Half of England's World Cup defenders on the move at bargain prices
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- England finished third at this summer's World Cup — their best men's finish in 60 years — and seven of the 27 players sent to North America have already switched clubs, with two more linked to transfers
- Djed Spence is on the verge of joining Inter Milan for £25.6m, potentially reuniting with John Stones, who joined Inter on a free transfer after his Manchester City contract expired with six Premier League titles and a Champions League winners' medal
- Ezri Konsa is being targeted by Arsenal to fill in for injured William Saliba; the Gunners had a £30m bid rejected by Aston Villa, who hold out for close to double that
- Trevoh Chalobah left Chelsea for Como — managed by Cesc Fàbregas — in a £25.7m deal (plus £5.1m add-ons), displaced by new £52m signing Maxence Lacroix and a crowded centre-back pecking order
- Marc Guehi moved to Manchester City for just £20m in January as his Crystal Palace contract was expiring, while Jarell Quansah went from Liverpool to Bayer Leverkusen for £35m in July 2025
- Under Thomas Tuchel, England kept clean sheets in all eight 2026 World Cup qualifiers and conceded only eight goals in seven tournament matches before a late 2-goal collapse against Messi's Argentina ended their run in the semi-final
- Six of nine England defenders on World Cup duty could have changed clubs within just over a year — a defensive exodus driven by England's eight-year record of reaching two World Cup semi-finals, one quarter-final, and two European Championship finals
Why it matters: Six of England's nine World Cup defenders could change clubs in just over a year, with fees of £20m (Guehi), £25.7m (Chalobah), £35m (Quansah) and a potential £25.6m (Spence) — a fraction of the £116-117m deals for midfielders like Rogers and Anderson — meaning English centre-backs are the most underpriced assets in the current transfer market.
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