The summer 2026 transfer window is several months away, but as the last winter window taught us, there have already been a lot of seeds planted for the big moves that could be ahead in the next chapter of the transfer market.
Center backs are becoming more desired in the modern game as teams beef up defensively with multiple top talents at the position, and there will be some real gems available in the upcoming summer transfer window.
So let’s rank the 10 very best center back transfer targets in order who could make major splash moves in the summer 2026 transfer window.
10. Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton
Jarrad Branthwaite looked poised to leave Everton for a ton of money in the summer 2024 transfer window, but Manchester United and others ultimately balked at an asking price approaching 80 million euros for the young phenom center back.
Unfortunately for Everton, Branthwaite’s development has stagnated, and while he is still one of the most promising young center backs in the Premier League, he is no longer flirting with being anywhere near the best, especially since this league is rife with top talent.
But Branthwaite is nonetheless an above-average starter for Everton at the age of 23, and since his price has only gone down, he should actually be, paradoxically, a more attractive transfer target for Premier League teams wanting both youth and depth.
9. Ousmane Diomande, Sporting CP
It has been years of transfer rumors linking Sporting CP center back duo Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande with the Big Six Premier League clubs, yet neither of them have switched sides to this point.
Now 22 years old, Diomande is a more seasoned defender at the back and honestly the better of the two Sporting gems for English sides to target. Clubs in need of more defensive help like Liverpool and Chelsea could be all over the Ivorian international this season, as he has quietly become better at the art of doing more with less in defense.
8. Yan Bisseck, Inter Milan
There are a ton of defenders worth praising at Inter Milan, both young and old, but seemingly lost in the shuffle is the versatile Yan Bisseck, who, at times, genuinely looks world-class with his tackling and ball progression.
Bisseck has been loosely linked with second-tier clubs around the Premier League and European football, but the 25-year-old German international genuinely wouldn’t look out of place at a bigger club like Liverpool with how dominant he is in those one-on-one situations as a defender.
7. Nico Schlotterbeck, Borussia Dortmund
Nico Schlotterbeck is still quite prone to bad mistakes, and there are some ways in which the Borussia Dortmund star is a bit overrated because of his name recognition and the fact that he is a special athlete who makes dazzling highlight reel passes (and even goals).
But those things are rated highly for a reason, precisely because they are so hard to find and impossible to teach. Schlotterbeck can cut down on his mistakes with better coaching, and it is honestly hard not to make mistakes for Dortmund or even the German national team with all the basic structural issues both of those sides have.
Schlotty has been one of the Bundesliga’s best overall talents since his days pushing Freiburg to Champions League contention, and even though he will be expensive, he is a gamble worth making for clubs like Liverpool that want to roll the dice on raw talent.
6. Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool
Speaking of Liverpool, they are fully expected to lose Ibrahima Konate as a free agent this summer transfer window. There are going to be a few other notable free agent center backs this year, such as Bournemouth’s late bloomer Marcos Senesi, but Konate stands alone at the top after Dayot Upamecano agreed to remain with Bayern Munich and Marc Guehi already signed with Premier League powerhouse Manchester City.
Konate has been itching for that big move to Real Madrid, and Liverpool fans aren’t wrong for questioning his loyalty with how badly he started the season. But since he played so poorly that Real Madrid were having second thoughts, he stepped his game up again and now Real are back on the trail for Konate.
The Frenchman has been one of the world’s finest center backs dating back to his days with RB Leipzig, and he is honestly a more consistent performer defensively in one-on-ones than Upamecano. He would be a perfect free agent signing for a center back-needy Real Madrid.
5. Castello Lukeba, RB Leipzig
The RB Leipzig pipeline has produced so many top center backs around the Champions League like Konate, Upamecano, and Manchester City superstar Josko Gvardiol.
Castello Lukeba very much looks like the next in line, and Leipzig stand to make a huge profit after plucking him from Lyon. When considering his lack of mistakes, his marking in one-on-ones, his reading of the game, and his positioning, he is a more polished young center back target than Schlotterbeck.
4. Cristian Romero, Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur are in serious trouble right now and could be relegated this season. Captain Cristian Romero has publicly humiliated the club and probably feels like he was sold false promises by them this summer, which is appropriate since every Spurs supporter would 100 percent agree with him.
Argentinian journalist Gaston Edul already says Romero is done with Tottenham, and after he had one foot out the door in 2025, it would be a shock if he didn’t leave Tottenham at this point.
There is a lot of bad blood between Romero and upper management, so if an ambitious top club like Real Madrid or even Atletico Madrid comes around, they could be getting one of the best athletes and most skilled center backs in the business on their side.
3. Micky van de Ven, Tottenham Hotspur
Similarly, Micky van de Ven has dropped little hints that he is fed up with the complacency within the walls of Tottenham and wants out of the club in 2026, and teams as big as Real Madrid would be even more keen to have Van de Ven in their ranks than Romero.
Although Romero is the better player for Tottenham right now, Van de Ven is younger at 24. He is also an even better athlete with the speed to score crazy solo goals like Theo Hernandez and the recovery speed to stop any Premier League striker or winger on the break.
Van de Ven has few weaknesses to his game, and if he were to hit the transfer waters and want out of Spurs, he would command a large transfer fee that would still be 100 percent worth it.
2. Alessandro Bastoni, Inter Milan
Literally every single big club, from Liverpool to Barcelona, has been dreaming about the prospect of stealing away the delicious left boot of Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan.
A two-time Champions League finalist, Bastoni is one of the purest passers of the football at the center back position, and he has become an artful defender with his wise tracking of strikers and his ability to lead a back line by example.
There are whispers of a possible Bastoni transfer and a desire for the Italian superstar to want a new challenge outside of Milano, and if that were the case, Bastoni would immediately be one of the most desirable transfer targets at any position.
1. Luka Vuskovic, Tottenham Hotspur
Yet the name to keep the closest eye on this summer transfer window, even above the more accomplished Bastoni, is Bundesliga teenage sensation Luka Vuskovic, who is on the books at Tottenham Hotspur.
While Vuskovic is most likely to remain in Hamburg for another year and Tottenham would have to be even sillier to contemplate letting him go, Bayern Munich are the biggest club in Germany and one of the three biggest in Europe and are openly flirting with Vuskovic.
Every bit the Sergio Ramos regen that Tottenham supporters were hyping him up as, Vuksovic is a titan in the air, crunching in the tackle, elite with his ball striking, beyond his years at marking, and an X-Factor in the passing game. Every single club in the world should be trying to unsettle his position with Spurs.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.