecking order plummet, hence this move to Carrow Road.

    Adam Buksa

    From: New England Revolution

    To: Lens

    Fee: £7.7m

    Adam Buksa has not had the most conventional of routes to Ligue 1, but the 25-year-old Poland international will be strutting his stuff in the French top flight next season nonetheless. Having moved from Pogon Szczecin in his homeland to New England Revolution in 2020, Buksa tore it up in Major League Soccer as the Revs won the 2021 Supporters’ Shield, and now he will be dipping his toes in a top-five European league, seeing if he can translate his stateside form in Pas-de-Calais.

    Aurelio Buta

    From: Royal Antwerp

    To: Eintracht Frankfurt

    Fee: Free

    Frankfurt will be in the Champions League next season after winning the Europa League, so naturally they will need reinforcements. Oliver Glasner has already strengthened with the likes of Jens Petter Hauge on a permanent deal from Milan following last season’s loan and highly-regarded youngster Hrvoje Smolci, but he has now acquired 25-year-old right-back Aurelio Buta on a free from Royal Antwerp. The former Portugal U20 international comes from good stock having hailed from Benfica’s prestigious academy and shining for Antwerp in Belgium.

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