TRANSFER CONFIRMATIONS FOR THE 2018 FOOTBALL SEASON

New year, new teams, and many fans around the world holding their breath in the midst of soccer transfers. While much speculation happens beforehand, a few final decisions have been made including Kevin De Bruyne and Alexis Sanchez.

De Bruyne has recently signed a contract with Manchester City, securing him with the team until 2023 despite his previous contract being valid until 2021. After joining Chelsea in 2012 and only making three first team matches, he then moved to Wolfsburg before transferring to Manchester City in 2015 where his 6 goals and 10 assists this season led to him becoming "player of the year".

Sanchez has made the move from Arsenal to Manchester United and announced it saying: "I am thrilled to be joining the biggest club in the world. The chance to play in this historic stadium and to work with Jose Mourinho was something I could not turn down.
I am very proud to be the first Chilean player ever to play for United's first team, and I hope I can show our fans all around the world why the club wanted to bring me here."

Last summer, Manchester City expressed interest in making a deal with Sanchez however, they pulled out last minute saying that Sanchez becoming the highest earning player in the team would put a damper on team spirit. Sanchez has scored 80 times since joining Arsenal after moving from Barcelona in July 2014.

His future has always been uncertain within Arsenal and he was in discussion for a second time to move to Manchester City – which fell through when Arsenal didn't sign Thomas Lemar to the team.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is making the move to Arsenal after joining Manchester United in 2016.

The transfers mean that the upcoming season will be filled with excitement and an unexpected future for all teams.