On the move: Seven under-the-radar deals this summer

 Intriguing summer transfers you may have missed.

Emersonn’s season at Toulouse convinced Ipswich to make a move for the striker. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt to Bayern Munich)

Few players emerged from Germany’s World Cup campaign with any credit, but Brown’s energetic displays at left-back earned him a move to Bayern Munich. Brown is a proud Bavarian, born in the town of Amberg and raised in Nürnberg’s youth academy.

After two years at Eintracht Frankfurt and eight Germany caps, Brown has taken the quick route to his nation’s dominant club and could be a very useful addition.

With Raphaël Guerreiro leaving and Alphonso Davies still recovering from injury, Vincent Kompany will benefit from Brown’s abilities as a natural left-back, after using a rotating cast of players to patch up Bayern’s defence last term.

Denzel Dumfries (Inter to Real Madrid)

Put pen to paper on a four-year deal at Real Madrid after his release clause at Inter was triggered — he joins Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konaté as freebie arrivals, with Marc Cucurella also joining from Chelsea. A Hollywood move for a player named after Denzel Washington.

Emersonn (Toulouse to Ipswich)

The 22-year-old Brazilian striker arrived in Toulouse only last summer but did enough in a single Ligue 1 campaign to convince the newly promoted Premier League side to part with £24m.

Standing 6ft 3in, Emersonn combines an old-fashioned target-man frame with the mobility to drift into wide areas.

Although his raw return of six goals in 27 league appearances suggests this is a transfer built on potential rather than proven output, Gary O’Neil clearly sees shades of the modern Premier League No 9: Aggressive, hard-running, and capable of unsettling defenders even when the goals are not flowing.

“He is a young striker with real ability and potential who has had plenty of interest this summer,” the manager said.

Harry Winks (Leicester City to Cagliari)

Mauricio Pochettino once suggested the tidy midfielder could be England’s answer to Andres Iniesta. It has not worked out that way: Injuries stalled Winks’ Spurs career and the struggles have continued at Leicester, despite a brief revival under Enzo Maresca.

Now 30, Winks joins the Everton youngster Demi Akarakiri at Cagliari, whose only previous English player — forward Gerry Hitchens — left in 1969. It will not be Winks’s first spell in Serie A, having spent a year on loan at Sampdoria in 2022-23, which ended in relegation. This time, he may be seeking stability and a slower pace in Sardinia.

Mathys Detourbet (Troyes to Manchester City)

While Detourbet’s £21.6m (€25.2m) transfer to the Etihad Stadium may have been overshadowed by the unveiling of Enzo Maresca two days later and Elliot Anderson’s £116m (€135.4m) arrival the following week — the 19-year-old was the club’s first signing of the summer.

Joining from Troyes, part of the City Football Group stable, having played for the French side since the age of eight, it was an intriguing move for a teenage winger described as “a source of great pride” by his former club.

With three goals and six assists in 33 appearances in Ligue 2 last season, helping Troyes win promotion as champions, he has shown plenty of promise. Loaned out to Monaco for the coming campaign, he will be aiming catch Maresca’s eye in the process.

Illan Meslier (Leeds Utd to Arsenal)

He may face a steep uphill struggle to displace David Raya as No 1, but Meslier joining Arsenal on a free transfer could feasibly dislodge Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arsenal’s new arrival Illan Meslier already has 107 Premier League appearances. Pic:Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

With trust in Raya’s back-up undermined by his lacklustre performance in the Carabao Cup final last season, the arrival of the former Leeds goalkeeper appears to open the door for his departure.

Meslier is five years younger than Arrizabalaga and has 107 Premier League appearances under his belt, but fell behind Karl Darlow and Lucas Perri in the pecking order at Elland Road last term. Often criticised for high-profile mistakes at Leeds, it is up to him to win over the sceptics and, if Arrizabalaga does leave, to make the No 2 role his own.

Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona to Chicago Fire)

Poland did not qualify for the World Cup but that has not stopped their greatest player from making the trip to the US this summer. Lewandowski said he could not imagine himself at a European club other than Barcelona after ending a four-year spell in Catalonia that yielded three La Liga titles and 120 goals.

The 37-year-old found the net 19 times at the highest level last season and is still in remarkable physical shape, so there is a chance of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-style impact on Major League Soccer, just without the bluster.

The former USA coach Gregg Berhalter is his new boss in Chicago.

Guardian