The World Cup took a day off. The transfer market did not.
While the knockout rounds chewed through the round of 32 and round of 16, a bunch of deals got signed, announced, or quietly slipped through without much fanfare. Some of them are actually pretty interesting if you dig past the headline stuff like Elliot Anderson to Manchester City or Sandro Tonali to Tottenham.
Here are the moves that flew under the radar since June 28.
Sebastien Haller is going to Japan
It’s a first club move outside of Europe for the former West Ham striker. Haller signed with Sanfrecce Hiroshima on a free transfer. He only scored once for Utrecht last season, which somehow made his often-mocked Hammers record look okay. But the guy beat testicular cancer a few years ago, so respect where it’s due. He turned 32 recently and got left off Ivory Coast’s World Cup squad, so the timing worked out.
Alfonso Pedraza finally leaves Villarreal
Pedraza was a Leeds loanee back in 2017 and had never actually left Villarreal for good until now. At 30, he’s off to Lazio on a three-year deal. Roma’s Serie A neighbors are working on a net-zero transfer budget this summer, which basically means they’re only signing free agents. Pedraza fits that mold.
Robin Detourbet to Monaco
Manchester City didn’t even announce they signed this kid. But City did sign him — a 19-year-old winger from Troyes, another club in the City Football Group — and then immediately loaned him to Monaco. According to Fabrizio Romano, City paid €25 million for Detourbet, who played 14 times for Troyes last season. Monaco at least confirmed where he came from.
Brighton added another defender
You probably know they bought Pascal Struijk from Leeds. But Brighton also picked up Maximilian Svoboda from Venezia after they won promotion from Serie B. He’s Austrian, 27 years old, and was an unused sub for all of Austria’s World Cup games. Signed a four-year contract. First taste of the Premier League.
David Carmo is back in Greece — for real this time
Carmo joined Nottingham Forest from Porto in 2024 but never played for them. He got loaned to Olympiacos, where he’d already been on loan from Porto, in a deal that basically involved Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis negotiating with himself. He then spent last season in Spain with Oviedo. Now he’s back at Olympiacos on a three-year deal. For good, apparently.
Billy Koumetio returns to England
Liverpool fans might remember this name. Koumetio spent six years at Anfield, made one League Cup appearance and one Champions League cameo, then left in 2024. After two years at Dundee, the 23-year-old French defender signed a four-year deal with Charlton Athletic. Reports say the Championship side paid about half a million pounds for him.
Ian Hartman escapes relegation for La Liga
Hartman went down with Burnley in his debut season. Now he’s on loan at Espanyol. It probably helped that Burnley chairman Alan Pace is also Espanyol’s president. The left-back gets a fresh start in Spain.
Eliezer Mayenda goes back to France
Mayenda didn’t do much after Sunderland got promoted to the Premier League — only two goals last season, the first on his top-flight debut. But the Black Cats still got a decent fee from Rennes. The 21-year-old striker is now one of Sunderland’s three most expensive exports ever. He’s back in French football, where he played for Sochaux before.
Joe Brown to Bayern Munich
This one got overshadowed by Germany crashing out of the World Cup in the round of 32 a few days earlier. Brown, a left-back playing in his first major tournament, completed a €55 million move to Bayern right after that exit. He was Bayern’s second big signing in a few days, following Ismael Saibari from PSV for €50 million.
Noah Peart-Harris lands at Middlesbrough
Former Chelsea academy kid, never broke through at Brighton — only four Premier League appearances. He’s been grinding in the EFL and spent the last six months at Oxford United in the Championship. After his contract expired, he signed a four-year deal with Middlesbrough, who just sold Hayden Hackney to Everton in a move you definitely didn’t miss.
Harry Gray gets a League One loan
Archie Gray’s younger brother. The 17-year-old forward was on loan at Rotherham United in the second half of last season. Now he’s going to Sheffield Wednesday on loan, another stint in the third tier. Leeds have high hopes for him.
Juventus paid €16 million for 19-year-old Genoa forward Lorenzo Ekhator. He made his Italy debut in June, but that was a squad full of under-21 players, so read into that what you will. Juve is betting on potential.
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