Socceroos’ World Cup heroics trigger $100m transfer bonanza
The Socceroos may have only made it to the first round of the knockouts at the FIFA World Cup, but it was enough to impress some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
On Wednesday morning (AEST), news broke Portuguese club Benfica was on the verge of signing defender Alessandro Circati on a $33 million deal.
Alessandro Circati is on the verge of signing a monster deal with Porguguese club Benfica. Ercin Erturk
Should the deal be signed, sealed and delivered, it would take the total transfer fees paid for Australian stars well beyond $100 million.
Circati would be the second Socceroo to land in the Portuguese league after Nestory Irankunda signed with Sporting CP.
Eighteen-year-old Lucas Herrington’s $33 million move to English Premier League club Hull City from the Colorado Rapids was the richest deal ever involving an Australian player.
Circati’s deal to join Benfica from Parma is reportedly worth a similar figure.
Twenty-year-old forward Nestory Irankunda joined Portuguese heavyweights Sporting CP for $24.5m. He was unveiled by the club in an epic video based on his viral Michael Jackson-inspired celebration.
Still only 22 years old, Circati has already made nearly 100 appearances for Parma across the top two flights of Italian football, as well as 17 caps for the Socceroos and become the nation’s youngest captain in 44 years.
Circati played every minute for Australia at the World Cup, starting in all four matches against Türkiye, USA, Paraguay and Egypt, enhancing his reputation on the biggest stage and drawing renewed speculation over a transfer.
Elsewhere, Socceroos and Melbourne Victory winger Nishan Velupillay has suddenly quit the club ahead of a move to a yet-unnamed German club.
Velupillay has spent the last seven years at Victory, and still had another year to run on his contract. He has arrived in Germany for a medical, but his new home is yet to be revealed.
Mohamed Toure is also set to move on from English Championship side Norwich City, with a number of clubs in the region reportedly chasing the 22-year-old’s signature – among them Hull City and Sporting CP.
Sporting could be considered particularly attractive, given the chance to reunite with Irankunda. The pair are close friends, having both burst onto the Australian football scene at the same time at Adelaide United.
Toure too could fetch somewhere in the region of $30 million.
The transfer window for most European leagues closes on September 2 (AEST).
Australian transfers following the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Patrick Beach – Melbourne City (AUS) to Troyes (FRA)
- Cammy Devlin – Hearts (SCO) to Rangers (SCO)
- Ajdin Hrustic – Heracles Almelo (NED) to Al Nasr (UAE)
- Jackson Irvine – St Pauli (GER) to Cerezo Osaka (JAP)
- Awer Mabil – CD Castellon (ESP) to Melbourne City (AUS)
- Paul Okon-Engstler – Sydney FC (AUS) to FC Koln (GER)
- Lucas Herrington – Colorado Rapids (USA) to Hull City (ENG)
- Nestory Irankunda – Watford (ENG) to Sporting (POR)
- Alessandro Circati – Parma (ITA) to Benfica (POR)
- Nishan Velupillay – Melbourne Victory (AUS) to unconfirmed German club
