Liverpool are expected to sell and sign an attacking midfielder this summer. Including Anfield-bound Florian Wirtz, here are the top 10 No.10s potentially on the move in the summer transfer window.
10) Bilal El Khannouss (Leicester)
Leicester were utterly awful in 2024/25 but El Khannouss is clearly a very talented footballer. At just 21, he won’t want to waste time playing in the Championship – though if he does stay, he might well end up with 20 goals and 20 assists.
The Foxes paid around £18m for the Moroccan last summer and will likely want at least double to sell him. Transfer links have been quiet, but El Khannouss’ ceiling is far too high for him to be spending the next 12 months playing in the second tier.
9) Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Ukraine international Sudakov scored 13 times in the Premier Liga this season and remains one of Europe’s most highly rated young midfielders.
He’s been billed as the next big Shakhtar sale ever since Mykhaylo Mudryk left for Chelsea in January 2023, and it’s genuinely surprising that move hasn’t materialised yet. A forgettable Euro 2024 might have cooled interest, but Sudakov responded with a stellar season for the Ukrainian Cup winners.
Even more surprising: Shakhtar finished third in the league behind invincible champions Dynamo Kyiv and FC Oleksandriya.
8) Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Elliott does not want another season as a bit-part player at Anfield. This week, he said:
“I’m coming into an age now where I’m 22, I’m going to be 23 next season. I don’t really want to be wasting years on my career because it’s a short career. I just want to improve and be the best possible version of myself. If that’s to go somewhere else, then it’s a decision that I’m going to have to make… but most importantly, it’s just about what’s best for my career.”
So he’s off, then.
Elliott has never nailed down a starting role at Liverpool, so it’s unclear how he’d adapt to being the main man elsewhere. But we’re fairly confident he’ll do well. A mid-table Premier League club would be perfect, though he does strike us as one of those Englishmen who might thrive abroad; the Bundesliga feels like a decent fit.
7) Nico Paz (Como)
Martin Baturina is on his way to Como, potentially as Paz’s replacement, though Cesc Fabregas could find a way to get them both in his team if the latter stays.
Real Madrid sold Paz for €6m last summer and can buy him back for €8m in 2025 or €9m in 2026 — which is outrageously cheap for a player Transfermarkt values at €35m. That clause all but guarantees Madrid will swoop again, despite already having Brahim Diaz and Arda Guler as back-up 10s. They have the luxury of playing him…or flipping him for profit.
Como, meanwhile, are just happy to have one of the most promising young players in Europe for now. Paz scored six goals and registered nine assists in 35 Serie A appearances as Fabregas’ newly promoted side finished an eye-catching 10th.
If Madrid wait too long, someone else will surely pounce.
6) Malik Tillman (PSV)
PSV haven’t said Tillman is available, nor have his agents, but with all due respect, when you’re outside Europe’s top five leagues, you’re always available – for the right price.
Tillman was the top-rated midfielder in this season’s Champions League, according to the WhoScored algorithm, after contributing three goals and two assists. He was decent on loan at Rangers in 2022/23, but nobody saw this level coming.
Signed permanently by PSV for around £10m in 2023, Tillman has delivered 25 goals and 19 assists in 73 appearances. Comfortable as a No.10, deeper midfielder or wide forward, the 23-year-old looks ready for a step-up, and should be linked with every club that misses out on the shiny names above him.
5) Sam Steijn (Twente)
Steijn was an early contender for 2025’s Golden Boot after a flurry of goals early in the year, but his form tailed off from April onwards as Twente finished sixth in the Eredivisie.
Even so, the numbers are outrageous: 24 goals and 7 assists in 33 league games from midfield. That’s 39 goal contributions in 2024/25. Impossible to ignore.
With PSV’s Tillman and Twente’s Steijn in the mix, now feels like a good time to bring up Feyenoord’s Quinten Timber as an honourable mention; he almost certainly would’ve secured a big-money move this summer had it not been for a serious knee injury.
4) Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
If this were a ranking of best players, De Bruyne would probably be top. But in terms of the best signings this summer, he’s not quite No.1.
Available on a free transfer, the Manchester City legend is reportedly set to join Serie A champions Napoli. A fantastic deal for them, and a nice reminder that De Bruyne isn’t ready to disappear into the Saudi or MLS sunset just yet.
Injuries remain a concern, but if Napoli get 35 games out of him, they’ll be absolutely buzzing.
3) Xavi Simons (Leipzig)
There’s been a lot of noise around Simons for some time, but his and Leipzig’s 2024/25 season was hugely underwhelming. Marco Rose was sacked in March, and it’s honestly a miracle he lasted that long.
Simons reportedly told Leipzig he wants to leave this summer after they failed to qualify for the Champions League — only a year after joining permanently from PSG. A few Leipzig players have been strongly linked with moves, but things have gone oddly quiet where Simons is concerned, unlike with Benjamin Sesko.
Still, the numbers do a lot of talking: 43 goals and 34 assists in his last 124 club games. Whoever signs him is getting a bona fide star.
2) Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Villa fans might deny he’s available, but there’s clearly some willingness to make a big sale, and after Rogers’ breakout season, he’s the most obvious candidate to help ease those Profit and Sustainability nerves.
Rogers edges ahead of Simons based on Premier League experience and recency bias: he’s been electric in 2025. While Leipzig’s season was petering out, Rogers was flying, scoring a Champions League hat-trick against Celtic in January and grabbing eight goal contributions in 10 league games between February and March.
Arsenal have been linked with the England international, with Mikel Arteta on the lookout for an elite wide forward. Rogers can play on the left, but his best position is in the 10, where his pace, strength and dribbling cause chaos.
(If you’re wondering where Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze are…we’re just not convinced they’re available. If Palace get kicked out of the Europa League, Eze might jump.)
1) Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
A move to Liverpool has received the full ‘Here we go’ treatment, but at the time of writing, Wirtz is still technically available – just not for long.
Bayern Munich and Manchester City were keen before it became clear the Germany international only had eyes for Anfield. The Reds have agreed a colossal £127m fee with Leverkusen, who understandably want every last penny for a player with 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 appearances for them.
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