Quite a few players have converted strong performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup into lucrative transfers this summer, from Yan Diomande and Luka Vušković to Bruno Guimarães and Maxence Lacroix.

Here, we take a closer look at five lesser-known players who secured major moves after impressing at the World Cup.

Fresh from completing the domestic treble, Bayern Munich moved swiftly to reshape their squad by signing Morocco attacking star Ismael Saibari for $56 million. While Saibari adds further quality to Bayern’s already loaded attack, Nathaniel Brown has arrived to address the gap at left-back and justify his $57 million fee.

Just 10 months after making his professional debut for Nürnberg in Germany’s second division, Brown joined Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2024, although he remained with his boyhood club until the season ended. He soon became an important player for Die Adler, registering 3 goals and 7 assists in 33 appearances and helping them finish third in the Bundesliga, before losing to England in the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final.

Eintracht coped with Omar Marmoush’s mid-season departure and still secured Champions League football, but Hugo Ekitiké’s exit proved far more damaging as they slipped to eighth place in 2025/26. Even so, Brown stood out, producing 4 goals and 6 assists in 42 appearances from left-back, enough to earn Eintracht’s Player of the Season award and a senior international debut for Germany in October.

Born to an American father and a German mother, Brown was selected by Germany for the FIFA World Cup and delivered a goal and an assist against Curaçao before playing every minute against Ivory Coast and Paraguay. At 23, he has emerged as one of Germany’s most exciting young full-backs, and after a strong spell in Hesse, he is now returning home to Bavaria on a five-year contract with Bayern.

Bayern badly needed a left-back like Brown, someone with the pace and vertical thrust to cover huge areas of the pitch and surge up and down the flank, while also allowing utility players such as Josip Stanisic and Tom Bischof to return to their natural roles instead of filling in on the left. Unless Alphonso Davies can finally shake off the injury problems that have troubled him over the past two seasons, Brown looks well placed to become Vincent Kompany’s first-choice left-back.

It has been a busy transfer window for Aston Villa. After finishing fourth in the Premier League, they lost their two biggest stars, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, as well as first-choice left-back Lucas Digne to Paris Saint-Germain. Villa brought in João Gomes from Wolves to help replace Tielemans, but in Rogers’ more advanced midfield role, Johan Manzambi is the player expected to recreate that influence.

Manzambi was raised in Geneva before moving to Freiburg in 2023, and after only 11 senior appearances, he enjoyed a breakout 2025/26 campaign in which he scored 7 goals and provided 9 assists across 47 matches. After guiding Freiburg to the UEFA Europa League Final, where they were beaten by Villa, the newly crowned Europa League Young Player of the Season then made his mark for Switzerland at the FIFA World Cup.

After coming off the bench to score a brace against Bosnia & Herzegovina, he earned a place in Murat Yakin’s starting XI and responded with a goal and an assist against Canada, followed by an assist against Algeria, before a knee injury ruled him out of the next two matches. At one stage, Newcastle appeared favourites to sign Manzambi, but after Amadou Onana suffered an ACL tear in the Round of 16, Villa acted quickly to hijack the Magpies’ move and complete a club-record $69 million deal.

Villa required a box-to-box midfielder capable of linking build-up play with incision in the final third, and Manzambi fits that profile perfectly. He is comfortable receiving under pressure in the second phase and driving into open space, and he finished first in the Bundesliga for progressive carries (116), shot-ending carries (13) and fouls won (78). He has also shown himself to be a genuine goal threat thanks to his sharp late runs into the penalty area.

For a side that had the second-oldest squad in the Premier League last season, Villa were in urgent need of younger legs, and they have addressed that through the arrivals of Alejandro Garnacho (22), Gomes (25) and Modou Kéba Cissé (20). Even so, their headline signing is clearly Manzambi (20), who, only two years after his professional debut, now appears ready to make a major impact in both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

After a legendary decade at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City are entering a new era, with Enzo Maresca replacing Pep Guardiola as manager. City have not only lost Guardiola, but also experienced figures such as John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Nathan Aké and reserve goalkeeper James Trafford.

Even so, they have signed only one senior player, apart from teenage winger Jeremy Monga, with Elliot Anderson arriving on a five-year contract. Since leaving boyhood club Newcastle in 2024, Anderson has become a crucial midfield presence for Nottingham Forest, helping take them from a relegation fight to a UEFA Europa League semi-final in just two years.

Anderson produced the best season of his career in 2025/26, earning his England debut and topping the Premier League charts for touches (3,300), duels won (297), fouls won (80) and possessions won (306). The 23-year-old also developed an excellent understanding alongside Declan Rice in England’s double pivot, helping the Three Lions secure their best World Cup finish in 60 years with a bronze medal in North America.

Whether deployed as a deep-lying controller alongside Rodri or in his place, or as a driving box-to-box No. 8, Anderson thrives under pressure. He combines sharp footwork in tight areas with the burst needed to break beyond the first line of the press, and his ability to carry the ball 30 to 40 yards can instantly turn defensive recoveries into dangerous attacks for City’s front line.

Now, after completing a club-record $156 million move to City, Anderson will aim to fill the void left by Silva, and potentially Rodri, in midfield and become one of the first names on Maresca’s teamsheet. City needed more dynamism and physical edge in midfield, and they have found that in Anderson, who, despite standing at just 5’10”, has excelled in winning both ground and aerial duels while sustaining pressure high up the pitch.

Christ Inao Oulaï’s rise has been rapid. After spending 2018 to 2024 at JMG Academy, Oulaï left Abidjan for Bastia and made his name in France’s second tier before joining Süper Lig club Trabzonspor in 2025. The Ivorian quickly became an influential midfield figure and helped them defeat Konyaspor in the Turkish Cup Final.

His displays caught the eye of Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Faé, who handed him his first senior call-up in November 2025 before also selecting him for the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup. After an encouraging cameo against Ecuador, Oulaï was outstanding against Germany, completing 45 of 50 passes, including 1 key pass, and all 5 of his dribbles.

He was then left on the bench against Curaçao before returning to the starting XI for Ivory Coast’s first-ever World Cup knockout match against Norway. Now, after spells in France and Türkiye, the 20-year-old is set for a new challenge in Italy after joining Fiorentina for $30 million. If he activates the $4.6 million in conditional bonuses included in the deal, he will overtake Nicolás González as Fiorentina’s most expensive signing.

Following last season’s narrow escape from relegation, Fiorentina have moved quickly to rebuild their midfield, and Oulaï is expected to line up alongside fellow new arrival Arthur Atta in the centre of the park. Able to operate either as a defensive midfielder or as a box-to-box player, Oulaï excels at breaking up opposition moves and starting attacks from deep.

He possesses the passing precision and calmness under pressure needed to carry the ball through physically demanding Serie A midfields and connect play with the attack, while his press resistance and high tackling output should provide a much-needed lift to a Fiorentina side that looked blunt and short of ideas last season.

After reaching the first World Cup knockout match in their history, Bosnia & Herzegovina fans are now set to watch two of their brightest talents represent two huge clubs. Following a breakout season with Red Bull Salzburg, Bayer Leverkusen activated their buyback clause for Kerim Alajbegović and then sold him to Juventus for $34.5 million plus $8 million in bonuses, with the Italian club beating Chelsea to his signature.

As things stand, that leaves Tarik Muharemović as the only Bosnian set to feature in the Premier League this season. Born in Slovenia, Muharemović grew up in Austria before joining Juventus’ academy in 2021. After making his debut for Bosnia & Herzegovina, he moved to Sassuolo and helped them win the Serie B title before following that with a comfortable 11th-place finish.

He began his World Cup with a sensational performance against Canada before being sent off against Switzerland, but returned to play the full match in the Golden Lillies’ defeat to the United States. Those displays were convincing enough for Leeds United to spend $46 million on the 23-year-old defender.

With Pascal Struijk having departed, Muharemović immediately addresses a key need in Leeds’ defensive setup by providing a left-footed option capable of creating different passing angles. He combines physical strength with technical ability, and he is particularly effective at switching play across the pitch and carrying the ball forward with confident surges into midfield.

He has already impressed both in a possession-dominant system in Serie B and in a more transitional Serie A style under Fabio Grosso, and there is good reason to believe the Bosnia centre-back can continue that progress at Leeds. If he can balance his natural aggression with greater tactical maturity, he has all the attributes needed to establish himself as a regular in Daniel Farke’s back line.