Summer Transfer Update, Part 1

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Hooligan Soccer

·9 de julio de 2025

Summer Transfer Update, Part 1

On July 1 the European summer transfer window officially opened. Over the ensuing two months, clubs and players engage in an orgiastic bacchanal of negotiations, counter-negotiations and insanity to buy new players, sell unwanted ones, and see if they can snag any deals. It’s sort of like Black Friday, but it lasts 60 days. But you have little chance of getting trampled trying to score that hot new toy.

Though we are only eight days in, there have already been 249 confirmed transfers among the top five leagues (Premier League, Ligue 1, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A). Note that a player must be going into or dropping out of one of those five leagues to be counted. You know, full disclosure and all.

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We’re going to break down some significant developments and discuss trends we’re seeing.

The Free Transfer

One of the more interesting aspects of the window is the free transfer. A player on a free may move without any financial obligation for the signing club to pay transfer fees to the player’s previous club. In the United States this is generally known as “free agency.”

There are four major events that can trigger a free transfer:

When a player’s contract expires.
When a player’s contract is terminated by mutual agreement.
When a player’s club is dissolved or otherwise insolvent.
If the Bosman Ruling is invoked. Under this bylaw, a player with less than six months remaining on their contract may negotiate and sign pre-contractual agreements with other clubs (usually international ones). The Bosman Ruling was how Trent Alexander-Arnold was able to negotiate a move to Real Madrid while still playing for Liverpool. While Real Madrid paid a fee to release Trent so he could play at the Club World Cup, this was technically not a transfer fee.

Some Interesting Frees You Might Have Missed

The big money transfers tend to get all the press, but we here at Hooligan love a good deal, so we watch the free movement.

Lille OSC, who had a storied run in the Champions League, dumped attacking midfielder Angel Gomes and forward Jonathan David into free agency. That’s nearly $76M of player value (according to transfermarkt) cut loose. In exchange they welcomed Olivier Giroud who parted ways with LAFC, and goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart from Metz. All this without a dime exchanging hands.

Crystal Palace has lassoed 32-year old Argentinian goalkeeper Walter Benítez from PSV Eindhoven. Benítez will add some depth and experience between the posts as Matt Turner returned to Nottingham Forest on June 30 after his loan spell ended.

Palace rival Brighton & Hove Albion also poached the PSV larder, picking up French center back Olivier Boscagli on the cheap.

Congolese right-back Axel Tuanzebe, who suffered relegation with Ipswich Town, will stay up in the Premier League after Burnley called his number.

Udinese snatched up a promising young (22) center back Nicolò Bertola from Serie B side Spezia Calico.

Trends

Some patterns that we’re seeing, though they’ll likely switch around as the days progress.

If You’re Old, You’re Out

58 players were straight-up cut from their team and entered the market as “Without Club.” Of those, 69% (40 total) were players 30 years or older. It’s tough out there for aging players.

Positional Trends

Defenders are making the most moves, accounting for 32.1% of all transfers so far. Center-backs comprise 46.3% of defenders; not surprising given this position’s importance.
Midfielders and attackers are 28.9% and 27.3% of transfers respectively. For those keeping track goalkeepers account for the remaining 11.6%. See what I did there? LOL.
Center forwards (aka strikers) are 56% of all attackers moving; they’re also the most transferred position overall (just pipping out center backs).
It’s all about the spine. Center players (defined as anyone is a position not designated left or right) comprised 68.6% of all moves.