Anderson, Rashford, Rogers among five England stars who could seal transfer before World Cup
With the World Cup now just around two weeks away, players across the globe will no doubt be racing to finalise transfers before the tournament to avoid distractions this summer.
And this will be no different in the England camp, with five players in particular having the chance to secure big-money moves elsewhere ahead of next season.
While their current clubs would likely prefer to wait for the World Cup to drive up their valuations, you have to feel that the players themselves would want to have their futures settled before the action gets underway, so a frantic couple of weeks of transfer activity should be expected before a five-week lull as the tournament takes centre stage.
So here are some pre-World Cup transfers for a quintet of players included in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City among those looking to secure signings..
Elliot Anderson to Manchester City
This is perhaps the likeliest of these proposed deals to *actually* happen before the World Cup, with reports in recent days indicating that there is already an ‘agreement’ between Anderson and Man City over a move to the Etihad.
Negotiating a fee with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis will no doubt be an entirely different ballgame for Man City’s hierarchy, and they could be forgiven for having prayed for their rivals’ relegation so that Anderson’s price could be driven down.
Still, it has been pretty apparent for a while that Man City, even without beloved head coach Pep Guardiola, are more likely than arch-rivals Manchester United (or anyone else) to sign Anderson this summer, and he should be one of this window’s best signings even if he ends up costing around £100m.
Guardiola did a breathtaking job over ten years at Man City, and one of his last great feats as their manager has been overseeing a rapid rebuild of a spent squad over the past three transfer windows.
The Spaniard, unlike Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd, has left Man City in a very healthy position, but with Rodri struggling after his serious knee injury, their centre-midfield is the next area to fix; Anderson would be a superb start.
Anthony Gordon to Liverpool
Liverpool find themselves in a right old mess after one of the weakest defences of a Premier League title ever, with the long-term futures of several top brass uncertain and another significant squad overhaul required after last summer’s £450m bodged job.
Perhaps the most pressing issue for Liverpool to solve this summer is to re-energise their wing department following Mohamed Salah’s exit and Cody Gakpo’s decline after FSG sold the wrong player ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
And the Reds face more disappointment this summer, with PSG to surely be chosen as Yan Diomande’s preferred destination after they joined Liverpool in the race to land the teenager.
Should they miss out, Liverpool could do far worse than turning back to long-term target Gordon and hijacking his agreed move to Bayern Munich.
It’s easy to see the appeal of a move to Bayern, but it’s hard to see Gordon playing too much while competing with Luis Diaz and Michael Olise. A move to boyhood club Liverpool to be one of the figureheads of their next era would be more beneficial to his career.
Marcus Rashford to FC Barcelona
Rashford’s stint at Barcelona has gone better than anyone could have anticipated, even though his game time has been slightly limited due to the presence of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
But Rashford’s versatility has proven useful for Barcelona and his tally of 28 goal involvements in 49 appearances is a really impressive return, so the £26m buy option for the Spanish giants is more than reasonable.
However, this transaction between Man Utd and Barcelona was never going to be simple because of his loan club’s renowned financial troubles, whilehis boyhood team are rightly remaining steadfast with their fair demand that the buy option is paid in full for the forward’s move to become permanent.
This standoff could lead to other clubs joining the race to sign Rashford, with Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid reportedly flirting with the idea of signing him. But the player has made it very clear that he only wants Barcelona and some level of compromise will surely be reached to ensure he remains at his dream club beyond this season.
READ MORE: West Ham, Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle and Slot among the Premier League 25/26 season losers
Morgan Rogers to Manchester United
The job Unai Emery has done at Aston Villa really cannot be understated, but Europa League glory and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League may not be enough to keep star man Rogers beyond this season.
Rogers, who Alan Shearer thinks is a “certainty” to start ahead of Jude Bellingham in the No.10 role this summer, is clearly a favourite of Tuchel, and it’s tough to argue with the head coach’s position on the attacking midfielder after he’s done all he possibly can to wrestle a place in the starting XI away from the Real Madrid star.
Rogers finished the 2025/26 campaign with 14 goals and 12 assists for Aston Villa, and not even this does his incredible talent justice; a move to a Big Six club is surely inevitable this summer or within the year.
Any team in Europe would be delighted to have Rogers, but he is said to be a ‘first choice’ target for Manchester United after Michael Carrick’s personal recommendation, and they would struggle to find a better long-term replacement for Bruno Fernandes than the England standout.
READ NEXT: Manchester United get ‘green light’ for deal Ratcliffe would literally never sanction
James Trafford to Tottenham Hotspur
One of many jobs on Tottenham’s summer to-do list is to sign a new goalkeeper, with Guglielmo Vicario seemingly off to Serie A and Antonin Kinsky at least requiring quality competition after recovering from his Atletico Madrid nightmare.
Kinksy’s resilience cannot be disputed after proving his worth to Spurs during the run-in, but he is perhaps not quite ready to be Tottenham’s new No.1 and may be replaced by Manchester City shot-stopper Trafford.
Trafford has long been touted as a future England No.1, but the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma has stunted his progress following his return to Man City last summer as one of the window’s ten biggest mistakes that needs fixing.
The 23-year-old is ready to be a No.1 in the Premier League, but he won’t be at Man City with Donnarumma around, so he desperately needs to leave this summer to get back to playing consistently.
Thankfully for Trafford, with Spurs, Newcastle United and Aston Villa all reportedly showing interest, he will not be short of options this summer. A place in Roberto De Zerbi’s grand rebuild is perhaps the most likely outcome because of the London pull and a better salary.
