Yearender 2021: Three much-anticipated transfer deals which failed to materialise this summer

Some of the biggest names of world football such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Romelu Lukaku switched clubs while we also saw some big deals those failed to materialise.

Here, we look at three much-discussed moves that failed to materialise in 2021.

Jules Kounde – Sevilla to Chelsea

Chelsea chased Kounde of Sevilla throughout the summer of 2021 and it looked like a deal that would eventually be sealed. The Blues even sold Kurt Zouma to West Ham United to make room for their priority target in defence but they failed to convince Sevilla into selling their priced asset. It was reported that Chelsea made several bids for the Frenchman with their highest offer being in the range of €55 million but the La Liga giants held firm. Chelsea have, however, not struggled much defensively this campaign and missing out on Kounde might have acted as the key factor behind the rise of academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah.

Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City

Manchester City had their eyes only two players during the summer of 2021 in the form of Jack Grealish and Kane. While they managed to agree a price with Aston Villa for their skipper Grealish but Spurs, as always, proved to be a difficult party to negotiate with. Daniel Levy turned down an array of bids for his star striker from the Cityzens with the highest offer from the Cityzens’ was believed to be in the region of £125 million. Having missed out on Kane, City did not sign an alternative and have done really well without a traditional number nine while Kane is possibly having the worst season of his career this tie around.

Kylian Mbappe – Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid

Paris Saint-Germain had a blockbuster summer transfer window this time around seeing stellar arrivals like Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gini Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nuno Mendes and Danilo Pereira at Parc des Princes. However, the biggest victory of the French giants was possibly the fact that they managed to retain their star attacker Kylian Mbappe despite interest from Real Madrid. Even with the contract of the 22-year-old up for expiry in the summer of 2022 and the forward making it quite clear that he has no plans to sign an extension, PSG still rejected a bid worth €200 million from Real Madrid. Financially, this could prove to be a blunder made by the French capital club but they have once again made it clear that they will never bow down.