Coutinho tops list of players who need to move before deadline
The transfer window deadline in Europe has is just under two weeks away and clubs are busy putting the finishing touches to their squads for the new season.
However, while there have been some big-money moves already (Man City dropping £100m to land Jack Grealish, Chelsea spending £97.5m to sign Romelu Lukaku and Man United parting with £73m for Jadon Sancho), even in the face of the financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the elite clubs are still struggling to move on players to balance the books.
That means a lot of unhappy players, unhappy clubs, and a lot of uncertainty for some as we head into the final stages of the window.
Here’s a list of some top players who could use a change of scenery if they are able to negotiate an exit to pastures new.
Lingard 2.0 had a brilliant four months on loan at West Ham last season, scoring nine goals and providing five assists in 16 games, and it was enough to persuade Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to give him a chance in the Man United first-team squad. The problem is the player ahead of him in the pecking order is Bruno Fernandes. Lingard built up his confidence with some stellar performances, but that will dissipate quickly if he finds himself on the bench too often. Every big club needs to rotate players to compete in multiple competitions, but it feels like Lingard’s career will suffer if he stays.
Man City are well stocked in attacking midfield and the £100m addition of Aston Villa‘s Grealish only added to their options. However, Silva has reportedly made it clear that he wants to leave, and manager Pep Guardiola took the unusual step of mentioning him by name during a news conference earlier this month, saying: “Not just Bernardo, there are two or three players that want to leave Man City, but they are our players and when they bring some offer and they want to leave, we are open to discuss but it depends on them.” Silva’s issue is that he wants to move to LaLiga, where Barcelona and Real Madrid are suffering from unprecedented financial constraints. City value the transfer at around €60m for him, and there are just no takers at that price.
For a player of Shaqiri’s quality, 63 games over three seasons just isn’t enough first-team football. The Switzerland midfielder is a wonderful option as a backup, but he hasn’t been happy playing behind Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. It’s certainly tough to break that trio up, and with Diogo Jota back to full fitness there’s another player ahead of him in the pecking order. But for the sake of his career, Shaqiri would do well to move on — especially when Liverpool have a readymade replacement in young Harvey Elliott — with Lyon interested. Striker Divock Origi is another who may be considering his future at Anfield after playing only 17 times last season.
1:53
Julien Laurens says Arsenal’s defensive struggles from last season are already causing problems.
ESPN first reported in February that Arsenal had an agreement with Bellerin to allow him to find a new club this summer after a decade of service. The right-back is still only 26 and the Gunners have reportedly explored swap deal options with both Atletico and Barcelona, while talks with Inter Milan collapsed, but there seem to be few takers. Arsenal are well stocked at right-back with Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles — as well as left-back Nuno Tavares, who played there last weekend — yet none are top quality, and Bellerin deserves more for his loyalty over the years than being ushered out the back door.
Chelsea are specialists in obtaining players they can’t move on: see the careers of Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Davide Zappacosta, Baba Rahman, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi as evidence. But Hudson-Odoi is in a different class and could actually raise some cash if the Blues decide to let him go. Sources told ESPN that Bayern Munich were interested last year, and while that may have cooled, the England winger might look at the £34m exit of striker Tammy Abraham to Roma this summer as a sign that he might be better off starting afresh.
After a breakthrough season in 2016-17 that saw the midfielder makes his senior England debut, Winks’ career has stalled somewhat. Still only 25, he made just 15 appearances in the Premier League last season and it remains to be seen whether he has the confidence of new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Winks was an unused substitute in the opening win against champions Man City, with the younger Oliver Skipp preferred instead, and while he has spent his entire career at Tottenham, it may be time to move on if he still has international ambitions.
1:16
Craig Burley addresses Barcelona’s mounting debt after Gerard Pique took a pay cut to get two players registered for LaLiga.
Where to start? With a total debt that has risen to €1.35 billion, despite the exit of Lionel Messi, Barcelona are in a financial mess. Clearly they would accept offers for most of their squad — except for wunderkinds Ansu Fati and Pedri — and defender Samuel Umtiti and midfielder Miralem Pjanic are among those high earners at the top of the list, but none more so than playmaker Coutinho. The Brazilian was signed for €160m from Liverpool in 2018 but hasn’t impressed, and it’s remarkable he’s still at the club. Maybe he’ll get a new lease on life (and the No. 10 shirt) now that Messi has gone, but surely Coutinho has had enough of Camp Nou.
Real Madrid are no strangers to spending a lot of money on a player who flops, and their €60m outlay on Jovic in 2019 saw him score twice in 33 games. He netted four in 18 after rejoining old club Frankfurt on loan last season, but despite the fact that Madrid have no backup to Karim Benzema up front, Jovic is likely to move on again. Inter Milan and West Ham have both been linked with loan moves for the Serbia international, who really needs to put his Bernabeu nightmare behind him.
Having penned an incredible NINE-year contract back in 2017, Saul was always going to struggle to force an exit if his career plans changed. This summer it appears he wants to leave LaLiga’s champions after falling out of favour under Diego Simeone, but Atletico are sticking to their guns and requesting over €50m to make it happen. Sources told ESPN that Barcelona briefly explored a swap deal with Antoine Griezmann before talks collapsed, while Premier League giants Man United and Liverpool have been repeatedly linked with a move for the midfielder.
BAYERN MUNICH: Corentin Tolisso
Bayern have been excellent at snapping up players on free transfers in recent years (Leon Goretzka and Robert Lewandowski for example) but after losing David Alaba for nothing to Real Madrid this summer, they might see Tolisso do the same next year when his contract expires. The 27-year-old midfielder doesn’t seem to have a future in Munich but reportedly wants to see out his contract and assess his options. A swap or loan deal could still be on the cards before the end of the window, but only if it suits player and club.
Brandt is one of those players who seems like he’s been around for ages, but is still only 25. However, having signed for Dortmund for €25m in 2019 from Bayer Leverkusen, his career hasn’t hit the heights he might have expected as he has been overshadowed by young talent like Gio Reyna, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. He has still notched up over 40 games a season at Dortmund, but has been linked with Milan and Arsenal as questions over his future continue.
2:28
Craig Burley and Steve Nicol discuss Erling Haaland’s possible decision to transfer from Borussia Dortmund to another club after displaying frustration with the team.
With two goals in three games so far this season, Icardi’s future seemed set. But after PSG’s signing of Lionel Messi, suddenly it looks like the lesser of the two Argentina internationals may move on. The former Inter Milan striker has always attracted attention for his off-pitch lifestyle with wife and agent Wanda Nara, but a return to Italy has been mooted for some time. Juventus are reportedly keen to bring him in on loan, and that may help PSG’s efforts to lower their wage bill after their Messi move.
One of the reasons Juve are reportedly looking at Icardi is doubts over the future of Dybala. The Argentina striker has seemingly been in contract negotiations for months as his deal expires in 2022, with various moves to Tottenham, Man United, Barcelona and Man City all speculated about in the past few years. His class is clear, with 100 goals in 254 games since joining Juve in 2015, but the fact that he hasn’t been able to easily agree to new terms after spending six years at the club may point to a larger issue. If he gets star billing when Cristiano Ronaldo departs, perhaps that’s enough to persuade him to stay?
What a strange career Sanchez has had. After his European breakthrough with Udinese, he flopped at Barcelona. Then after reigniting his career at Arsenal, he became one of the worst signings in Premier League history at Man United. Now he is approaching something like his old form at Serie A champions Inter Milan, the club are in a financial crisis and having to move on all their best players. Most recently linked with a move to Napoli, staying in Italy seems the best bet for the 32-year-old winger’s career.
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Adam Rittenberg
Maryland coach Mike Locksley said he’s not coaching for his job despite the team’s five consecutive Big Ten losses and continued struggles in league games and late in the season.
Locksley told reporters Tuesday that he deserves to keep his job, saying, “I’m the head coach at the University of Maryland.” After a 4-0 start, Maryland sits at 4-5 entering Saturday’s game at Illinois.
The Terrapins are just 17-45 in Big Ten games under Locksley, who has won 18 consecutive nonleague games at the school. Locksley is 37-46 overall at Maryland and is under contract through the 2027 season. His buyout if fired this year would be $13.4 million.
First-year athletic director Jim Smith, when asked by The Baltimore Sun whether Locksley would return in 2026, told the newspaper that his status would be determined at the end of the year. Smith did not hire Locksley and took over as athletic director in May after serving as Atlanta Braves senior vice president of business strategy.
After Illinois, Maryland finishes the regular season against No. 21 Michigan and Michigan State.
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Andrea Adelson
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick said he is focused on Wake Forest, after questions about potential interest in the vacant New York Giants head coaching job.
During his Tuesday news conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Belichick was asked what his message was to the team given the speculation about the newly opened job.
“Getting ready for Wake Forest, that’s all I got this week,” Belichick said.
As a follow-up, Belichick was asked whether players or recruits have inquired about the speculation that began after the Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday.
“I’ve been asked about it from time to time,” Belichick said. “Look I’ve been down this road before. I’m focused on Wake Forest, that’s it. That’s my commitment to this team. This week it’s Wake Forest, next week it’s that opponent and so forth. I’m here to do the best for this team.”
Belichick is in his first season with North Carolina, which has won two straight games to bring its record to 4-5. Before coming to college coaching, Belichick spent his entire career in the NFL — winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
But he won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants as a defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells in the 1986 and 1990 seasons. Belichick often references Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who went to North Carolina and attended the season opener against TCU in Chapel Hill.
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Dan Wetzel
Emmanuel Clase had made over $12 million as a relief pitcher and was set to pocket an additional $6.4 million next season from the Cleveland Guardians. At just 27 years old with the ability to throw a 95 mph cutter, there were likely many more millions to come.
You’d think that would be enough to avoid possibly throwing it all away in a sports betting scandal.
Yet federal prosecutors allege that Clase, over the past few years, routinely conspired with a couple of as-yet-unnamed gamblers to throw certain pitches in certain ways so they could successfully bet on the outcome — below a specific speed, for example. (Yes, over/under 97.95 mph is a bet that is offered.)
Prosecutors said the gamblers involved won at least $400,000 in bets involving Clase. A portion, sometimes as little as $2,000 (fractional when compared with his salary), was allegedly kicked back to Clase.
That included a May 28, 2025, game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, where, a federal indictment states, two bettors wagered $4,000 that his first pitch would be either a ball or hit the batter.
Clase apparently did his part, throwing it low and out of the strike zone. Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages swung anyway, though, missing the ball for a strike.
The bet was a bust.
Clase went on to retire the side in order, securing a save in the Cleveland victory. It was of little help to the bettors, though, one of whom sent Clase a “.gif image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper,” per the indictment. Clase texted back “a sad puppy dog face.”
We can only imagine the emojis Clase has been using since his arrest on Sunday that didn’t cost him just the rest of that massive contract and a potential lifetime ban from Major League Baseball, but possibly up to 20 years in prison.
Everything potentially lost for so little.
Clase and Guardians starter Luis Ortiz — also indicted Sunday for similar alleged “pitch-rigging” activities — are innocent until proven guilty, of course, but if you are looking for a near sure thing to count on, it’s the feds. They rarely lose.
And that might be the only thing that can uphold the integrity of sports in America. At least we can hope.
Recent weeks have seen a parade of sports wagering scandals, schemes and indictments. Pro basketball. College basketball. Now MLB.
The accused range from the rich and famous to the broke and obscure, from young men to old heads. Trying to design a preventative, educational system seems impossible. Who can even explain the individual motivations or circumstances? Some needed money; others didn’t. Some were naive; others were worldly.
There is little in common between, say, a respected, 49-year-old Hall of Famer turned NBA coach such as Chauncey Billups, three players on the 4-27 University of New Orleans basketball team and a Dominican relief pitcher in the prime of his lucrative MLB career.
The way to stop this stuff is to stop it from starting. The fear of getting caught — and the fact that the federal government is catching people on a regular basis — might be the only thing that can scare everyone (or most everyone) straight.
Common sense says federal prosecutors won’t find everything. They are trying, though, with offices out of New York and Philadelphia busting people making small wagers on random pitches, the playing rotation of late-season NBA games and even hoops point spreads out of the obscure Southland Conference.
No one should think they are safe.
Gamblers, of course, have been fixing sports about as long as sports have existed. Baseball itself has seen a World Series compromised and its all-time hit king barred from Hall of Fame enshrinement due to this stuff.
A pitch in the Cleveland dirt somehow seems quaint.
Yet never before has sports wagering been so front of mind in America. Not only is it legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia, but teams, leagues, media outlets and everyone else are cashing in on the business. It’s on your TV. It’s on your phone. It’s in your face whether you gamble or not. Promo Code: Everywhere.
That has likely led to more temptation. Some of the college players have bet on themselves or participated in unsophisticated plots — one New Orleans player was allegedly overheard at a timeout telling two others to stop scoring to prevent their team from accidentally covering (the spread was 23; they lost by 25).
The good news? The ease of betting has also certainly led to easier detection, at least if bets are made through legal sources. The integrity monitoring systems are excellent.
There is a movement to ban individual prop bets, such as a player’s rebounding totals or the speed of a pitch. Those are easiest to manipulate, after all. MLB announced Monday that prominent U.S. sportsbooks are placing a $200 betting limit on baseball wagers centered on individual pitches and prohibiting such bets from being included in parlays in an attempt to decrease the incentive for manipulation. These are good ideas.
Yet sports wagering comes in many forms — legal, yes, but also through illegal books or offshore accounts. Then there is daily fantasy and the prediction market, where there is a near lack of government oversight.
This feels like whack-a-mole. Legislation is always a reaction, not a prevention.
In the end, the fear of being busted is about the only universal deterrent. Corruption is an individual decision, and prison is a powerful disincentive. No one wants to be the next guy sending sad puppy dog faces.
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