Analysis

From a trio of Liverpool superstars and a duo of Manchester City icons to Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, here is a look at the best XI of impending free agents in the summer 2025 transfer window. The formation utilized will be a 4-3-3 without a playmaker, as this remains the most common formation utilize by the top teams in European football. Contract expiry is based on data from Transfermarkt. GK Alex Meret, Napoli Alex Meret is capable of producing fabulous saves and is one of the best goalkeepers in Serie A, which just might have the most goalkeeping talent of any league in world football. Although Napoli's poor 2023/24 season has caused Meret to fall by the wayside in discussions of the better keepers in Europe, the 27-year-old is a top player in his prime who is capable of t...

Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in European football, and in recent years, they have shown a renewed willingness to spend and return to the summit of both English football and Europe as a whole. In the past two summers, Arsenal have made two high-profile midfield signings in Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. Rice cost the club over a 100 million euros, as Arsenal needed to spend big in order to make sure they signed the West Ham star over title rivals Manchester City. There's no doubt that Rice was a big splash, but is he the biggest in the history of Arsenal midfield transfers? And where does the 32 million euro deal for Real Sociedad's Mikel Merino rank? Here are the top 10 most expensive midfield additions in Arsenal history. All prices are courtesy of Transfermarkt. 10. Sant...

Ligue 1 carries the tagline "The League of Talents", which is pretty much their only claim to fame now that PSG have completely unbalanced the league from a competitive standpoint due to Qatar's ridiculous spending power. Perhaps Roberto De Zerbi can shift that paradigm with some smart underdog coaching at Marseille after previously turning Brighton into a Europa League side after they toiled in the Premier League mid-table for years. Ligue 1 may not be the most competitive league, but it's still producing top talents who fetch a pretty penny on the transfer market. Look no further than center back Leny Yoro, who joined Manchester United this summer from Lille for over 60 million euros after pretty much every big club wanted to sign him. The Premier League has always been a destin...

Even though the Bundesliga season is actually the shortest of any top five league since there are only 18 teams in the first division, meaning every team plays four fewer games per season, the German top flight has become known for gaudy goal-scoring statistics. But in case anyone keeps trying to apply the "Bundesliga tax" to downplay the accomplishments of top strikers in German football, Erling Haaland quickly dispelled that notion by breaking the single-season Premier League goals record in his first season with Manchester City, scoring more goals (36) than he ever did with Borussia Dortmund. Haaland is actually the only Dortmund player who scored at least 20 goals in a single season in the 2020s decade, and while there's only been four completed seasons in the 2020s, that speaks ...

Newcastle qualified for the Champions League in the 2022/23 season in their first season under Saudi Arabian ownership, and then they slid back to disappointment in the 2023/24 season, failing to qualify for the Champions League and build on their success. Faced with the need to have a big summer, Newcastle ended up with a poor offseason, signing no new starters and instead focusing heavily on depth players. Not all was bad for Newcastle this summer, but for what was needed to get back to the Champions League level, this window was clearly lacking. So here are the grades for all of Newcastle's summer 2024 signings, with prices coming from Transfermarkt. GK Odysseas Vlachodimos, €23.6M Odysseas Vlachodimos is a very good goalkeeper who is capable of challenging Nick Pope as the new ...

As was rumored for about a week, Chelsea have secured the signing of Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, acquiring one of England's most talented wingers on loan with an unknown obligation to buy attached. The move brings a proven Champions League commodity to Chelsea, and Sancho is capable of getting starts on either wing, with the left wing actually being the most pressing need in light of Mykhaylo Mudryk's inconsistency. Chelsea are beyond loaded on the flanks with Sancho entering the fray. Here is a look at how the Blues could potentially line up with the talented 24-year-old from Dortmund in the XI. Defense GK Filip Jorgensen - The new signing should be the nailed-on starter in goal ahead of Robert Sanchez, even if Enzo Maresca bizarrely wants to stick with the carryover star...

After weeks of speculation, Raheem Sterling has indeed made a move away from Chelsea. But instead of joining Manchester United in a swap deal for Jadon Sancho, the winger is heading to rivals Arsenal on loan, joining Kai Havertz as the latest talented attacker to make the London switch. So far things have worked out for Havertz, who turned his career around in the second half of the season for Arsenal, and there is reason to believe that Sterling can benefit significantly from a switch to the best club in London right now. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was previously tight-lipped about the prospect of reuniting with Sterling, but we all should have known better than the sneakiest coach in the game had a trick up his sleeve. See, Sterling was a legitimate 20-goal winger at Mancheste...