Bayern Munich
Eberl Shrugs at Harry Kane Speculation as Bayern Focuses on Short-Term Success
Max Eberl plays down transfer talk over Harry Kane as United and Tottenham links intensify. Tonight.
Bayern Munich’s sporting board member Max Eberl took a reserved stance on the growing transfer chatter around Harry Kane, saying the striker’s future is ultimately the player’s choice. The remarks arrive amid renewed links to Manchester United and to Tottenham Hotspur, where Thomas Frank said he “would like to see Kane back” in north London.
Eberl acknowledged the uncertainty despite Kane still having two years left on his contract. “He’s old enough to make his own decisions,” Eberl said of the 32-year-old, “whether it’s a clause or no clause, whatever—if he says he wants to make a decision, then he’ll make it, as he showed at Tottenham.” He stopped short of promising Bayern could keep Kane at all costs but was clear about the club’s preference. “Our wish is, of course, to be very, very successful with Harry this season and in the future!”
Manager Vincent Kompany offered a similar line, underlining the forward’s current form and focus. “He’s in a very good phase right now,” the Belgian boss said, adding: “The one thing I always see is that he still has that hunger to win titles. And he can do that at Bayern. That’s the only focus.”
Kane’s start to the campaign has intensified interest. He has 13 goals in seven games for Bayern, including eight in four league outings, and sits two strikes short of 100 goals for the Bavarian club. A brace in the upcoming match against Werder Bremen would take him to 100 in 104 appearances for Bayern, a milestone no player in Europe’s top five leagues has reached in fewer fixtures for the same team.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland share the existing mark of 100 goals in 105 games for Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively. Beyond goals, Eberl also praised Kane’s development as a creator and leader. “At his age, he’s making huge progress on the pitch,” he said. “We all knew him from Tottenham from his goalscoring skills, but the way he’s playing football right now in this team, leading the way on the pitch, sacrificing himself for the team, shows: He simply wants to win titles! That’s his hunger, he can do it with us, we want to do it with him.”
Arsenal
Money Talks: CIES Ranks the World’s Most Valuable Squads
CIES values nine squads over $1bn; Real Madrid leads at $1.78bn while Tottenham exceed $1bn. Values.
The surge in transfer prices and squad valuations has reshaped how clubs are measured. The CIES Football Observatory produces those estimates by weighing a player’s quality, age, position and length of contract, and those individual valuations are then summed to give each squad a market value.
The scale is striking. There are nine clubs with squads valued above $1 billion. At the top is Real Madrid with a squad valuation of $1.78 billion and Kylian Mbappé listed as the most valuable player at $221 million. Barcelona follow with $1.60 billion, Lamine Yamal accounting for $403.9 million of that total. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain each sit at $1.55 billion, with Bukayo Saka ($131.5 million) and Désiré Doué ($150.3 million) named as their most valuable players respectively.
Liverpool’s roster is valued at $1.20 billion, most valuable player Florian Wirtz ($149.8 million). Bayern Munich come in at $1.15 billion with Michael Olise ($162.6 million) as their top-rated asset. Tottenham’s squad is valued at $1.03 billion; Xavi Simons is listed as their most valuable player ($98.1 million), despite the club’s current relegation fight and Igor Tudor’s assessment that players “are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal.”
The list also includes Manchester United ($953 million, Benjamin Šeško $100.3 million) and Inter ($942 million, Lautaro Martínez $117 million). Earlier-positioned squads under $1 billion include Atlético Madrid ($903 million, Julián Álvarez $136.5 million), Juventus ($896 million, Kenan Yıldız $152.5 million) and Brighton ($894 million, Diego Gómez $86.4 million).
Several voices in the game have reflected on the market changes. Karl-Heinz Rumminegge said, “There are some players who do not come with a price tag.” Robert Lewandowski complained, “You are young, you score 10 goals in six months and some club will pay 60 or 70 million,” adding, “Before, you had to achieve something.” Vincent Kompany warned players about hype: “I always tell my players, ‘When there’s hype please don’t believe it, you’re not that good.’”
Whether the valuations mirror on-field quality or the inflation of a transfer market remains the central question CIES data brings into focus.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Join a Packed Race for Nottingham Forest Midfielder Elliot Anderson
Bayern step up for Elliot Anderson as Man City, Man Utd and others pursue midfield options in 2026 .
Bayern Munich are reportedly intensifying interest in Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, entering a transfer picture already crowded with top clubs. The German side are said to be “stepping up” their plans to sign Anderson, who could be tempted by the prospect of joining up with international teammate Harry Kane.
Last summer was the year of the striker. Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitiké, Viktor Gyökeres, Benjamin Šeško, João Pedro, Liam Delap … all the big teams wanted a new goalscorer and bid against themselves to try find them. Now, in 2026, the narrative has turned to midfielders and Anderson sits near the top of multiple wish lists.
Manchester United and Manchester City are both named among the interested parties, alongside Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur. The article adds that Arsenal, Newcastle United, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain could also be drawn into the market depending on how the window develops.
That overlap matters because many clubs are watching the same targets. There is, however, only one Anderson. Clubs that see the 23-year-old as their dream pick-up will need alternatives if he moves elsewhere this summer.
Potential replacements already being considered include Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace, while the agent of Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali has done an excellent job of injecting his client into the market . Magpies teammate Bruno Guimarães has also been tipped for a costly exit. Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba still has plenty of admirers despite a failed approach from United last summer, and Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ João Gomes are both named as players likely to move on this year.
As the window unfolds, clubs facing the prospect of missing out on Anderson will be forced to broaden their lists. For now, the race to sign him looks set to be a defining early storyline of the 2026 transfer window.
Barcelona
The 25 Attacking Midfielders Defining Modern Football
25 elite attacking midfielders examined for 2025/26: roles, strengths and standout traits. Insights.
Attacking midfielders with genuine No.10 instincts remain scarce at the elite level. This survey distils the core reasons a selection of those players matter now: creativity, goalscoring, tactical intelligence and adaptability across competitions and systems.
Charles De Ketelaere arrived at Atalanta in 2023 after a difficult season at AC Milan. Gasperini’s setup revived him: he scored 14 league goals and provided 11 assists in his debut campaign while playing a central role in Atalanta’s Europa League triumph. In 2024/25 he followed that with 13 goals and 13 assists, standing out for silky footwork, clever movement and elite off-ball positioning.
Xavi Simons rebuilt his trajectory at PSV in 2022, scoring 22 times and earning Player of the Year before PSG triggered a buy-back clause and later loaned him to RB Leipzig. Now a permanent Leipzig player, Simons has become one of the Bundesliga’s most electric attacking forces.
Pedro Gonçalves has been Sporting’s creative metronome since 2020. Up until the end of 2024/25, despite missing significant time through injury, Gonçalves had scored 87 goals and provided 57 assists for the club. His quiet persona and a brief, uneventful spell at Wolves have obscured his sustained output.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta continues to flourish at Flamengo, winning the 2025 Copa Libertadores. On his level, Filipe Luís said: “The whole world knows and sees that he could perfectly be in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético, Chelsea … he is high above many’s standard,” Luís once gushed. “He makes the difference.”
Bayern’s Lennart Karl, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt’s academy at 14, became the club’s youngest Champions League scorer with a goal against Club Brugge. “I’m aware of it, of course, but I don’t let it influence me,” he shrugged.
Other profiles charted here include established creators and rising stars: Antoine Griezmann, Morgan Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze (whose FA Cup final winner against Manchester City earned a move to Arsenal), Christoph Baumgartner—“He’s an incredibly important player for us and organizes a lot, both on and off the pitch,” Ole Werner said—and a string of continental talents earning fresh recognition.
This group illustrates how varied the modern No.10 role is: goal threat, orchestrator, press initiator and game finisher. The mix of proven output and emergent potential explains why these midfielders are so highly prized in 2025/26.
