World Cup star 

©IMAGO

The World Cup has a habit of projecting new talents into the limelight of football and a perfect example of that at this year’s tournament is Germany midfielder Felix Nmecha. Initially called up as a back-up option, the Borussia Dortmund star has instead started both games for Julian Nagelsmann’s team thus far and in many ways proved to be Germany’s best player. While the nation’s defence has had to adapt to unfortunate injuries and its attacking line is still coming up to speed, Nmecha has dominated in the middle of the park. And, to no great surprise, that has attracted interest from not only football fans around the world but also some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Who wants to sign Felix Nmecha?

Although Nmecha was born in Germany, he spent much of his youth living in England and came through the Manchester City youth academy. As such, the 25-year-old talent could technically count as a homegrown player in the Premier League. This, unsurprisingly, hasn’t been lost on Premier League clubs. Since the start of the World Cup, Nmecha has been heavily linked with moves to Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. According to German publication Sport-Bild, Liverpool and Man Utd have already made inquiries into Nmecha’s availability in the forthcoming summer transfer window. The Germany talent has also been linked with moves to Barcelona and Real Madrid, according to Sky Sports Germany. And, notably, a report suggests that Bayern Munich have also held a long-standing admiration for the midfielder, but are unlikely to act upon it this summer.

Rumour
	F. Nmecha
	Central Midfield
Dortmund   44 % Liverpool Bundesliga Premier League

Rumour
	F. Nmecha
	Central Midfield
Dortmund   14 % Barcelona Bundesliga LaLiga

Rumour
	F. Nmecha
	Central Midfield
Dortmund   30 % Man Utd Bundesliga Premier League

How much would Felix Nmecha cost?

While Nmecha is a relatively unknown quantity at international level, he has spent the past 12 months going from strength to strength in Niko Kovac’s Dortmund side. As such, since making a €30 million move from Wolfsburg in 2023 with a market value of just €15m, Nmecha’s market value has since skyrocketed to €50m. In the past season alone, Nmecha’s market value rose by €22m. Only one other central midfielder in the Bundesliga saw their market value increase by more in that same period of time. But how much would Dortmund demand for their star player if they had to sell him this summer?

According to Sport-Bild, Dortmund would be unlikely to sell Nmecha for anything less than €100m if clubs were serious about signing him in the coming months. That would make Nmecha the club’s third most expensive sale of all time and second most expensive midfield sale of all time, coming in just short of the €127m Real Madrid paid for Jude Bellingham in 2023 but more than twice what Man Utd paid for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in 2016. However, the German publication also claims that Nmecha has release clauses in his current contract with the Bundesliga side. From 2027, Nmecha will reportedly be available for €80m, with that figure falling to €70m in 2028. Whether clubs are willing to wait until then for a discounted price or will want one of the World Cup’s breakout stars this summer remains to be seen.