The forthcoming 2021 summer transfer window will be a particularly unusual one. Clubs have felt the financial impact of the pandemic, but at the same time, there is by all accounts more stars on the market than at any other time in recent memory.
Stick or wind? Gamble or play it safe?
25 Big Name players in the 2021 Summer Transfer Window
1. Lionel Messi
Current club: Barcelona
Potential destinations: Manchester City, PSG
Goodness, yeah, we’re starting with the huge (young man) himself. After tossing all of his toys out of the pram last summer off the back of an 8-2 hammering by Bayern Munich, Messi agreed to respect the final year of his contract.
New club president Joan Laporta trusts their record to sign another deal, but don’t be so certain.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Current club: Juventus
Potential destinations: PSG, Real Madrid
Imagine returning three or four years and saying Messi and Ronaldo may be off in the same window. Unfortunately for Juve fans, the club revealed that they plan to keep the the36-year-old who broke their wage structure.
But Juventus (mainly Andrea Agnelli, who didn’t actually say this) have said loads of things previously. Don’t bank on a crazy year not getting any crazier.
3. Kylian Mbappe
Current club: PSG
Potential destinations: Real Madrid, Manchester City
Future Ballon d’Or champ, future GOAT, future blah. We know who Kylian Mbappe is and what his career may resemble.
The mid-year of 2021 may give him the greatest crossroads in his career up until now, be that as it may – does he stay and further concrete his legacy as conceivably PSG’s best-ever player, or does he make the transition to Real Madrid?
4. Paul Pogba
Current club: Manchester United
Potential destinations: Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus
The talk encompassing Paul Pogba is now at the same degree of talk Moss from The IT Crowd had encompassing football in general.
5. Harry Kane
Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
Potential destinations: Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid
Harry Kane picking among Spurs and practically any tip-top club in world football resembles when Maggie Simpson had to pick between her own family, dripping wet in a grimy waterway, and the Flanders’, portrayed against a background of daylight and rainbows.
Spikes’ didn’t win the Carabao Cup, but Daniel Levy slapping a sticker price of about £12bn on him may keep Kane in north London.
6. Erling Haaland
Current club: Borussia Dortmund
Potential destinations: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea
Here he is, the man/machine everyone wants.
The sweepstakes for Haaland feel suggestive of those for LeBron James in 2010, not least because it appears the greater part of Europe has abandoned landing Mbappe instead.
7. Raphael Varane
Current club: Real Madrid
Potential destinations: Manchester United, Chelsea, PSG
But while Haaland and Mbappe may both end up at Real Madrid (God help us all), it appears to be as however a couple of their stars are searching for another challenge.
One of those is Raphael Varane, who’s won practically all that this game has to offer at the most elevated level in a decade-long stay in the Spanish capital.
8. Sergio Ramos
Current club: Real Madrid
Potential destinations: Manchester United, Chelsea, PSG
From ‘a’ Madrid star that could leave to ‘the’ Madrid star that could leave.
Ramos’ contract stand-off has been very much documented, but we’ve been here before with him, as a general rule utilizing Man Utd to make his current club jealous. It will, in general, work, to be fair.
9. Paulo Dybala
Current club: Juventus
Potential destinations: Chelsea, PSG, Barcelona
Hailed by 90min’s Jack Gallagher is ‘just the most talented player at Juventus Football Club’. It appears the Bianconeri are more able to pay attention to offers for Dybala than their other superstar attacker.
At least he’ll be allowed to bloom somewhere else, Jack, along these lines, you know, each cloud. You’re actually thinking about the bad news, aren’t you?
10. Jack Grealish
Current club: Aston Villa
Potential destinations: Manchester City, Manchester United
Jack Grealish is now one of the ten best players in the Premier League, and he plays for Aston Villa. Kane being that acceptable at Spurs is a certain something, but ol’ Greal kid is taking it to an unheard-of level.
He may want to be Villa, what Alan Shearer was to Newcastle. For sure, Francesco Totti was to Roma. But if he doesn’t, then there’ll be a lot of immense clubs peering toward him up.
11. Jan Oblak
Current club: Atletico Madrid
Potential destinations: PSG, Chelsea
You know what? Maybe Jan Oblak doesn’t want to make 1,000,000 saves each week.
Maybe Jan Oblak wants to head off to someplace else and play as Nick Pope did against San Marino, laying on his arse and doing a sudoku puzzle to pass the time. Have you at any point thought about that?
12. Sergio Aguero
Current club: Manchester City
Potential destinations: Barcelona, Chelsea, Independiente
It’s a real shame that two of City’s ideal, if not the best, players of all time in David Silva and Sergio Aguero, will have left the Etihad Stadium with such little fanfare because of the global climate.
Aguero must depart once his contract lapses in the mid-year, so at least there may be a few fans present to say goodbye to him. Except if he does an opposite Frank Lampard and heads to Chelsea next season. In which case, he’ll be back rather timidly.
13. Philippe Coutinho
Current club: Barcelona
Potential destinations: PSG, Inter, Milan
Very few players can say they were considered excess to necessities by their club, loaned out and then beat their parent club 8-2 while heading to winning club football’s greatest prize.
Anyway, Coutinho may finally depart Camp Nou for great this late spring.
14. Jadon Sancho
Current club: Borussia Dortmund
Potential destinations: Manchester United, Chelsea
Haaland’s ascent to superstardom means Sancho has had to be the Scottie Pippen to the Norwegian’s Michael Jordan this season. But the lad’s still just 21 and sets up numbers for the sake of entertainment.
Whoever lands him this time around will, in any case, be getting a top player for the following decade.
15. David de Gea
Current club: Manchester United
Potential destinations: PSG, Real Madrid
90min as of late revealed that while Man Utd will not transfer list De Gea, they would be available to offers as they are quick to elevate Dean Henderson to their starting XI without causing an over the top fight.
Would you accept the Spaniard is expected a testimonial now? Yep, no doubt.
16. Kalidou Koulibaly
Current club: Napoli
Potential destinations: Everton, PSG
It seems like the ship has sailed for Koulibaly to get his biiiiig move.
He will closely resemble the Evergreen heading down the Suez Canal once he discovers Everton is his most probable destination.
17. Antoine Griezmann
Current club: Barcelona
Potential destinations: PSG, Manchester United
For what reason did Griezmann move to Barcelona again? For what reason did he leave a club who he had already teased about leaving, a club where everything went through him on the pitch, just to get shoehorned into a really dodgy Barcelona side?
In all fairness, things have started to click all the more as of late, and Griezmann is finally banging in the goals, but you won’t ever know.
18. Christian Pulisic
Current club: Chelsea
Potential destinations: Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich
After a particularly encouraging debut season in west London where he over-performed, Pulisic has, unfortunately, follow it with a drab season where he’s underperformed.
Liverpool and Man Utd are said to circle simply in case Chelsea choose. They’ve had enough of their still relatively new toy.
19. Kingsley Coman
Current club: Bayern Munich
Potential destinations: Chelsea, Manchester United
From the edges of the Bayern squad to scoring the victor in the Champions League final, Coman has finally arisen as a top winger.
But unfortunately for him, his name isn’t Serge Gnabry or Leroy Sane, so he will not at any point be the winger for Bayern.
20. Hugo Lloris
Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
Potential destination: PSG
Mauricio Pochettino once portrayed Hugo Lloris as an unofficial individual from his coaching team during his time at Tottenham.
It’d just be natural for him to pay a handsome transfer expense to bring him home to France.
21. Aaron Ramsey
Current club: Juventus
Potential destinations: Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Crystal Palace
Ramsey in Italy was fun in theory until you recollected poor people fellow is made of glass and breaks each chance he gets.
At least he had the chance to continue in John Charles and Ian Rush’s footsteps, eh?
22. Miralem Pjanic
Current club: Barcelona
Potential destinations: Chelsea, Roma, PSG
Did anyone else fail to remember that Pjanic was essentially swapped for Arthur last summer?
There’s as yet a decent player there. He simply needs a smidgen more TLC (careful attention or tables, ladders and chairs, whichever works).
23. Isco
Current club: Real Madrid
Potential destinations: Arsenal, Everton
Somebody somewhat less memorable than Pjanic is Isco, who has totally fallen off the matrix this season.
Real’s physical issue burdens may have seen his contribution increases a little as of late, but long haul, the solitary way is out. Fancy a gathering with James Rodriguez at Everton, mate?
24. Memphis Depay
Current club: Lyon
Potential destinations: PSG, Barcelona
Back in March, a bug on Twitter meant that posting with the word ‘Memphis’ would lead to your account being suspended.
Hopefully, that bug returns for the late spring window when the Dutch forward will actually want to continue ahead of a free transfer.
25. Ousmane Dembele
Current club: Barcelona
Potential destinations: Manchester United
He can’t go around asking for shirts from Patrick Bamford forever.
There have been major question marks over his fitness, his commitment, his playing time on Fortnite, and a fresh start somewhere else might be what’s needed to reignite Dembele’s career.
He can’t go around asking for shirts from Patrick Bamford forever.