Real Madrid’s Free Transfer Raid Hits Liverpool and City Again

Real Madrid signed Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva for free this summer and paid Chelsea just £51.8m (roughly $66m) for Marc Cucurella, the cut-price centrepiece of Jose Mourinho’s second reign at the Bernabeu. Liverpool and Manchester City lost both free agents without a transfer fee between them.

It is not a one-off. David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold all arrived at Real Madrid the same way since 2021, and Premier League clubs still have not found an answer to it.

Real Madrid’s Free Kick at Anfield and the Etihad

Cucurella arrived first. Real Madrid’s official announcement confirmed the defender had agreed to a six-year contract running to June 2032, with the fee split into a roughly £47.5m base payment and up to £4.3m in add-ons. Chelsea had bought Cucurella from Brighton four years earlier for £63m; he made 163 appearances and won the Conference League and Club World Cup before Mourinho made him his first signing back in Madrid.

Bernardo Silva followed within days, joining on a free transfer once his Manchester City contract expired at the end of last season. The 31-year-old Portugal international had spent close to a decade at the Etihad Stadium.

Konate completed the trio. The 27-year-old defender made 183 appearances for Liverpool and signed a four-year deal at the Bernabeu running to 2030, choosing not to extend his contract at Anfield. Three Premier League clubs, two free transfers, and one discounted fee, all wrapped up before the end of June.

A Decade of Getting Rivals’ Best Players for Free

This is not new for Real Madrid. Since 2021 the club has built a habit of waiting out contracts at Europe’s biggest teams rather than paying market value for their best players.

Alaba arrived in 2021 to replace the outgoing Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane and won a La Liga and Champions League double in his first season. Rudiger followed a year later and has since played more than 100 games in Madrid, earning a spot in the Champions League team of the season. Alexander-Arnold’s move was the one exception: Real Madrid paid Liverpool a small compensation fee, reported around €10m, to release him early so he could feature at last year’s Club World Cup rather than wait out his final months of contract.

• Bosman transfer – a move completed without a fee once a player’s contract expires, named after the 1995 European court ruling that struck down transfer fees for players moving between clubs after their deal runs out.

Why Did Liverpool and City Let the Clock Run Out?

Liverpool and City both lost multiple first-team regulars for nothing or next to nothing this summer, a direct result of letting contract talks drag past the point of no return rather than selling a year early for a fee.

Liverpool’s exit list reads like a spine of their recent title-winning sides. Andy Robertson left free for Tottenham, Konate left free for Real Madrid, and Mohamed Salah was released outright at the end of his contract. The club reinvested instead in Jeremy Jacquet, a £60m arrival from Rennes, and Victor Munoz, signed from Osasuna for £34.5m.

City’s exodus is tied to life after Pep Guardiola, who is no longer in charge at the Etihad. Manuel Akanji left for Inter on an undisclosed fee, Nathan Ake joined Fenerbahce for £8.5m, John Stones was released, and Bernardo Silva walked out for nothing. City’s response was to spend big elsewhere, headlined by a £116m deal to bring Elliot Anderson in from Nottingham Forest and £10m for Leicester’s Jeremy Monga.

Mourinho’s Return Rewrites Real Madrid’s Shopping List

Cucurella’s arrival marked the first major signing of Mourinho’s second spell in charge of Real Madrid, and it landed just as the club handed him direct say over transfer business ahead of his return. The timing lines up with how quickly the rest of the window came together behind him.

Two free agents and a discounted left-back inside the same month is not the profile of a club paying over the odds to reshape a squad. It is the profile of a manager and a sporting project both willing to wait for contracts to run down before moving.

The Premier League’s Own Merry-Go-Round

Real Madrid were not the only ones trading talent this summer. English clubs did plenty of business with each other, sometimes in near-mirrored deals for almost identical money.

Brighton and Tottenham effectively swapped centre-backs for near-identical fees, sending Van Hecke north for £52m and Vuskovic south for £50m. Chelsea and Aston Villa did their own trade, with Rogers moving for £117m one way and Garnacho arriving on loan the other. None of it came close to Tottenham’s £237m spending spree, built around Tonali’s £100m move from Newcastle.

Not every deal closed as cleanly as planned. Manchester United’s prolonged talks over Andre Onana’s sale price eventually produced only a loan move to Trabzonspor rather than the permanent exit United had been chasing.

Where Squad Numbers Quietly Emptied Out

Beyond the headline fees, this window has been just as notable for who left with no fee attached at all. Several recognisable names across the league were simply released or retired once their deals expired.

• Mohamed Salah – released by Liverpool at the end of his contract.
• Casemiro – released by Manchester United after his deal ran out.
• John Stones – released by Manchester City as part of the post-Guardiola rebuild.
• Idrissa Gueye and Seamus Coleman – both released by Everton.
• Yves Bissouma – released by Tottenham.
• James Milner – retired at Brighton.
• Ashley Young – retired at Ipswich.

None of those departures carried a fee either, which is the same story playing out at smaller scale across the whole division, not just at the Bernabeu.

Five Weeks Left Before the Window Shuts

The 2026 summer window opened on June 15 and closes at 11pm on September 1. Last summer, Premier League clubs already blew past £3billion in combined spending, and this year’s business is on a similar path.

Konate and Bernardo Silva cost Real Madrid a combined £0 in transfer fees. Five weeks remain for another club to hand them that same trick for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are so many Premier League stars leaving on free transfers?

Clubs are increasingly losing players to expired contracts rather than selling early for a fee. Beyond Konate, Bernardo Silva and Salah, this summer alone saw Illan Meslier join Arsenal free, Kieran Trippier move to Wolves free, and Callum Wilson join Brentford free once their contracts ran out.

Why is Manchester City losing so many players this summer?

City’s rebuild follows Pep Guardiola’s departure from the club, with Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and John Stones all leaving as the squad turns over around a new era at the Etihad.

When does the 2026 summer transfer window close?

The window closes at 11pm UK time on September 1, 2026, giving clubs just over five weeks from late July to finish their business.

When does the next transfer window open?

The Premier League’s winter window for January 2027 is set to open on Friday, January 1, giving clubs their next chance to register new signings.

Who won the Premier League title last season?

Arsenal enter this window as reigning champions, which is part of why they have already added Christos Tzolis and Piero Hincapie to build on top of last season’s title-winning squad.