Particularly in the case of the most elite players, the groundwork for any transfer has to be prepared months beforehand, with just the minutiae of any contract terms to be concluded once the transfer window is officially open and clubs are allowed to do business.
Point of no return for Salah?
One player who could well be on the move before a ball has been kicked in the World Cup is Liverpool talisman, Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian King burned his bridges with the Reds with his incredible outburst that suggested someone at the club was keen to throw him under the bus and effectively blame him for the club's poor form.
Given that he's only managed four goals and six assists in his 18 Premier League appearances this season, there's a cogent argument that his form is actually partly to blame.
Quite clearly, he hasn't done enough to justify his £400,000 per week wages in any event, not to mention that he will be 34 this summer and will then have just one year left on his current Liverpool deal.
No better time to ease Salah out of Anfield
If the Merseyside outfit wants to recoup a reasonable fee for Salah's services, then there really would be no better time than to ease him out of Anfield, kicking and screaming or otherwise.
Perhaps the real issue for Liverpool, however, is a dearth of players who could genuinely fill the space that Salah vacates.
One exciting young talent that has often been spoken of in reverential tones by Europe's best teams is Athletic Club's Nico Williams.
He and Lamine Yamal struck up an incredible partnership at international level, and they almost became teammates at Barcelona.
A decision by Williams to stick with Athletic was laudable, but now he finds himself in the unfortunate position of not being able to play for Los Leones indefinitely.
He, like Lamine, has been suffering from pubalgia, a groin issue, but Williams' problem is now apparently so bad that Athletic have ordered total rest and won't even consider him for selection until they're certain the problem has dissipated.
Nico Williams in demand
That in itself also creates a problem for both Barcelona and Arsenal, who, it's understood, have both been briefed by intermediaries that the player will be considering a transfer away from San Mames this summer.
Should the injury continue for the vast majority of the season, then no potential buying club are going to be able to get a realistic look at what the player can bring to the table.
For the Catalans, they already have Lamine, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford in situ, so it's debatable that they need to spend upwards of €80m on Williams anyway, whilst Arsenal, too, appear to be doing just fine with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka et al playing in the wider areas.
Liverpool must know of course that Salah has outstayed his welcome this season, so could Williams be the player to step into his shoes rather than West Ham's Jarrod Bowen or Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola, two other players mentioned recently as possible hires?
Poor showing from Williams over the years
Using last season's figures as a more accurate guide, given Salah's current form and William's injury concerns, the latter will need to go some if he wants to improve on the 29 goals and 18 assists that Salah supplied in 38 EPL games in 2024/25.
In his 29 LaLiga showings during the same campaign, Williams managed just five goals and five assists, and it's pretty much been the same story for most of his professional career.
34 Spanish top-flight matches in 2021/22 produced nothing for the wide man in terms of goals or assists, in 2022/23 he posted six goals and four assists in 36 games, whilst in 2023/24, his five goals and 11 assists was a decent improvement, but still nowhere good enough for a team like Liverpool - and in a Premier League that remains one of the most physical and demanding top divisions in world football.
Having silky skills on the ball and pace to beat your marker is all well and good, but there has to be an end product.
Liverpool would be taking a huge risk
On the face of it, 177 take-ons in the last two seasons read well, until you realise that Williams attempted 501 in total. Similarly, winning possession back on 264 separate occasions deserves some plaudits, but only 57 of those were in the attacking third of the pitch, and he lost possession on 1090 other occasions.
36 successful crosses from open play and 135 unsuccessful, just 179 of 466 attempted dribbles completed and a pass completion accuracy that has generally hovered around mid 70% over the past few seasons, suggests that there's a clear improvement required in all of those areas too.
Williams will be 24 by the time the new season starts, and clearly has some way to go before he reaches his natural peak as a player, which is one thing that remains in his favour, and it's obvious why getting a footballing education at Anfield would appeal. Still, the Spaniard lacks polish in so many areas of his game.
Liverpool are not at their best as a unit either, so there remain huge question marks as to his hire for the 2026/27 season, even if, stylistically, he'd likely be a good fit for the way in which Arne Slot likes to play.
