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Six of the best transfers after World Cup 2026: Vozinha, Torres, Spence and more
Rohan Mehta | August 18, 2026 4:54 PM CST

Four weeks have gone by since the World Cup final, and a number of players involved in the tournament have already changed clubs.

It is a pattern that repeats every four years. The World Cup offers the ideal platform for a player to thrust himself into the spotlight and draw fresh interest at club level.

This summer has followed the same script, with several key figures from the World Cup securing moves afterwards. Here are six of the standout deals, along with a few honourable mentions.

He was the ultimate cult hero of the World Cup. Hardly anyone knew Vozinha before the tournament, and now everyone does.

Vozinha made a huge impact for Cape Verde. Had he not been 40, you do wonder what level of clubs might have been lining up for him.

The goalkeeper's contract with Chaves in Portugal expired at the end of June, and after that a transfer to Colo-Colo in Chile began to take shape.

It was not a simple move, though, as visa problems delayed his flight before a proper transfer tussle emerged when Morocco's Berkane attempted to hijack the deal.

In the end, Vozinha did complete his switch to Colo-Colo. He has signed a six-month contract with the option of a one-year extension.

A more conventional breakout star from the World Cup, Manzambi impressed for Switzerland with three goals and two assists in four matches.

It had seemed certain that he was heading to Newcastle, until Aston Villa stepped in and smashed their transfer record to sign the midfielder.

The 20-year-old will hope to settle quickly at Villa after having faced them in last season's Europa League final.

Torres wrote himself into football history by scoring the winning goal for Spain against Argentina in the World Cup final.

But he will no longer be playing in Spain, having left Barcelona to join reigning Champions League holders PSG.

It is the first time the scorer of the World Cup's winning goal has moved in the same summer since Brazil's Ronaldo left Inter for Real Madrid in 2002.

The interesting thing about Spence is that he never fully nailed down a regular place at Spurs, yet England ended up depending on him this summer.

His surge in profile on the international stage made it the perfect moment for Tottenham to cash in, and that is exactly what happened when Inter made their move.

Spence has previous experience in Serie A from his loan spell at Genoa, so this is not an entirely out-of-the-blue transfer.

Inter needed a new wing-back following Denzel Dumfries' move to Real Madrid, and they will hope Spence can now establish himself there.

One of the biggest transfer stories of the summer, Diomande entered the World Cup with Ivory Coast believing he might be heading to Liverpool, decided midway through the tournament that he would rather join PSG, and ultimately ended up at Real Madrid once it was over.

Diomande became such a sought-after talent mainly because of his form for RB Leipzig last season rather than anything he did at the World Cup, although he still managed one assist in four appearances in North America.

He is now a €125m player and has signed a seven-year contract with Real Madrid.

This one is not official yet, but it is close to being completed.

Rodri was superb at the World Cup, reminding everybody why, at his best, he is one of the finest players in the world.

And that has paved the way for a blockbuster return to La Liga, not with Real Madrid as first expected, but with Barcelona.

Rodri is set to sign a four-year contract with Barca for the remainder of his peak years.


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