Trent Alexander-Arnold, Rayan Cherki and 11 new signings set to light up the 2025 Club World Cup

At the last, the red mist over Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure from Liverpool turned into the red smoke of title-party flares. The Anfield faithful may not have fully forgiven the right-back for his decision to leave, but they have made their peace with it at least.

It's a situation that has been helped by some late market manoeuvring. Instead of Alexander-Arnold simply leaving for nothing at the end of his contract, Real Madrid have paid the Premier League champions €10 million (£8.4m/$11.4m) to get him a month early in time for the group stage of the Club World Cup. Which, you know, seems a pretty steep price to pay, but if it ends with Los Blancos winning the whole thing, all will be forgotten.

How Alexander-Arnold will fit in under new manager Xabi Alonso will also be of intrigue as Madrid prepare for a period of transition following the Carlo Ancelotti era. This will effectively be their pre-season for next campaign, but with the demands of immediate victory. No pressure, lads.

Manchester City are acting proactively and aggressively in their rebuild, freshening up Pep Guardiola's squad since their appalling start to 2024-25 with several new faces from the January window onwards. Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis came through the Etihad Stadium doors that month, and a couple more have arrived already this summer.

Most notably, Tijjani Reijnders has signed from AC Milan to give Pep Guardiola some extra oomph in the midfield department. The Netherlands international has developed into one of Europe's leading box-to-box supremos over the last couple of seasons and was the shining light in the Rossoneri's terrible season just gone. If anyone deserved to leave San Siro for another elite club, it was him.

Reijnders bears a slight stylistic resemblance to a prime Ilkay Gundogan, with the veteran version of the German on his last legs and nowhere near as reliable as he was pre-Barcelona move in 2023. If that's the sort of player he can be, then Reijnders will be a hit with the City faithful, starting with their Club World Cup campaign.

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Chelsea fans are all too aware of the club's supposed 'No.9 curse'. Whoever dons that number tends to fail to live up to the hype, and it has eaten alive plenty of previous sure-thing signings in years gone by. Fernando Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata are just some of the names who were weighed down by expectation.

Up next to try his luck is Liam Delap, who has joined from Ipswich Town for a relative snip at £30m following the Tractor Boys' relegation from the Premier League. Under the management of Kieran McKenna for just one season, he scored 12 goals in 37 league games and impressed with his rugged physicality.

The hope for Chelsea is that if Delap can continue harassing defenders, he will be rewarded with goals from a far more creative supporting cast, including former Manchester City team-mate Cole Palmer. Firing them to Club World Cup glory, after the club opted to pull him from England Under-21 duty, would go someway to paying off that transfer fee.

Like Chelsea with Delap, Borussia Dortmund have pulled Jobe Bellingham from the U21 European Championship to play at the Club World Cup instead, such is FIFA's priority over UEFA competitions. And like Chelsea with Delap, we could be in for a treat if the midfielder is thrown in at the deep end.

Following in the footsteps of older brother Jude, Jobe has opted to take his talents to Signal-Iduna Park for the foreseeable future. Dortmund have such belief in the younger Bellingham that they have agreed to part company with €33m (£27.8m/$37.7m) plus a potential additional €5m (£4.2m/$5.7m) in add-ons to sign him. But unlike Jude, there is a far more convincing body of evidence pre-BVB that he will turn out a success.

Bellingham, who doesn't turn 20 until September, already has 116 senior appearances in the Championship under his belt, and was named as the division's Young Player of the Season this term after leading Sunderland to promotion via the play-offs.

Bayern Munich's sweep of the Bundesliga's top talent on expiring contracts has seen them acquire Jonathan Tah from previous champions Bayer Leverkusen. They made have missed the boat on Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz, but a top class centre-back was paramount for their Club World Cup charge.

With Eric Dier opting out of this American adventure to join Monaco and many of their current defenders battling injuries on the eve of the tournament, Bayern need immediate reinforcement at the back, and an experienced leader like Tah is perfect for their plans.

Vincent Kompany's men fell short in this season's Champions League, though with the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise up top, they're a bit of solidity away from properly challenging for the Club World Cup.

This time last year, Bournemouth were on the cusp of picking up promising centre-back Dean Huijsen from Juventus for just over €15m (£12.6m/$17.2m). Fast-forward 12 months, and he's the €59.5m (£50m/$68m) man tasked with piecing together Real Madrid's haphazard backline.

After only one season in the Premier League, 20-year-old Huijsen leaves it as one of its most talented exports. Calm and composed beyond his years, the gangly defender also proved a major threat on set-pieces, popping up with goals against Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Those back in Spain have started to grow familiar with Huijsen following his first few impressive outings with the national team, and it doesn't seem like he'll be fazed with the pressure that comes with representing Madrid.

Back in 2023, there was a Europe-wide scramble to secure the signature of Celta Vigo playmaker Gabri Veiga. Alas, he ultimately decided to leave the continent altogether and sign for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, where he spent the following two seasons.

It was a controversial move which drew the ire of many critics, notably Toni Kroos who labelled it 'embarrassing', and what seemed a Spain call-up in waiting never came. But after two years in Saudi Arabia, Veiga has returned to the Iberian peninsula, signing with Porto.

If Veiga still has the creativity and goal threat he showed in his Celta stint, then he alone will be one of the dark horses of this Club World Cup. There was a reason he was linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona two years ago, and now he has the platform to showcase his ability again.

Pep Guardiola seems to love turning players into makeshift left-backs rather than signings any natural ones himself. The arrival of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves is Manchester City's first in that position since 2017, when they purchased Benjamin Mendy from Monaco.

The Algerian brings something different to a City team which has largely been predicated on solidity in central areas and inverting in the full-back area, capable of stretching play with direct runs down the touchline and getting into dangerous areas in the final third.

City's rebirth appears to come with the premise of taking the handbrake off a little again, and a defender as exciting as Ait-Nouri is sure to fit into that rejigged philosophy.

At first glance, Jorginho joining Flamengo isn't the most exciting of transfers, but let's run through this: The Brazilian giants are one of South America's best bets of making a deep run at the Club World Cup, while he will have the opportunity to reunite with former club Chelsea in the group stage. After all, he's one of the main reasons why the Blues are at the tournament in the first place having played such a prominent role in their 2021 Champions League triumph.

Jorginho, off the back of a magnanimous early exit from Arsenal, can become an immediate hero for one of Brazil's most important and respected clubs, with this the first time he'll get to represent a team from the country of his birth. It's a pre-tournament deal ripe with narrative for the month ahead.

In years to come, the world will wonder how Manchester City were able to swoop in and snatch Rayan Cherki off of Lyon for a fee believed to be in the region of €40m (£33.7m/$45.6m). Negotiations over the 21-year-old ramped up in recent days and he has been added to Guardiola's squad in time for the Club World Cup.

What better stage for him to prove his worth and silence even further naysayers? There had long been questions over Cherki's attitude and physicality, but he went on a tear for a Lyon in crisis this season and has more than earned a move to one of Europe's premier clubs.

Gifted with both feet and with dribbling skills to die for, Cherki breaks the mould of the typical Guardiola attacker. We can only hope and prey he's allowed to continue playing with that sort of freedom in a City shirt.

Let's end with an under-the-radar deal. Prior to the tournament, Botafogo announced a significant coup, beating a host of clubs to the signing of Velez Sarsfield's highlight-reel midfielder Alvaro Montoro, who has been christened with the nickname 'Rocket'.

Despite only turning 18 a couple of months ago, Montoro is eyeing a breakout Club World Cup to continue his rapid ascension up the South American game. A gifted attacking midfielder with an eye for goal, he and Botafogo will be out for a scalp or two having been drawn in the same group as Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.