Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
While Premier League clubs were forced to wrap up their summer business by August 8th this year, the transfer window for the majority of Europe’s other domestic leagues remains open until September 2nd.
With 20 days left to finalise recruitment plans for the year, the potential for more money-spinning continental transfers and moves remains high.
Let’s take a look at some of those deals that could still get over the line by September 2nd.
Neymar – Barcelona
Brazilian superstar Neymar is not a popular man in Paris at the moment. The 27-year old has made it clear that he intends to force a move away from the Ligue 1 champions this summer, much to the ire of the club’s other players and their supporters.
La Liga giants and bitter rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona are going toe-to-toe for Neymar’s signature, though at present, the attacker’s former employers in Catalonia seem to be leading the race for his services.
Neymar is expected to cost close to €200m however – a price that would be beyond the reach of both Real and Barca in a cash only deal, and a transfer that involves the movement of players in the opposite direction seems much more likely.
We’ve tipped Barcelona to successfully defend their title in our La Liga 2019/20 outright predictions, and signing Neymar would considerably strengthen their bid for honours this season.
James Rodriguez – Atletico Madrid
Real might be playing catch-up in the chase to sign Neymar, though their attempts and financial ability to sign the Brazilian could be strengthened if they can find a buyer for their surplus to requirements attacking midfielder James Rodriguez.
The Colombian international spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich, however, the Bavarians walked away from a permanent deal for the schemer this summer, leaving Rodriguez’ future in limbo.
A proposed move to Napoli in Serie A already fell through, though it looks as though Rodriguez could be offered the chance to stay in the Spanish capital by Real’s local rivals Atletico.
Remarkably, having spent over £200m on incoming transfers already during the current window, Atletico are still in the black having recouped close to £300m in summer sales.
That means that Diego Simeone has plenty of cash left over to close a deal for Rodriguez before September 2nd, and that should ensure that Atletico have one of the strongest squads in Spain by the time the window slams shut.
Atletico are expected to compete for multiple pieces of silverware in 2019/20, and they are likely to feature heavily in our weekend football tips.
Philippe Coutinho – Bayern Munich
Bundesliga title holders Bayern Munich are still scouring the market for reinforcements this summer, and with a deal for Inter’s Ivan Perisic almost tied up, the Bavarians are also reportedly eyeing up a move for Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho.
Barca have been shopping their Brazilian midfielder around Europe for months, and numerous reports have suggested that Coutinho was offered to Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs and Paris St. Germain already during the current transfer window.
Now savvy market operators Bayern Munich are weighing up a loan move for the 27-year old, who has never fully found his feet at Camp Nou.
Coutinho, who showed during his time at Liverpool that he can be incredibly productive in the right environment, could prove to be the steal of the summer if Bayern can secure an option to make the loan deal permanent for a reasonable fee.
However, even with Coutinho on board, Bayern’s squad would look decidedly weaker than it was last season, following the high-profile departures of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, James Rodriguez and Mats Hummels.
That exodus of experience at Bayern led us to tip Borussia Dortmund to steal the title away from the Bavarians this season in our Bundesliga 2019/20 outright predictions and betting tips.
Mauro Icardi – Roma
Controversial Argentine striker Mauro Icardi looks certain to leave his current club Internazionale this summer, though the identity of his next club seems to change by the day.
Initially, Juventus were thought to be Icardi’s main suitor, however, their interest in the 26-year old seems to have cooled, with the Old Lady preferring to keep favour with his compatriot Paulo Dybala.
Napoli have also been strongly linked with a swoop for Icardi, though the latest gossip suggests that the 8-times capped Argentina international favours a move to Roma.
Reports in Italy hint that Inter hope to use Roma’s interest in Icardi to wrangle Edin Dzeko away from the Giallorossi in a part-exchange deal that would suit all parties.
If that happens, Dzeko could form a potentially devastating double act in attack with new Inter centre-forward Romelu Lukaku, which is part of the reason why we’ve tipped Antonio Conte’s men to win the Scudetto for the first time in 2010 in our Serie A 2019/20 outright predictions and betting tips ahead of current champions Juventus.
Hirving Lozano – Napoli
PSV Eindhoven and Mexico winger Hirving Lozano looks set to finally leave the Netherlands this summer after 2 seasons in the Eredivisie.
The versatile 24-year old has scored an impressive 34 times in 60 league appearances for PSV since joining the club from Pachuca in 2017 for approximately €8m.
Now PSV are on the cusp of turning a huge profit on their prized asset, with Napoli expected to shell out around €40m for the pacey wide attacker.
Lozano was thought to be on the radar of Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, though nothing concrete developed from the rumoured Premier League interest.
