GM, Free Agents. Monday again. Let’s get it started the right way.

Welcome to the The Free Transfer— the 5-min daily newsletter making you smarter about football.

Now that the season is over, we’ll be taking a turn down transfer road.

Today’s a quick one:

• Weekend transfer update 🚂🚃🚃

  • Rumored destinations, fit, etc.

WEEKEND TRANSFER UPDATE🚂🚃🚃

Now that the Champions League final has passed and the season has ended, we are officially moving into transfer window season. The transfer window opens on Wednesday, June 14th. Expect things to start heating up from then on.

Let’s get into it ⤵️ 

Bernardo Silva 🇵🇹 

Probably Manchester City’s best attacker in the Champions League final, his incisive run started the move that ended in Rodri’s goal. There have been rumors of him leaving City for well over a year now. The most common ones have been for Barcelona (last summer) & PSG (this summer).

At Barcelona, they are already pretty full at the RW (Raphinha & Dembele) and #8 positions (Pedri, Gavi, De Jong, Pablo Torre, & Kessie)— not to mention they are rumored to have financial troubles at the minute. Anything is possible with sales, but this one does not seem likely at the minute.

PSG makes more sense from both a football & financial perspective. Messi just left, which leaves a perfect role at RW for Silva. Watch this space.

It could be hard to fathom Bernardo leaving City so soon after playing such a key role in their treble, but sometimes players want to seek new challenges. We’ve seen it many times before.

Wilfried Zaha (and Marcus Thuram) 🇨🇮 🇫🇷 

This is a really interesting one. PSG want to lure Wilfried Zaha & Marcus Thuram to the club this summer. Both are free agents.

Let’s start with Wilfried Zaha. He turns 31 this year, but is still a top-class player. He plays more as a second striker these days, and less as a touchline winger as he’s gotten older. With PSG rumored to want to get rid of Neymar this summer, he could be the perfect replacement. He is lethal in front of goal, and can skin a man off the dribble.

Marcus Thuram turns 26 this year and plays as a LF/ST for Gladbach. He would likely be in the rotation at striker mostly. He is a good 6’3”+ (192cm) which could make him a good target man, something that PSG have been missing since Cavani’s departure.

It is important to note that Mbappe, Zaha, & even Thuram all play in and around the same space— off the left, floating inside to fill the striker space too. Thuram is left footed, while Zaha & Mbappe are righties. All three can play striker & LW, so signing both Thuram & Zaha could be perfect. 3 players to rotate between two spots. With the potential signing of Bernardo Silva, that would make a really interesting front line.

Houssem Aouar 🇫🇷 

After a deal for a free transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt seemed all but sealed this time last week, Aouar has pivoted & chosen to join Roma for this summer.

Not 3 years ago, Aouar was one of the hottest names in French football. He was linked with moves to Real Madrid & Manchester City in 2019-20. He also had a move to Arsenal collapse near deadline day in September 2020 after Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas rejected a €40mm offer from the Gunners.

Fast-foward 3 years & Aoaur only played in sixteen Ligue 1 matches this season. He is now leaves Lyon as a free agent to play for Jose Mourinho in Rome. Hopefully, there, he can rekindle his young career as an exciting attacking midfielder. He turns 25 this year.

David Raya 🇪🇸 

With Hugo Lloris looking to be on his way out, Tottenham need a new #1. David Raya could be the perfect replacement as he is a brilliant shot-stopper & very confident with the ball at his feet. Ange Postecoglou’s run-and-gun style of play requires a keeper with good distribution. Raya is just that. The stumbling block here would be that Brentford want €40mm for Raya who only has 1 year left on his contract.

Manchester United are also rumored to be very interested. This one will probably move quickly.

Liverpool 🔴 

After signing Mac Allister last week, Liverpool will keep pushing on in the transfer market. Two more midfielders & a left-footed centerback are on the shopping list.

As we spoke about last week, it seems that liverpool could be closing in on their next two midfield targets, Manu Kone & Khephren Thuram.

The left-footed CB is interesting, as they are losing Joel Matip. VVD & Konate are righties, so it makes sense to recruit a lefty to compliment them.

Another player they have been linked to by Florian Plettenburg is Benjamin Pavard. He would be an interesting alternative to TAA at the inverted right-back role. One to watch.

Youri Tielemans 🇧🇪 

Tielemans was another free agent on the tip of every PL club’s tongue this summer. With clear quality as a central midfielder, he could have added great depth to a top 6 team. At Aston Villa, he can likely be a starter while still playing in Europe. It’s a great fit for him & Unai Emery.

Thanks for tuning in. Same time tomorrow!

Cheers,

—The Gaffer