It's been a busy stretch in the market, with confirmed deals landing across six different leagues and Arsenal and Aston Villa both making statement moves. Add in fresh rumours involving Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool, and there's plenty to get through before the World Cup final takes over the headlines tomorrow.

Confirmed Transfers — Done Deals

Christos Tzolis → Arsenal (from Club Brugge)

  • Fee: €40m
  • Contract: Long-term deal, exact length TBC

Arsenal's replacement for Leandro Trossard, who left for Besiktas. Tzolis rejected other suitors to push the move through, and it's understood to be entirely separate from Arsenal's ongoing pursuit of Morgan Rogers.

Johan Manzambi → Aston Villa (from SC Freiburg)

  • Fee: €60m base, rising to around €70m with add-ons
  • Contract: Until 30 June 2030

A club-record signing for Villa, who hijacked the deal from Newcastle at the last moment. It's also the transfer that could unlock Villa's sale of Morgan Rogers to Arsenal — more on that below.

Maxime Estève → RB Leipzig (from Burnley)

  • Fee: €25m base (add-ons could push it higher, but unlikely to be triggered)
  • Contract: Until 2031

A smart bit of business for Leipzig, who move fast to add Bundesliga-ready defensive depth after Burnley's relegation forced a sale.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang → Deportivo La Coruña (from Olympique Marseille)

  • Fee: €1.5m
  • Contract: Two years, until June 2028

Gabon's all-time record scorer and former Arsenal captain drops into a new challenge with newly promoted Deportivo, who are back in La Liga for the first time since 2018.

Hamed Traoré → Genoa (from Olympique Marseille)

  • Fee: Loan
  • Contract: Until June 2028 at Marseille

The Ivory Coast international gets a fresh start in Serie A after struggling for regular minutes at Marseille.

Robin Gosens → FC Schalke 04 (from ACF Fiorentina)

  • Fee: Loan
  • Contract: Until June 2028 at Fiorentina

The experienced Germany international returns to familiar territory in the Bundesliga pyramid as he looks for regular game time.

Pau López → FC Andorra (from Real Betis)

A surprise drop down to LaLiga2 for the Spain international goalkeeper, who previously started for Roma and Marseille.

Maik Nawrocki → RC Lens (from Celtic)

  • Fee: €2.5m
  • Contract: Until June 2030

The Poland international centre-back swaps Scottish football for a return to a top-five European league.

Marcos Leonardo → Ajax (from Al-Hilal)

Ajax land a proven goalscorer to replace Wout Weghorst, with the Brazilian forward returning to Europe after two seasons in Saudi Arabia.

Dennis Praet → KV Mechelen (from Royal Antwerp)

The Belgium international and former Leicester City midfielder stays in the Jupiler Pro League on a free.

Alex Král → FC Copenhagen (from Union Berlin)

The Czech international, a former West Ham loanee, leaves the Bundesliga for Danish football.

Latest Rumours — Who Could Move Next

Morgan Rogers — linked with Arsenal

Villa are said to value Rogers around €152.8m, with Arsenal pushing hard — Villa's now-completed Manzambi deal was reportedly the domino that needed to fall first.

Michael Olise — linked with Real Madrid

  • Source: Fabrizio Romano
  • Status: Speculative interest with no formal move yet — Real Madrid have denied any agreement on personal terms, while Bayern Munich insist he is not for sale.

Real Madrid are prepared to act if any opportunity arises, but the deal remains highly difficult. Bayern have repeatedly shut down exit talk, with director comments and club statements emphasizing Olise's importance to their long-term project. For now, this is a genuine will-he-won't-he situation.

Julián Álvarez — linked with Barcelona

  • Source: Club president Joan Laporta, Atlético president Enrique Cerezo, and Atlético CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín (official public comments) + Fabrizio Romano
  • Status: Ongoing pursuit — no agreement yet. Atlético have firmly rejected Barcelona's approaches and have no intention of selling.

Barcelona have kept a reported offer (in the region of €100m–€130m) on the table, but Atlético's position remains unchanged: they will not accept any bid and view Álvarez as a key player for next season. Laporta has referenced the validity of the offer not being unlimited, while Atlético executives have publicly told Barcelona to "let it go."

This continues to be a tense standoff with no breakthrough as of mid-July 2026.

Ibrahim Mbaye — linked with Liverpool

Romano has flagged the PSG youngster as one to watch this summer, noting he is expected to leave the club after receiving very limited playing time under Luis Enrique (zero minutes in several key matches). Liverpool have been mentioned as a live option as they rebuild their squad following Mohamed Salah's departure.

No advanced talks reported yet — this remains at the early speculation stage.

What's Next

All eyes are on tomorrow's World Cup final, but pre-season friendlies for Arsenal, Aston Villa and RB Leipzig start within the next fortnight — Tzolis, Manzambi and Estève could all be involved. Follow every fixture on 22Bet once the new season kicks off.