Premier League Done Deals: June 4th - June 11th
- Angus Kearney
- Jun 11
- 6 min read
Despite opening less than a fortnight ago, the Premier League transfer window technically closed on Monday. This is due to the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, which starts on Sunday. This season, the transfer window opened earlier so clubs could make signings before the start of that competition, but because FIFA stipulates that the window can only remain open for 16 weeks in a calendar year, we now have this one-week closure.
It’s all pretty pointless though, as Premier League clubs make and announce major signings, even though they technically won’t be registered until Monday. Below we break down every confirmed Premier League transfer from the last week.
Liam Delap - Ipswich to Chelsea, £30m
The first transfer saga of the window concluded last Wednesday, as Chelsea won the race to sign Ipswich striker Liam Delap, triggering the 22-year-old's £30m release clause. Several other clubs including Manchester United, Newcastle, Everton, and Nottingham Forest were reported to have been in conversations with Delap over a potential move, wrote The Athletic, but the English striker chose Chelsea as his destination.
Delap enjoyed a breakout year with Ipswich in the 2024/25 season. Despite the team's dismal campaign which saw them relegated, Delap scored 12 goals, eight more than any other Ipswich player, and manufactured most of them on his own. He’s a traditional number nine, who likes to run with the ball at his feet, stretch the defense, and is a natural finisher.
That last part is the most important for Chelsea, for all of Nicolas Jackson’s pace and ability, the striker hasn’t looked like a natural in front of goal since he joined the club. Delap on the other hand can develop into a 20-goal-season striker, and with a better team behind him, he should have more chances to score goals. Whether Jackson stays with the club will be interesting, as he likely won't be first choice, but Chelsea have Champions League football to contend with next season.
Even if Delap underperforms, at his age and for the price, Chelsea would likely still be able to turn a profit on him if he left within the next few seasons, making it a low-risk purchase for the London club.
Rayan Ait Nouri - Wolves to Manchester City, £36.3m
Manchester City’s summer business kicked off in a big way this week, as they announced four signings, the first of which was the coupe of Wolves’ Rayan Ait Nouri, the left-back joins on a deal worth a reported £36.3m.
It’s an interesting signing from a City perspective. Ait Nouri is an incredibly skillful player, but operated with a huge amount of freedom at Wolves, making deep runs into the opposition's penalty area and down the wing. This freedom is something Pep Guardiola is less likely to grant him. Ait Nouri was Wolves’ third top scorer, and leading assist maker last year, with a combined 11 goals and assists.
Defensively, Ait Nouri sometimes struggles, his clearances, interceptions, and aerial duels won all rank in the lower third percentile of full-backs in Europe. He will be coached to improve, and if anyone will do that it’s Guardiola, but if he ends up being a system player at City, with less ability to contribute in attack, then you end up in a scenario where his best qualities are no longer being utilized.
Tijjani Reijnders - AC Milan to Manchester City, £46.5m
With Kevin De Bruyne leaving Manchester City, a high-profile midfield signing was always likely to be on the agenda for Pep Guardiola this summer, and he’s done it quickly with the £46.5m signing of 2024/25 Serie A midfielder of the season Tijjani Reijnders.
The 26-year-old Dutch midfielder is a well-rounded midfielder who provides goals and assists but excels in linking play between midfield and attack. He created 47 chances for AC Milan last season, according to FotMob statistics, scoring ten goals, and assisting four.
These statistics look brilliant on paper and Reijnders has all the attributes to be another fantastic Guardiola signing. But the English and Italian differ slightly, Reijnders will have less time on the ball than he did in Italy, and be expected to contribute more defensively. The only midfielder to outperform Reijnders in Italy last season in terms of goals and assists was Manchester United’s on-loan Scott McTominay, which serves as an important reminder that there’s never a guarantee a player will make the transition to the Premier League successfully, though I think Reijnders will.
Rayan Cherki - Lyon to City, £30.9m
The third of Manchester City’s signings was French winger Rayan Cherki. The fleet-footed 21-year-old joins from French side Lyon on a 5-year deal. Cherki is an exciting player to watch, he’s an incredible dribbler of the football who can use both feet interchangeably.
Last season he scored 8 goals and notched 11 assists in Ligue 1, leading in combined goals and assists for the club. Cherki can play on both wings and will likely serve as a younger, more dynamic replacement for the aging Jack Grealish, who appears headed for a City exit.
“Defending and tactical discipline, are the biggest question marks about his game,” wrote the Athletics Steve Madeley. However, those are areas in which Pep Guardiola is an expert in improving his players. Cherki will be an exciting option with Savinho and Jeremy Doku on the wing for City.
Jean-Clair Todibo - Nice to West Ham, £32.8m
West Ham completed the permanent signing of Jean-Clair Todibo, who joined on loan with an obligation to buy from Nice last summer. It’s Graham Potters' first permanent signing of the summer though not a surprising one. The 25-year-old French center-back joins for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be £32.8m on a five-year contract according to Yahoo Sports.
Todibo struggled with injury over the 24/25 season, missing a series of games after sustaining a calf injury in January. However, he started 12 of West Ham’s final 13 matches.
Like much of the West Ham side, he showed glimpses of quality but also made mistakes. Ideally for West Ham, a full pre-season will mean Todibo goes into next season fully fit and ready to improve on his first campaign.
Jobe Bellingham - Sunderland to Borussia Dortmund, £32m
The one notable departure this week is from Sunderland, as Jobe Bellingham, brother of Real Madrid and England's Jude Bellingham, follows once again in his siblings footsteps, making the move from the Championship to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.
It’s undoubtedly a loss for Sunderland, Bellingham was one of their best players last season, ranking second overall in average match rating via FotMob statistics. Moments like this are key for the promoted side, if they can turn this money into 1-2 solid signings, that could make all the difference next campaign. However, that’s much easier said than done, especially when replacing an important midfield player like Bellingham.
Mamadou Sarr - RC Strasbourg to Chelsea, £11.9m
Chelsea completed the signing of another young talent this week, signing 19-year-old French center-back Mamadou Sarr from RC Strasbourg for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be £11.9m according to The Athletic. Strasbourg is owned by the group BlueCo, who own Chelsea.
Sarr joins after playing his first full season of top-flight football, as he made 29 appearances for Strasbourg who finished 7th in Ligue 1. He's a big but agile defender, who isn't uncomfortable playing passes from the back.
According to Simon Johnson of The Athletic, Chelsea rates the 6’4 defender highly enough that they feel this move takes the pressure off the club to sign any additional cover in the center-back position.
Antonio Cordero - Malaga to Newcastle, free transfer
Newcastle United confirmed this week that 18-year-old Spanish winger Antonio Cordero will join the club on a free transfer when his contract expires in July. Cordero is an exciting talent who will go out on loan next season.
“He has lots of potential, and the next phase of his development will be for the club to select a loan move that will challenge him and build on his experiences,” said Newcastle sporting director Paul Mitchell.
Marcus Bettinelli - Chelsea to City, undisclosed
Manchester City announced the signing of a replacement third-choice goalkeeper as Marcus Bettinelli joins from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee. The news comes after the club announced that former backup Scott Carson would leave the club.
Bettinelli made one appearance for Chelsea since joining in 2021 but made 162 appearances for both Middlesbrough and Fulham between 2014 and 2021.
Check back next Wednesday with Grubby Balls for all the Premier League's latest confirmed deals!
Delap had plenty of options. Chelsea - big squad - must have convinced him he was going to be the first choice striker with the right players around him. Any thoughts on that? Got to give Man City credit for moving fast.