Chelsea usually have at least one exciting deal for a prodigious talent lined up, but Arsenal and Liverpool have future transfers sorted too.
Chelsea usually have at least one exciting deal for a prodigious talent lined up, but Arsenal and Liverpool have future transfers sorted too.
The 2026 summer transfer window is busy enough, but teams are using the opportunity to pre-arrange transfers years in advance now to steal a march on their rivals too.
Chelsea are chief among them but plenty of other sides are indulging in the practice. These are the upcoming transfers sorted for future windows involving Premier League clubs.
Victor Ozhianvuna (Shamrock Rovers to Arsenal, £1.73m, January 2027)
Arsenal were linked with Mason Melia as part of their drive to become a landing spot for Ireland’s best young talents. They lost out in that race to Spurs in January 2026 but managed to secure a pre-contract deal for Ohzianvuna to arrive 12 months later.
Club Brugge offered an immediate exit and path to the first team while Arsenal cannot bring the versatile forward in until after he turns 18 in January 2027, but all parties felt another year or so developing in Ireland before moving would be beneficial.
Ozhianvuna will join on a four-and-a-half-year contract with add-ons which could double the initial fee, and a sell-on clause, having caught Arsenal’s eye during a 2023 summer tournament staged at the club’s academy.
He will even join the Arsenal youth revolution with some European seasoning in the Conference League, and a whole lot of LOI minutes under his belt.
Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union to Manchester City, £3.8m, January 2028)
“I can’t even believe you will be playing at sort of that level with pressure on you at 15,” said Gary Neville, who also implored the world to “definitely just let him breathe, let him enjoy himself” and not “put too much pressure on him”.
Sullivan signed the richest homegrown contract in MLS history at just 14, contained within which is a clause tying him to a pre-arranged transfer to Manchester City when he turns a positively ancient 18.
The midfielder has built quite the reputation on the youth scene at club and international level, attracting interest from Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
But Sullivan himself cited the lure of signing for Union, with whom he has familial ties, with an in-built pathway to Europe when he has been given time and patience to develop.
That process is still ongoing, but the 16-year-old recently became one of the youngest scorers in MLS history and has trained with Manchester City.
Sidy Barhama Ndiaye (Diambars FC to Liverpool, £1m, January 2028)
While Rio Ngumoha is all the rage now, the 17-year-old will be practically over the hill and retired soon enough and there is a perennial need to source the next prodigy.
Ndiaye is over a year younger and recently caught the eye at the U17 AFCON, featuring in every game for a Senegal side knocked out on penalties in the quarters.
Liverpool quickly moved to secure the future of a boy predictably dubbed ‘the next Mane’, who spent time training with the club last summer and even made a couple of impressive appearances for the U18s.
A forward who can play on either side, Ndiaye is ineligible to join until after his 18th birthday. That is, ludicrously enough, not for another 18 months.
Deinner Ordonez (Independiente del Valle to Chelsea, unknown fee, January 2028)
It has not been revealed either how much Chelsea will pay for Ordonez, nor the precise length of the presumably ludicrous long-term contract he will sign, but the 16-year-old’s arranged marriage to the Blues has been confirmed.
The centre-half will have to wait until the first transfer window after he turns 18 to make his move to the Premier League.
Liverpool were said to be interested and the Daily Mail even referenced youth scouts calling Ordonez ‘the best player of his age-group in the whole of South America’.
But Chelsea won the race for the latest player coming off the same product line as Moises Caicedo, Kendry Paez, Piero Hincapie and Willian Pacho.
READ NEXT: The top 20 biggest transfers of the summer 2026 window
