Five players who already ‘regret’ rejecting summer transfers, including Arne Slot pair
Some players are already having doubts about their summer transfer calls, including Liverpool’s priority target and a striker Arne Slot made much better.
Martin Zubimendi
The emergence of Ryan Gravenberch as a potentially brilliant No. 6 has allowed Liverpool to quickly move on from their latest derailed summer transfer plans. After Chelsea’s hijack fetish scuppered things in 2023, the Reds lost out to mountains and paella when it came to their pursuit of Zubimendi 12 months later.
It did not reflect well on Liverpool at the time but for the second season running, there has been method in an approach seemingly designed specifically to enrage the most transfer-obsessed, permanently online section of the fanbase.
The Arne Slot line about how “it’s not so easy to find players who can help us or even strengthen the squad” became the latest stick with which to beat FSG but in-house options have already proven their worth and Zubimendi reportedly ‘regrets’ not branching out from his boyhood club.
It might not be a coincidence that Real Sociedad have won one and lost four of their opening six La Liga games. If Richard Hughes has anything about him he’ll have the SUPPLICANTS entrance installed at Anfield post-haste for Zubimendi to come crawling back in January.
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Santiago Gimenez
Nottingham Forest? Not shy about targeting a striker all summer due to a persistent fear of becoming over-reliant on a 32-year-old Chris Wood to lead the line each week, more like.
The New Zealand forward, inevitable as he is, has had an excellent start to the season; his goals against Bournemouth and Wolves have helped deliver a pair of draws and as the foil to exciting wingers in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga, there are few viable options quite as effective.
Their targets represented a planned shift in approach. Eddie Nketiah decided on Crystal Palace instead. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush proved unattainable. But Gimenez was their priority and when Forest finally agreed a fee with Feyenoord, negotiations with the Mexican commenced.
They did not last long. Gimenez soon rejected the Forest opportunity, deciding not to parlay his 49 goals in two seasons under Arne Slot – no player has scored as many times under the Dutchman in his entire coaching career – into only his second ever transfer.
The Mexican has fared well enough at the start of this campaign for currently mid-table Feyenoord but journalist Mikos Gouka reckons “if you look at his matches honestly, you don’t see a striker of whom you think: he stayed happily despite the fact that they wanted to pay €32m. You see a striker of whom you think: if only he had said yes to that offer.”
Champions League-bound Forest are not complaining.
Rayan Cherki
While he languishes towards the bottom of a list of 2025’s most eligible free agents, Cherki was more than present in the transfer gossip columns of 2024. The Olympics silver medallist was not short of suitors but was wholly lacking in a desire to entertain them.
Cherki rejected Fulham – who had agreed a £17m deal – and Crystal Palace as he “didn’t see himself in England,” with Lyon president John Textor struggling to hide his frustrations when adding: “If he refuses to go to PSG and also turns down Dortmund, he has the right to do so.”
After turning down everything from the Carabao to the the awful new Champions League format, Cherki has still not been reintegrated into the first team while negotiations over a contract extension drag on.
Lyon’s start to the season has been bad enough, with one win, a goalless draw and a couple of damaging defeats in the opening four Ligue Un games, that they might just welcome back a player with open arms whose express intention is to boost his own value before leaving on a free.
Matias Soule
“Leicester wanted me so much, both the coach and the sporting director called me to convince me of their project. But then I felt the affection of De Rossi, of Roma, of the teammates who contacted me and I decided from that moment to say no to all the other clubs and to think only of Roma for all these reasons plus one.”
The “affection” was entirely mutual between Soule and De Rossi, who started Roma’s first three games of the season after joining from Juventus. But the forward was dropped to the bench for the first fixture after the international break, which proved to be the final straw before the trigger-pull on De Rossi’s reign.
A penny for the thoughts of Soule if he did join with the De Rossi link-up dangled in front of him. Steve Cooper was right there, fella.
Paul Onuachu
The majority of players who had their shirt number removed or downgraded this summer quite inevitably left, with Raheem Sterling, Maxwel Cornet and Fabio Silva among those capable of receiving the message loud and clear.
Onuachu heard it perfectly well but Southampton cannot force him to do anything about it.
The £18m signing made in February 2023 by Nathan Jones has not actually played for Southampton since August of last year, coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat to Gillingham in the League Cup. A season on loan at Trabzonspor rendered 17 goals and four assists in 25 games but when given the opportunity to return with Goztepe, it was rejected by the striker.
Onuachu was named in Southampton’s squad list for the Premier League but there has not even been a place for him on Russell Martin’s bench yet. Another few months challenging Burak Yilmaz, Edin Dzeko and Fred for the Super Lig Golden Boot would surely have been preferable.
