Hi Boox Popular Magazine 2024
European football is in constant flux. Players are constantly being poached from rival teams, top talents are searching for new challenges and clubs are looking to bring in star players to propel them back into title contention. Keeping pace with the shifting sands of European football can be a challenge, but it’s essential if you want to stay on top.
Such is football’s popularity that it has become a sport that goes beyond the 90 minutes of a game. From shirt collectors to video games played by millions, many industries have benefitted from the growth of football.
Football transfers make a big part of what surrounds football today and you can see its impact on the fans when you look at the many online betting platforms that offer odds on the top transfer rumors of the moment. Fans gather on the vast array of bookmakers that can be found on specialized webs such as SBO to place their bets not only for the transfers that can happen but for every game of their teams, with the possibility to win real money through their expertise in football.
The following is a rundown of the top transfer business that has been doing the rounds in European football—from smaller nations to more prominent countries like Italy and England.
Wout Weghorst to Manchester United
With Dutch forward Wout Weghorst, Manchester United appears to have finally signed the awaited forward they’ve been looking for. Besiktas would earn €3 million to end the loan early from English side Burnley, and Weghorst will instead finish his loan deal at Manchester United.
While the transfer is a dream come true for Weghorst, many Man United supporters could be wary of it. After all, strong goalscoring figures in the Turkish Süper Lig do not necessarily transition smoothly into a top-four league.
However, Weghorst also had a successful career while representing Wolfsburg in Germany. In 118 Bundesliga games, the Dutch striker scored 59 goals and provided 20 assists. Weghorst was tall and lanky, but only 13 of his 70 goals for Wolfsburg were headers. As seen during the 2024 World Cup in Qatar, he’s a big player that boasts great technical qualities, almost becoming the Dutch hero in the quarterfinals against Argentina by returning the score to a draw after scoring 2 goals in the dying stages of the game.
Cody Gakpo to Liverpool
Another World Cup star for the Netherlands who for the past year, was heavily linked to Manchester United.
It appears that the Anfield club quickly paid a reported €42 million for the player according to Transfermarkt, experts in the transfer industry.
Gakpo now joins a forward line that has been put together over the course of the last three seasons for no less than €213m, together with players like Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nuñez.
While Gakpo is unquestionably a gifted goal scorer who should offer a much-needed goal threat after the departure of Sadio Mané, the young Dutchman may also have another strength that might be even more crucial to Jürgen Klopp’s squad.
Gakpo accumulated 50 assists while making 159 appearances for PSV over the course of the last four seasons, in addition to his impressive 55 goals. Surprisingly, he had recorded more assists than goals for the Eredivisie team this season. And in many respects, Gakpo is just as adept at setting up goals as he is at scoring them. A complete forward.
Joao Felix to Chelsea
Chelsea has made their fourth acquisition during the January transfer window, and at the same time have left many football fans across the world perplexed. The Stamford Bridge team announced on Wednesday that they have signed Atlético Madrid forward Joao Felix on a temporary basis for an undisclosed sum of money, with no buy-out clause to keep the 23-year-old after the current campaign.
Chelsea supporters may have been excused for questioning the club’s decision to sign a player for a position that was already well-stocked in Graham Potter’s team prior to Felix’s transfer to Stamford Bridge. The Premier League powerhouses have three number 9s in Armando Broja, Aubameyang, and Fofana. Add to the mix Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech, and Kai Havertz, as four wide forwards that could play in the same areas of influence as Joao Felix and you could think of the newly arrived owners at Chelsea as not facilitating the manager’s task at Chelsea.
Felix has been trying to prove his worth for some time and there has been a lot of pressure to get him moved on because of this. He just doesn’t fit in Diego Simeone’s team. In a squad known for its tenacious defense, the forward has only managed five goals and three assists so far this season. As a result, Felix’s true potential might end up being shown by a transfer to a bigger team with a more attacking philosophy like Chelsea. Only time will tell.
Daley Blind to Bayern Munich
The first transfer of the January window for Bayern Munich is the acquisition of Dutch international Daley Blind. The 32-year-old defender has consented to join the Bundesliga powerhouses on a temporary basis through the end of the current campaign. Blind relocates to Munich as a free agent with a market value of €6 million after leaving Ajax at the beginning of the year.
Following his second tenure at Ajax, Blind leaves Dutch football after amassing an impressive record for the team that developed him as a young player. Blind played in 333 games for Ajax throughout the course of his career in Amsterdam, where he won two Dutch Cups and seven league championships. Blind also spent five years at Manchester United, where he made 141 appearances for the Premier League team.
Bayern Munich in return gets a player with loads of experience on the pitch, and also a multifaceted player who can either play as a center-back or as a full-back. Despite his age, he was vital for the Netherlands during the FIFA World Cup and impressed many experts with his composure on the ball as well as his defensive positioning allowing his nation to greatly perform during the competition.
The fact that Lucas Hernandez suffered a catastrophic injury at the 2024 World Cup definitely had a significant role in his decision to join the Bundesliga club. As a result, the Munich club may turn to Blind to step in as a ball-playing center defender or even to fill in at left-back for the rest of the season in place of Alphonso Davies.
