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The start of the new 2019/20 Premier League season is less than a month away and clubs are starting to do big business in preparation. The transfer window is a crucial time for all clubs. They need to get their transfers right otherwise the season ahead will most likely be a disappointment. And nobody wants that, least of all the fans!
So which footballers are on the move and who has commanded the biggest transfer fees so far in the transfer window?
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It was announced today that Manchester City have loaned out United States No. 1 Zack Steffen to Fortuna Dusseldorf for the season. Steffen, who joined City from Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew in December (and was immediately loaned back to the MLS side) for a fee that was reportedly between £7 million and £10m, is coming off a very stellar showing in the 2019 Gold Cup.
In helping the USMNT to the tournament final, which resulted in a 1-0 loss to Mexico, Steffen featured in five of six matches and conceded just twice. He kept a clean sheet up until the semifinal round.
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Wednesday brought reports of Manchester City breaking the club transfer fee record to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez, also known as Rodri. Thursday brought his official unveiling and photo opportunities, via press release, in the morning, and then an industry standard introductory press conference (or as I call them in the business a “product rollout/launch”).
City paid £62.8 million (70 million Euros) to exercise his Atletico release clause, on the deal that was set to run until June 2023. The amount paid is just north of the £60m paid to Leicester City for Riyad Mahrez just last year. He’s signed a five year deal with the club, and he’ll don the #16 shirt with the Sky Blues.
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It was an extremely busy news day for Manchester City as they 1.) broke the club transfer fee record to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez, also known as Rodri and 2.) announced the re-singing of right back Angelino from PSV Eindhoven.
We’ll start with Rodri, as City paid £62.8 million (70 million Euros) to terminate his Atletico contract, which was set to run until June 2023. The amount just eclipses the previous top mark, the £60m paid to Leicester City for Riyad Mahrez last year.
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We’re still waiting for all that hype that entered this summer transfer window at Manchester United to be realized, but hey at least two players have actually been signed.
Hopefully, there will be more signings to talk about between now and when the season starts. Training camp is open, and in just five days United will depart for their international tour, so with that mind here are some of the top trending transfer narratives in the Manchester United online community on this Wednesday.
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Manchester City are set to make their first signing of the summer transfer window, and it’s going to be a record breaking one. Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez, also known as Rodri, will cost the club £63 million (€70m), and that amount will break the club’s transfer release clause due expense record. The current record belongs to Riyad Mahrez, City’s lone acquisition from Leicester City last year.
By Euros, this amount will place him within the top 25 most expensive players in history. By pounds, he would rank within the top 20. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has beaten his most recent former club, Bayern Munich, to the punch on this one.
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How far along are Chelsea in the process to replace the departed Maurizio Sarri? Who will be the new Blues manager now that the Italian has taken the Juventus gig? There had been numerous reports indicating that Chelsea have reached an agreement with Derby County for the release of their manager Frank Lampard, agreeing on a fee in the neighborhood of £4 million.
However, Rams chairman Mel Morris claims that Chelsea have yet to even make an approach for their all-leading scorer. The words of Morris, however, are also contradicted by reports in numerous news outlets. Confused yet?
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Tomorrow night brings the first all-Premier League Champions League final since Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow, back in 2008.
It’s a match between two clubs starving for a trophy, and it’s simply going to be massive for whichever side claims the long awaited piece of silverware. Let’s run through some of the major storylines for the epic showdown at the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid; starting first from the Liverpool perspective. (Tottenham Hotspur side coming shortly)
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European football superstars crossing the pond to play in American Major League Soccer in the sunset seasons of their career has certainly become a popular trend lately. Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling could be yet another example, as he declared his interest in plying his trade in MLS someday.
Who knows, maybe he’ll defy convention and make the shift earlier in his career than the others did? Either way, it probably won’t be for a long while, as Sterling is only 24 years old. The English international was in the USA this week, where he spoke at the Wall Street Journal’s Everything Festival’s in New York City.
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Vincent Kompany is arguably one of the greatest, and certainly one of the most accomplished club captains in Manchester City history. For all the plaudits and silverware won, you could could even put Kompany in among the greatest skippers at any club.
The 33-year-old Belgian defender, City’s longest serving player, now officially moves on, having made major football history this past weekend- being part of the first domestic treble winning club in English history.
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Manchester City star Raheem Sterling, who enjoyed three productive years with Liverpool before moving to the Etihad in 2015, grew up a supporter of a different northwest England club. It was actually Manchester United, the chief rival of both the aforementioned clubs that the Jamaican born English international supported during his childhood.
Ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Watford, Sterling admitted he grew up a Red Devils fan, and he was at the 2007 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, where he saw MUFC fall to Chelsea. Sterling got his ticket via courtesy of gift from his school, and that memorable experience inspired Sterling to give back 12 years later.
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Liverpool FC are looking very strong as they head into their all-England UEFA Champions League final versus Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid on June 1. at arch-rival Manchester United. Their fine form (third highest season point total in Premier League history/most points ever for a runner-up) has resulted in their retaining the top spot this week in Shaka Hislop’s global power rankings.
The table composed by the former goalkeeper and current ESPN FC pundit is a world order, but it’s all Europe this week, and almost every week. With both Euro finals being all-England match-ups, it’s no surprise that British sides dominate the list.
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