Transfers you need to know about ahead of the 25/26 season
There have been big moves all across Europe’s top leagues and some of Africa’s finest talents will be playing the 25/26 season in new threads.
In case you missed it, here’s a round up of some of the biggest moves involving African players that happened over the summer window.
Yoane Wissa - DR Congo
Brentford - Newcastle
£55m
Sometimes being an a**hole works. Yoane Wissa looked around and saw a Brentford team that was a shell of it’s former self. Losing its best players and finally, perhaps crucially, the only manager Brentford have had in the Premier League. At 29 with a year left, it was always a matter of when and not if he was leaving the Gtech Community Stadium and it’s a credit to Brentford that they got as much as they did. The main credit of course must go to Wissa who has steadily built himself up to a reliable Premier League goal scorer.
However, he leaves most Brentford fans with mixed feelings at best and outright hatred at its worst. He will always be linked to Alexander Isak and not just because Wissa was brought in to replace some of his goals at Newcastle. Both players effectively went on strike and ultimately got the moves they wanted. How will this affect the future of the league? It would have been fascinating to see the scenario play out if one didn’t manage to get the move they so craved but, as Kanye famously said, I guess we’ll never know. To them, at least, the end justified the means.
Christantus Uche - Nigeria
Getafe - Crystal Palace
£20m
Most Palace fans entered Deadline Day hoping for it to end. But right before it did, Palace made an impact that went under the radar with the good news of Marc Guehi’s retention. The cherry on top comes in deadline day for Palace, and a window that saw them lose their talisman, there’s a silver lining and it comes in the form of 22 year old Nigerian midfield talent, with bags of potential, big and powerful, yet technical with an eye for a goal and an assist. They’re already calling him a Yaya Toure regen, its no surprise Getafe fans are crashing out on the internet, they feel they’ve lost their best player. Uche will join The Eagles on an initial loan with an obligation to buy for a reported fee of £20 million.
Samuel Chukwueze - Nigeria
AC Milan - Fulham
£25m
3 years after swapping Villareal for AC Milan, Samuel Chukwueze is moving to another iconic city - London. Fulham make their first major signing of the season at the very last chance, snapping up the 26 year old winger on deadline day. Linking up with his Nigerian teammates Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey, Chukwueze will be looking to force himself into the starting XI sooner rather than later and capitalise on the chemistry built up in the national team (although he’s not quite one of the “innit boys”).
Tolu Arokodare - Nigeria
Genk - Wolves
£23.4m
Toluwalase Emmanuel Akorede is heading to the Premier League. 🦅🇳🇬
“Tea time like I got a cup of this sh*t. Tee time like golf at a quarter to six”
If there’s one thing the English love, it’s tea. Wolves have just paid £23.4m to sign one of the hottest young African strikers in world football on a 4 year deal from Genk. The 24 year old Nigerian scored 25 goals and 7 assists last season, a performance that saw him pick up the Jupiter Pro League Golden Boot. Standing at 6 feet and 6 inches tall, with speed; technique and the ability to finish off both feet, it’s extremely long for any center back up against him. He only made his Super Eagles debut earlier this year but we predict this will be a household name very shortly ☕️
Victor Osimhen - Nigeria
Napoli - Galatasaray
£65m
Everyone wanted to know where Osimhen would end up this summer when it was clear he won’t be returning to Naples. After a successful spell at Galatasaray, was the masked man going to take his talents to England and perform on one the biggest stages? Or was he going to be seduced by Saudi riches? It came as a surprise when he opted to continue his story in Turkey with the side he’d just helped win the league. Galatasaray dropped a record 75m euros and were able to meet his wage demands to secure his services. A league record transfer, this deal has been deemed by some as the most important deal in Turkish football history. No pressure.
Nicolas Jackson - Cameroon
Chelsea - Bayern Munich
£15m loan
Nicolas Jackson gets his move! It was touch and go there for a while. After an injury to striker Liam Delap, Chelsea saw a striker-less future they were not too fond of. They tried to back of the deal last minute but it was already too late. Jackson and his camp had their minds set on a move and no wonder. Off to Munich to join the German champions, following in the footsteps of another Senegalese icon Saido Mane. Chelsea did get their pound of flesh though with a staggering €15m loan fee.
The striker position at Chelsea continues to be a revolving door as another one exits, in the same season two arrive. However, Jackson’s spell in London was underrated. He came to the Premier League a raw, 22 year old and scored 30 goals across his first 2 seasons. The start wasn’t great but you could draw parallels between how he and Drogba started. In the realms of Chelsea’s failed striker, he is far from the worst we’ve seen.
Jackson isn’t the finished product yet, but the tools are clearly there. Pace, determination, size, an eye for goal. There’s a solid foundation for a top 9 and Bayern are willing to roll the dice. His opportunities at the Bavarian Club will be limited as dislodging Harry Kane will be a tall order so Jackson is going to have to take his chances, literally and figuratively.
Rayan Aït-Nouri - Algeria
Wolves - Manchester City
£31.2m
Pep seems to be moving on from the centre-back-at-full-back experiment and some would say the game is healing. City have brought in a proper full-back: one who attacks and defends at a high level. Aït-Nouri isn’t just solid, he’s one of the most technical and best dribblers in the division. No full-back or wing-back had more ball carries in the 2024/25 season. A baller blessed with that unmistakable North African flair.
Mohammed Kudus - Ghana
West Ham - Tottenham Hotspurs
£55m
Tottenham have just signed one of the best African players on the planet right now. Two -footed, technical, good ball striking, pace, strength, and versatile, there is almost literally Mohammed Kudus can’t do. The Black Stars’ shiniest jewel was unveiled with a new Stonebwoy track- Ghanaian Excellence.
Simon Adingra - Ivory Coast
Brighton - Sunderland £21m
If newly promoted Sunderland are going to survive in the top flight, they’ll need to level up — and signing Adingra is a serious step in that direction. Another one off the Brighton production line, Adingra is a pacey, skillful winger with huge upside. He is after all the same player who dropped 2 assists in Ivory Coast’s AFCON 2023 final win over Nigeria. Proper talent.
Bryan Mbeumo - Cameroon
Brentford - Manchester United
£71m
A lot has happened between now and the start of the transfer window, you won’t be blamed for forgetting this was one of the longest sagas of the window (apart from that one). There were 40 days and 40 nights between an initial bid and when Manchester United finally got their man. But get him they did and the Cameroon international is now officially a Red Devil. In Mbeumo, United have a Prem-proven, 20 goal, young, versatile attacker. Last season there were only 2 players who contributed to more league goals. This is a player that had many top suitors but had his heart set on United, that United pull is still has some juice left. For now.
Evan Guessand - Ivory Coast
OG Nice - Aston Villa £28m
After the departure of Marcus Rashford, Villa needed to bolster their attacking options and looked to Ligue 1. There they found a young, versatile forward capable of playing across the front line with speed, skill, strength and technique. Guessand scored 12 goals and registered 8 assists in what was a breakthrough season for the forward. He’s taking the step up now and we’re excited to see what comes next
Wilfred Ndidi - Nigeria
Leicester - Besitkas
£7m
One of the best defensive midfielders in the PL over the last decade or so is leaving the league, after a successful spell at Leicester that saw him win the Championship, FA Cup and Community Shield. Between 2017 and 2020 Ndidi was right at the top league when it came to successful tackles competing with the likes of the great Ngolo Kante. The Turkish League is getting another Super Eagle.
Kamaldeen Sulemana - Ghana
Southampton - Atalanta
£18m
Ghanaian winger Sulemana has left Southampton after they were relegated from the Premier League following the 24/25 season. He’s certainly upgraded, moving to the Italian top flight and a club with a space in the Champions League. When teams go down there’s always 1 or 2 players that catch the eye and despite scoring 1 goal in the league last season, there were enough moments to show there’s a player there. Atalanta certainly think so and with the recent success of players moving to Italy from England, you’d be optimistic Kamaldeen can make an impact.
Victor Boniface - Nigeria
Bayer Leverkusen - Werder Bremen
Loan (June 2026)
2 years after playing a crucial part in a history making season, Victor Boniface is on his way out of Leverkusen. 21 goals in 34 games in 2023/24 offered tantalising promise of what Victor could produce at his best - but injuries have robbed him of that for almost 18 months now. He suffered a major injury in 23/24 and the issues seemed to linger into 24/25, limiting him to only 27 games across all competitions. After a failed medical scuppered his move to Milan, Leverkusen had to cover a part of his wages in order to facilitate the transfer.
Bremen will hope they’ve got themselves a steal. At his best, this deal undoubtedly represents that but how close Boniface is to his best is the question. This could either restart the Victor Boniface story or be the moment we look back on as the beginning of the end.