Surprise, surprise: Ronaldo still at Old Trafford, Leicester let goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel leave

It’s that time of the year again when football teams from all around the globe try to bolster their squads while fans salivate at the prospect of dream signings and fantasy lineups. It’s the 2022-23 transfer season and it’s turning out to be quite a rollercoaster ride. And we have more than a month to go. So, strap in your seatbelts as we take a look at what promises to be a tumultuous season of signings, releases and everything that goes with them.

In the last week, a lot of deals took shape while a flurry of speculations spread across the internet like wildfire. A transfer season full of more twists and turns than your average pulpy thriller, this one has kept the fans on the edge of their seats.

It has been a rather uneventful week in regards to major transfer activities with only Marc Cucurella to Chelsea being the so-called big story. Cucurella was signed from Brighton & Hove Albion on a six-year contract with the British media reporting that the two clubs had agreed a deal worth up to 63 million pounds.

In a move that seemed to catch a lot of people off guard, Kasper Schmeichel, who seemed like a Leicester City life, was allowed to move to Nice in France and Alex Telles sealed a loan move from Manchester United to Sevilla.

According to various outlets, Chelsea will sell Timo Werner back to RB Leipzig, a club where the German became the breakout star before moving to London in the 2020/21 season. Even though he won the Champions League with Chelsea, Warner has endured a torrid time in the Premier League, struggling for consistency and getting lost in the shuffle from time to time. With the World Cup just around the corner, he will look to catch lightning in a bottle twice when he looks to reignite his pre-Chelsea form.

After having the worst possible start to their Premier League campaign, losing 2-1 to Brighton, Manchester United is again under scrutiny and their moves in the transfer market have not helped ease any pain.

Cristiano Ronaldo still seems like a different entity to the rest of the team and looked frustrated during the match with Brighton, a game where he was left out of the starting 11 until the 53rd minute.

United have apparently made enquiries to sign Leroy Sane from Bayern Munich and former West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic. However, Sport1 journalist Kerry Hau claims Sane doesn’t want to move to Old Trafford and Bayern have no plans while according to Sky Sports, United have had a bid of around €9m (£7.6m) for Arnautovic rejected by Italian outfit Bologna.

Benjamin Sesko, the 19-year-old forward, has also been on manager Erik Ten Hag’s wish list with talks remaining ongoing with RB Salzburg but no concrete progression yet while the Frenkie De Jong saga from Barcelona is still in limbo with Chelsea joining the hunt.

Even though Barcelona has publicly stated that midfielder Frenkie de Jong will not be leaving Camp Nou this summer, the ground reality tells a different story.

According to multiple reports, the Catalan giants will probably have to sell the 25-year-old if they want to raise funds in order to register new signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie.

If De Jong is willing to take a pay cut, it would be easier for Barcelona to keep him but he is apparently not interested in that which could ultimately force Barcelona’s hand to let him go. With Barca already sniffing around Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, the wheels are most probably in motion for a De Jong arrival in the Premier League.