The summer transfer window started on June 8 and will end on September 1. After the signing of Frenchman Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) from Al-Ittihad Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Argentinian Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) from Inter Miami (USA), other spectacular transfers are expected and several of them should concern African stars. Here are five examples, but other players – the Senegalese Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea) or the Moroccans Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain) and Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina) – could also change clubs.
Although he scored 12 goals in 2022-2023, Sadio Mané (31) and the leaders of Bayern Munich know that the Senegalese’s season did not meet expectations, when he was recruited in June from Liverpool for 40 million euros and an annual salary of 22 million. Although it is not recorded, his departure from Germany is the most plausible hypothesis.
The 2022 African champion does not really fit into the plans of Thomas Tuchel, the Munich coach. Bayern are actively looking for a pure centre-forward and would not take a dim view of a transfer of Sadio Mané, whose market value is between 25 and 30 million euros. Several English clubs (Chelsea, Newcastle United, Arsenal) have the financial capacity to attract him to a championship he knows by heart. The striker, who does not wish to return to Liverpool, is also popular in Saudi Arabia, while Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Real Madrid remain attentive.
A player who wins the title of Italian champion while finishing top scorer (26 achievements) inevitably arouses covetousness. Victor Osimhen (24), the Nigerian striker from Naples, where he receives the club’s highest salary (4.5 million euros per year) appeals to big European teams. But to afford the former Lille player, it will cost between 120 and 150 million euros, the price set by Aurelio de Laurentiis, the president of Naples.
In Europe, several clubs are able to meet Italian requirements. Paris Saint-Germain, who would be ready to offer 12 million euros per year to the striker, Bayern Munich, but also the English of Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United have already taken information.
At 32, the Algerian striker has just completed a season where he won, with Manchester City, the Champions League, the championship and the FA Cup. Author of 15 goals and 13 assists, Riyad Mahrez also had to deal with the strong competition dictated by Pep Guardiola, the coach of the Citizens. Under contract until June 30, 2025 and paid up to 9.3 million euros per year, the captain of the Fennecs, recruited in 2018, could change scenery this summer. Riyad Mahrez, in exchange for a check of between 25 and 30 million euros, already has some courtiers, especially on the side of Saudi Arabia.
Indeed, the Al-Ahli Jeddah club, which has just found the Saudi League 1, would be interested in recruiting the talented left-hander, whom he would be ready to pay 100 million euros per year over three seasons. But European formations, such as Bayern Munich and Newcastle United, qualified for the next Champions League, are likely to offer him a much more motivating sporting challenge.
At 33, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has just returned to Gabon for a qualifying match for CAN 2024 against the Democratic Republic of Congo, a little over a year after announcing his international retirement, will leave London and the Chelsea club. The captain of the Panthers, who had a very disappointing season (3 goals scored) knows that his future is written elsewhere than with the Blues, where he is still under contract.
But the striker still retains a fairly high rating in Europe, since FC Barcelona, ????one of his former clubs, is studying the possibility of bringing him back to Spain. The Catalans will be challenged on this issue because, in Europe, Inter Milan and the Istanbulites of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are interested. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, several times solicited in recent years by Gulf clubs, could however give in to an enticing offer from the United Arab Emirates, but especially from Saudi Arabia. Indeed, at least four clubs (Al-Nassr, Al-Shabab, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli) have expressed interest. The amount of the transfer should be negotiated around 7 million euros.
As with his Gabonese teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the future of Moroccan Hakim Ziyech (30) is blocked at Chelsea, where he has just completed a failed season. His departure from Paris Saint-Germain during the last winter transfer window, which fell through due to an administrative problem, means that its leaders want to part with it. It will cost around 20 million euros to secure the services of the talented but irregular attacking midfielder.
If the PSG keeps an eye on the vice-captain of the Atlas Lions, also author of a good World Cup, it is in Italy (Inter de Milan, AC Milan) and especially in England that Hakim Ziyech is the most coveted. Tottenham, Newcastle United and Manchester United are the most interested. In Manchester, he would find Erik ten Hag, his coach at Ajax Amsterdam, where he had revealed himself.
