With a pair of Arsenal transfer targets occupying the top two spots, here are the top 10 No.10s who could be on the move this summer.
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) Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa)
Reportedly available for around £40million as Aston Villa chase some sumptuous pure profit, Ramsey would be a very ambitious pick-up for a worse Premier League side, while some of the Big Six might fancy taking a punt.
It’s always easy to link players with Manchester United, but he does seem very Manchester United to us. Ramsey as one of Ruben Amorim’s ‘wide 10s’ has some big potential.
7) Nico Paz (Como)
Martin Baturina has signed for 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) Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Elliott does not want another season as a bit-part player at Anfield. He said earlier this month:
“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. His England Under-21 performances at this summer’s European Championship have been fantastic as well. The Reds and Man United striking a deal is unlikely, but my word, he’s ‘perfect’ for them.
MORE: Harvey Elliott isn’t good enough for Liverpool, which is one reason he’s perfect for Man Utd
5) 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.
4) 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.
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 and Ramsey are the most obvious candidates 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.
1) Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
We previously ignored Eze, assuming the chances of him leaving Europa League-bound Palace were very low. That, combined with a lack of transfer rumours, was enough to convince us he’d stay. However, Arsenal are now serious contenders and Tottenham are also very keen.
Available for £68m to clubs looking to avoid paying his £60m release clause up front, Eze turns 27 this weekend – but Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is reportedly convinced he can help elevate the Gunners’ attack. It’s hard to argue with him.