10. N'Golo Kante to Inter
Chelsea coach Frank Lampard was believed to be willing to sell N'Golo Kante this summer to Inter, only to replace him with West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. Both transfers failed and the players have now remained with their respective clubs.
However, at the beginning of the transfer window, many Italian reports linked Kante with a move to the Giuseppe Meazza, where he would have teamed up with his former boss, Antonio Conte. Sky Italia claimed that Conte wanted to bring in several experienced players for the club to return to instant glory.
9. Sergino Dest to Bayern Munich
Several German reports suggested that Sergino Dest would join Bayern Munich this summer. Bayern had already a $24m deal in place with Dest and the player reportedly wanted to join the Bundesliga champions.
Then, according to Catalan outlet SPORT, Ajax began to stall talks and Bayern Munich got frustrated by it. To make matters worse for the German club, Barcelona took the chance and practically stole Dest from them.
8. Houssem Aouar to Arsenal
One of the several sagas this summer was the one with Houssem Aouar's future. He was linked with Juventus, Manchester City, PSG, and Real Madrid, but Arsenal were the ones who were in advanced talks to sign the 22-year-old player in the final days of the transfer window.
Sky Italia's Fabrizio Romano says that Arsenal backed away from the deal after failing to convince Lyon to lower their demands. Lyon asked for a total sum of $70m with add-ons included, while the Gunners offered $45m, plus additional add-ons.
7. Kalidou Koulibaly to Manchester City
Koulibaly orbited on Manchester City's radar throughout all of the 2019-2020 season. Napoli set the asking price at almost $90m for the highly-rated defender.
As per Fabrizio Romano from Sky Italia, the Senegal captain had already agreed personal terms with the Citizens. However, the two clubs couldn't meet half-way for the plater's valuation. Thus, Koulibaly has remained in Serie A for another six months, at least.
6. Timo Werner to Liverpool
After four seasons with RB Leipzig, where Timo Werner established himself as one of Europe’s best young forwards. He looked set to move to Liverpool this summer.
The Germany international was strongly linked with Liverpool and his admirer, Jurgen Klopp. Werner had even reportedly held talks with Klopp all throughout the 2019-20 season.
Just when everyone thought the 24-year-old striker was Anfield-bound, Chelsea stepped up their pursuit and activated the player's release clause of around $60m.
5. Ousmane Dembele to Manchester United
Ousmane Dembele to Manchester United was an idea that turned up during the final days of the 2020-21 summer transfer window. The idea gathered momentum once Memphis Depay became linked to making a move to Barcelona, paving the way for Dembele to leave the Blaugrana.
The Daily Mail said that the clubs were locked in discussions for several days, with Dembele already agreeing to join the Red Devils after rejecting a loan move to Liverpool earlier in June. The French winger was considered as an alternative for Jadon Sancho.
4. Lautaro Martinez to Barcelona
Lautaro Martinez was a very hot topic for Barcelona in 2020. After Luis Suarez was already deemed sellable by the Barcelona board, they shifted their whole attention to luring Lautaro from Inter.
The two parties are said to have had contacts many times now but the Serie A side didn't budge on their demands for the 23-year-old. In addition, it's also believed that the Argentine striker had asked for an annual salary of $16.5m, which Barca can't afford at the moment due to the coronavirus financial crisis.
3. Memphis Depay to Barcelona
Memphis Depay reportedly had a deal agreed with Barcelona in the final days of the summer transfer window. However, it was La Liga who vetoed his move to his compatriot, Ronald Koeman's side.
Just after it was confirmed that Depay would stay at Lyon, the French club announced that their captain could, after all, leave Lyon to join Barcelona. It seems that everything was ready for the 'go-ahead', however, according to Catalan newspaper SPORT, La Liga rules stopped the transfer.
La Liga president, Javier Tebas, blocked Depay's registration because Barca would have exceeded their salary limits - one of the measures in the fight against the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus. Once his deal was considered off, Dembele's rumored switch to Manchester United was also canceled.
2. Jadon Sancho to Manchester United
The longest saga of the summer, no doubt. Manchester United have been knocking on Borussia Dortmund's door to lure Jadon Sancho away from the Signal Iduna Park all year long.
It was confirmed by many top tier journalists that United and BVB have held talks. However, it seems at though they hit one huge stumbling block, Borussia's asking price of $140m. Despite that, the German side's sporting director Michael Zorc has reiterated many times that they intend to keep Sancho.
1. Lionel Messi to Manchester City
Messi made the headlines in Spain, as well as in the entire world in early September, when he wanted to leave Barcelona. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner missed out on his club's COVID-19 testing day and then he refused to show up at the pre-season training sessions.
At that point, the Blaugrana fans started organizing protests in-favor of their favorite soccer player, asking the club not to sell him. In addition, they were demanding for the club president Josep Maria Bartomeu to resign, having supposedly been the guilty party for the saga.
He was strongly linked to moving to Manchester City, who were probably the lone suitor who could pay his release clause. However, eventually, the forward announced that he would stay at Barcelona until June 2021.
