BarcelonaThe most atypical winter market of all time opens on January 1, basically because a World Cup has never before been contested in the middle of a major league soccer season. The World Cup is always a showcase for many footballers, who manage to close transfers or improve the conditions they have with their clubs. For many players, the World Cup in Qatar has meant a before and after. At the ARA we review the fifteen names that have been able to take advantage of it the most.
Open the list a Dutch pearl. The young 23-year-old attacker ended up being one of the most important players in theorange. If you were wondering how important the World Cup is, here is the answer: three goals in the five games have served to arouse the interest of the big clubs in Europe. Finally, it was Liverpool who signed the star from the Netherlands to compensate for the losses of Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz. This season he has already scored 14 goals and provided 17 assists in all competitions for PSV.
His last-minute call-up to the Spanish national team to participate in the World Cup placed Alejandro Balde’s name on the list of the best footballers in his position. Despite the poor role of the Red, the young left-back has fully integrated into top-level football: he has made his World Cup debut and is a regular in Xavi’s starting teams. He is waiting to improve his contract with Barça.
Specialist and versatile in the defense of the French national team and Barça, Jules Koundé was one of the protagonists of France, one of the most complete teams in the competition, on the way to the final. Faced with the casualties presented by the team, Koundé was one of those chosen to overcome adversity. The Blaugrana player played most of the minutes – he played the whole of five of the seven games – in the right-back position.
There are no explanations to confirm that Kylian Mbappé is one of the best players in the world. The French team was one step away from winning the World Cup in the penalty shootout, but the performance of Emiliano Martínez under the posts of thealbiceleste prevented it. Mbappé – the apple of Florentino Pérez’s eyes – was crowned with the top scorer award, with eight goals. Also, he scored one hat-trick in the final, something not seen since 1966 with Geoff Hurst, former English footballer.
Jude Bellingham is one of the best midfielders of the moment, present and future in European football. Pedri, Gavi or Musiala, his most direct competition, were not rivals of the English player in the World Cup. Real Madrid is one of the clubs most interested in signing the English pearl.
Enzo Fernández, midfielder of world champion Argentina, was awarded the trophy for the best young player of the World Cup. He is 21 years old and is playing his first season in Europe at Portuguese Benfica, a club that has already received offers for the player.
Known as the Spider, Julián Álvarez made it to the national team and no one expected the great success Lionel Scaloni would have when lining up the young Manchester City striker. Guardiola already discovered Julián when he was playing for River Plate and now his coach has discovered him, giving way to a new and brilliant generation in the Argentine striker. Two very important goals in the semi-final against Croatia and a great harmony with Leo Messi confirmed his title in the grand final.
He already gave a show at the Copa America (2021) in the penalty shootout against Colombia and at the World Cup he had to repeat it with the Netherlands and France. One of the most charismatic goalkeepers, he was the only footballer who wanted to take the final to penalties. According to the English press, he could leave Aston Villa this January because coach Unai Emery reproves the taunts and lack of education he addressed to some members of the French team during the celebration of their stoppages in the final With Neuer injured, some reports suggest that Bayern Munich could be interested in signing him.
Yassine Bounou was key in Morocco’s great defensive framework. The goalkeeper with the fewest goals last season has had a bad time at the start of this season, because Sevilla are currently in relegation positions. The good role of the revelation selection and the good performances under the posts of Morocco have set off the alarms in Sevilla, because some clubs would have started to negotiate his transfer, such as Aston Villa, who sees Bono as a great substitute for Martínez, if the Argentine finally leaves.
Sofyan Amrabat has been one of the surprises of this 2022. The 26-year-old midfielder of the Moroccan and Fiorentina national team has shone for his country and some information already rates his transfer at 40 million euros.
Another of the young pearls of the World Cup. A dribbler and unbalancing footballer, Azz-Edine Ounahi completed ten successful dribbles (1.43 per game) in Qatar in a team founded on defensive solidarity. The 22-year-old from Angers, who is in charge in the French league, could leave for Olympique de Marseille in exchange for 20 or 25 million euros, according to speculation in the French press.
Morocco’s offensive reference. Youssef En-Nesyri is one of the footballers who has been lucky that the World Cup has been held on these atypical dates, because after not finishing breaking out in Sevilla, he stood out at the World Cup event. En-Nesyri scored two goals, one of which in the purest Cristiano Ronaldo style, rising 90 centimeters from the ground to sentence Portugal.
Joško Gvardiol has been one of the best central defenders in the World Cup, despite the fact that Messi left him in evidence in the semi-finals. Throughout the summer he was linked to the most important teams in Europe – including Real Madrid – and finally decided to renew his contract with the German Leipzig. Gvardiol is one of the people responsible for Croatia’s second consecutive presence in a World Cup semi-final and Pep Guardiola is also closely following him.
Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was of great importance during the qualifiers. In the last two World Cups, the Croatian team has made a habit of playing extra time and Livakovic was key in the penalty shootouts against Japan (in the round of 16) and Brazil (in the quarterfinals). against the canarinha he also shone throughout the 120 minutes of play.
Fernando Santos gave the surprise when he made Cristiano Ronaldo sit on the bench in the round of 16 match, which Portugal played against Switzerland. In his place, he lined up a young striker from Benfica (21 years old) who scored three goals (6-1). In the following game, in the elimination with Morocco, he repeated as starter, but he was no longer so lucky.
