Football News: Transfer Window Round Up

Transfer Window Round Up - Summer 2025

Arsenal

Ins:
Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad
Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace
Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP
Noni Madueke from Chelsea
Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia
Christian Norgaard from Brentford
Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea
Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen
Total Spend: €293.5m

Outs:
Nuno Tavares to Lazio
Marquinhos to Cruzeiro
Jakub Kiwior to Porto (loan)
Albert Sambi Lokonga to Hamburg
Thomas Partey to Villareal
Kieran Tierney to Celtic
Jorginho to Flamengo
Fabio Vieira to Hamburg (loan)
Oleksandr Zinchenko to Forest (loan)
Reiss Nelson to Brentford (loan)
Karl Hein to Werder Bremen (loan)
Takehiro Tomiyasu released
Raheem Sterling to Chelsea (end of loan)
Neto to Bournemouth (end of loan)
Total Income: €10.3m

The Arsenal transfer policy under Arteta makes little sense. They always manage to spend heavily but somehow are unable to receive decent fees for anyone they sell. Added to that, the obsession with signing centre-backs who can play at full-back is leaving them with an unbalanced squad every season. Added to that, why do they always sign players from Chelsea? It is very odd. At least they have finally added a proper centre-forward to the squad, though still only one so any injury completely messes up their system as they have no one to cover. Then there is the left wing, a position they have had desperate need of strengthening since before Arteta took charge, but still they signed no one for that role. Instead they signed a right winger and an attacking midfielder who is better in the centre.

That is the key to why the transfer set up is bizarre, that inability to just find, target and acquire players they actually need, rather than just buying players because Arteta wants them. Zubimendi would be good in the right system, but that is not this current Arsenal set up, with its reliance on set pieces. At least on the outs front it seems right, even if Partey only left because he rejected a new deal, all of them were players that do not improve the squad, let alone the team, either through not being good enough or always being injured. Overall, you have to say that, despite my misgivings about some of the signings, the squad has taken another step forward and it has improved. Now it is over to Arteta to make a step forward on the pitch and finally add the trophies that have been missing.

Overall: B-
The addition of Gyokeres could be a game changer, finally giving Arsenal that focal point in attack they have been missing for years.

Aston Villa

Ins:
Evan Guessand from OGC Nice
Victor Lindelöf from Manchester United
Marco Bizot from Stade Brestois
Harvey Elliott from Liverpool (loan)
Jadon Sancho from Manchester United (loan)
Total Spend: €30m

Outs:
Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United
Kaine Kesler-Hayden to Coventry City
Leon Bailey to AS Roma (loan)
Enzo Barrenechea to Benfica (loan)
Alex Moreno to Girona
Philippe Coutinho to Vasco da Gama
Leander Dendoncker to Real Oviedo
Robin Olsen to Malmo FF
Filip Marschall to Stevenage
Samuel Iling-Junior to West Bromwich Albion (loan)
Lewis Dobbin to Preston North End (loan)
Joe Gauci to Port Vale (loan)
Oliwier Zych to Rakow Czestochowa
Kortney Hause released
Total Income: €55.15m

Unfortunately for Villa, their attempts to strengthen this summer were once again badly hamstrung by PSR restrictions. Their income is just not high enough to build the side they need to compete at the top end and they are forced to sell players that Emery would prefer keep. But, to make things worse, the players they were happy to lose, Martinez for example, they were unable to offload, leaving them in a bit of a pickle at the end of the window. That forced them into what looked a triple panic signing on deadline day. They still look a bit weak defensively and that is going to cause them problems throughout the season.

Overall: C-
A very difficult window, which has failed to address the issues they had and left them with players that they need off the books.

AFC Bournemouth

Ins:
Bafode Diakite from LOSC Lille
Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea
Ben Doak from Liverpool
Amine Adli from Bayer Leverkusen
Veljko Milosavljevic from Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Svezda)
Adrien Truffert from Stade Rennais
Alex Jimenez from AC Milan
Total Spent: €138.1m

Outs:
Ilya Zabarnyi to PSG
Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid
Milos Kerkez to Liverpool
Dango Ouattara to Brentford
Jaidon Anthony to Burnley
Philip Billing to FC Midtjylland
Mark Travers to Everton
Luis Sinisterra to Cruzeiro (loan)
Chris Mepham to West Bromwich Albion
Joe Rothwell to Rangers
Neto to Botafogo
Hamed Traore to Marseille (loan)
Max Aarons to Rangers (loan)
Daniel Jebbison to Preston North End (loan)
Alex Paulsen to Lechia Gdansk (loan)
Ben Winterburn to Barnet (loan)
Total Income: €238.41m

Their defence was decimated, though the funds have allowed them to go on a bit of a spending spree, it has also left them needing to bed in an almost completely new back four. They are going to be heavily reliant on Iraola's excellence to keep them competitive, especially in the early weeks as those new players develop an understanding. It is the reality of life with a smaller club, the big boys are always circling like vultures waiting to pick off any decent players you unearth. The difficulty is in continuing to unearth the talent.

Overall: D-
A horrible window for Iraola, losing three of his four first choice defenders.

Brentford

Ins:
Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth
Antoni Milambo from Feyenoord
Michael Kayode from Fiorentina
Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool
Romelle Donovan from Birmingham City
Jordan Henderson from Ajax
Reiss Nelson from Arsenal (loan)
Total Spend: 98.7m

Outs:
Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United
Yoana Wissa to Newcastle United
Christian Norgaard to Arsenal
Mark Flekken to Bayer Leverkusen
Ben Mee to Sheffield United
Ben Winterbottom to Sheffield United
Mads Roerslev to Southampton
Ji-soo Kim to 1.FC Kaiserslautern (loan)
Jayden Meghoma to Rangers (loan)
Ryan Trevitt to Wigan Athletic (loan)
Josh DaSilva released
Total Income: 155.3m

Like Bournemouth, Brentford were decimated this summer, even losing their manager. With a new, untested rookie manager in charge, it was probably a clever move to bring in Henderson on a free to provide some experience and help for Andrews. Overall they do look to have bought fairly well, Kayode in particular stands out as a good young talent, but they still seem to be a much weaker team than last season. Added to that rookie manager, who was previously their set piece coach, you have to fear for the Bees this season.

Overall: E-
A horrible summer for the club, losing their manager, captain and their main goalscorers.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Ins:
Charalampos Kostoulas from Olympiakos
Maxim De Cuyper from Club Brugge
Tom Watson from Sunderland
Diego Coppola from Hellas Verona
Do-young Yoon from Daejeon Hana Citizen
Olivier Boscagli from PSV Eindhoven
Total Spend: €80m

Outs:
Joao Pedro to Chelsea
Simon Adingra to Sunderland
Julio Enciso to Racing Strasbourg
Pervis Estupinan to AC Milan
Valentin Barco to Racing Strasbourg
Tariq Lamptey to Fiorentina
Abdallah Sima to Lens
Evan Ferguson to AS Roma (loan)
Facundo Buonanotte to Chelsea (loan)
Matt O'Riley to Marseille (loan)
Kjell Scherpen to Union Saint Gilloise
Odeluga Offiah to Preston North End
Igor Julio to West Ham United (loan)
Malick Yalcouye to Swansea City (loan)
Ibrahim Osman to AJ Auxerre (loan)
Eiran Cashin to Birmingham City (loan)
Jeremy Sarmiento to Cremonese (loan)
James Beadle to Birmingham City (loan)
Andrew Moran to LAFC (loan)
Carl Rushworth to Coventry City (loan)
Amario Cozier-Duberry to Bolton Wanderers (loan)
Do-young Yoon to Excelsior (loan)
Total Income: €155m

Despite losing a couple of first choice players, Brighton have recruited heavily with an eye on the long term future, rather than bringing in much for the here and now. Judging by their previous years of recruitment under Bloom, the players acquired probably have a bright future, but it is the present that they needed players for. Right now they look a much weaker team than they did last season. They should have more than enough to comfortably stay in the Premier League, but that next step they have been trying to make looks further away than ever.

Overall: D
Lots of young hopefuls, but nothing for now.

Burnley

Ins:
Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea
Armando Broja from Chelsea
Loum Tchaouna from Lazio
Bashir Humphreys from Chelsea
Quilindschy Hartman from Feyenoord
Marcus Edwards from Sporting CP
Jaidon Anthony from Bournemouth
Zian Flemming from Millwall
Jacob Bruun Larsen from VfB Stuttgart
Max Weiss from Karlsruher
Florentino from Benfica (loan)
Axel Tuanzebe from Ipswich Town
Kyle Walker from Manchester City
Martin Dubravka from Newcastle United
Total Spent: €128.65m

Outs:
James Trafford to Manchester City
Han-Noah Massengo to Augsburg
Andreas Hountondji to FC St Pauli
Dara Costelloe to Wigan Athletic
CJ Egan-Riley to Marseille
Etienne Green to FC Fredericia
Darko Churlinov to Kocaelispor
Luca Koleosho to Espanyol (loan)
Aaron Ramsey to Leicester City (loan)
Benson Manuel to Swansea City (loan)
Shurandy Sambo to Sparta Rotterdam (loan)
Michael Obafemi to VfL Bochum (loan)
Oluwaseun Adewumi to Cercle Brugge (loan)
Owen Dodgson to Stockport County (loan)
Josh Brownhill released
Nathan Redmond released
Jonjo Shelvey released
Total Income: €35m

The Clarets have certainly gone for it in the transfer window, but questions have to be asked of the quality of some of their signings. Particularly Kyle Walker, it must be said, who was destroyed in training by Koleosho and Koleosho was not felt to be good enough to play for Burnley in the Premier League this season and so sent out on loan! If alarm bells are not ringing over that, then they should be. A lot of the money was spent on converting last season's loans as well, so a lot was about standing still from last season. It just does not look like they have the quality to stay up and will need to rely on fighting spirit and togetherness if they are to avoid the dreaded drop.

Overall: D
They have spent a lot but to very little effect in terms of player quality.

Chelsea

Ins:
Joao Pedro from Brighton & Hove Albion
Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund
Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United
Jorrel Hato from Ajax
Liam Delap from Ipswich Town
Estevao from Palmeiras
Dario Essugo from Sporting CP
Mamadou Sarr from Racing Strasbourg
Kendry Paez from Independiente
Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
Total Spent: €328.15m

Outs:
Noni Madueke to Arsenal
Christopher Nkunku to AC Milan
Joao Felix to Al-Nassr
Djordje Petrovic to Bournemouth
Lesley Ugochukwu to Burnley
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Everton
Renato Veiga to Villareal
Armando Broja to Burnley
Carney Chukwuemeka to Borussia Dortmund
Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich (loan)
Mathis Amougou to Racing Strasbourg
Bashir Humphreys to Burnley
Kepa Arrizabalaga to Arsenal
Marcus Bettinelli to Manchester City
Alfie Gilchrist to West Bromwich Albion
Ben Chilwell to Racing Strasbourg
Lucas Bergstrom to RCD Mallorca
Mamadou Sarr to Racing Strasbourg (loan)
Mike Penders to Racing Strasbourg (loan)
Kendry Paez to Racing Strasbourg (loan)
Aaron Anselmo to Borussia Dortmund (loan)
Marc Guiu to Sunderland (loan)
Total Income: €332.25m

It is very difficult to follow the Chelsea transfer plan, as it feels like there is no plan. It seems more like they are just throwing muck at the wall to see what sticks. The Buonanotte signing was extremely baffling. They have still not signed the one thing they actually went into the window needing - a goalkeeper. It is very odd. Then there was the panic at the end of the window when Delap picked up an injury, trying to cancel loans, surely you only let players go out on loan if there is enough cover for injuries? It is very messy.

Overall: C-
Very little real improvement in the team and still not even a decent, let alone top class, keeper in the squad.

Crystal Palace

Ins:
Yeremy Pinot from Villareal
Jaydee Canvot from Toulouse
Borna Sosa from Ajax
Walter Benitez from PSV Eindhoven
Christantus Uche from Getafe (loan)
Total Spent: €55.3m

Outs:
Eberechi Eze to Arsenal
Odsonne Edouard to Lens
Rob Holding to Colorado Rapids
Jeffrey Schlupp to Norwich City
Luke Plange to Grasshoppers
Malcolm Ebiowei to Blackpool
Matheus Franca to Vasco da Gama (loan)
Joe Whitwirth to Exeter City (loan)
David Ozoh to Derby County (loan)
Hindolo Mustapha to 1.FC Nuremberg (loan)
Joel Ward released
Total Income: €73m

A very difficult transfer window for Palace, who lost a major investor in John Textor and so had to make adjustments, despite their surprise qualification for European football. Despite all that, it does feel like they have made a major mess of the window, particularly in their handling of club captain Guehi. Even so, despite losing Eze, they do look to have improved the squad quality, with Pinot looking a very potentially exciting signing.

Overall: D+
Lots of messing about and allowed Glasner to dictate too much when he has already said this will be his final season at the club.

Everton

Ins:
Tyler Dibling from Southampton
Thierno Barry from Villareal
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea
Carlos Alcarez from Flamengo
Adam Aznou from Bayern Munich
Mark Travers from Bournemouth
Merlin Rohl from SC Freiburg
Tom King from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Jack Grealish from Manchester City (loan)

Outs:
Youssef Chermiti to Rangers
Neal Maupay to Marseille
Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Leeds United
Abdoulaye Doucoure to NEOM SC
Mason Holgate to Al-Gharafa
Joao Virginia to Sporting CP
Ashley Young to Ipswich Town
Asmir Begovic to Leicester City
Harrison Armstrong to Preston North End (loan)
Tyler Onyango to Stockport County (loan)
Isaac Heath to Accrington Stanley (loan)
Billy Crelin released

You really have to hand it to the Toffees, they have had an excellent window. They do still lack a really top class goalscorer, but so do most of the teams in the world as they are very scarce right now, other than that, they look significantly stronger than last season. Added to that, they got rid of a lot of overpaid players that were holding them back, such as Calvert-Lewin, Doucoure and Holgate. Even better, they finally got rid of their worst signing ever - Neal Maupay. That alone raises up the mark by a couple of notches! I also think they have been clever in getting Grealish on loan, it keeps him hungry to prove himself once more to make the England squad for the World Cup, without the risk that he slips back into his old lifestyle and they get stuck with him.

Overall: A
A good refresh of a squad that was looking tired and old.

Fulham

Ins:
Kevin from Shaktar Donetsk
Jonah Kusi-Asare from Bayern Munich (loan)
Benjamin Lecomte from Montpellier
Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan (loan)
Total Spent: €44.5m

Outs:
Andreas Pereira to Palmeiras
Martial Godo to Racing Strasbourg
Carlos Vinicius to Gremio
Steven Benda to Millwall (loan)
Luke Harris to Oxford United (loan)
Willian to Gremio
Total Income: €17m

A very odd window, with the chairman, Shahid Khan, claiming that he did not want to spend and block Josh King's progress. Which makes sense, but they could have strengthened other area's of the team instead. Certainly Silva would have liked more incomings. It felt like there were other reasons for the lack of investment in the squad, either PSR issues or perhaps just an owner who has spent a fortune on the stadium improvement and was looking to rein in his spending. Either way, it does look like Silva and Khan have hit an impasse which could lead to Silva moving on soon.

Overall: D
The signings seem not to have been wanted by the head coach and that always causes an issue.

Leeds United

Ins:
Anton Stach from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Noah Okafor from AC Milan
Jaka Bijol from Udinese
Lucas Perri from Olympique Lyonnais
Sean Longstaff from Newcastle United
Gabriel Gudmundsson from LOSC Lille
James Justin from Leicester City
Sebastiaan Bornauw from VfL Wolfsburg
Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Everton
Lukas Nmecha from VfL Wolfsburg
Total Spent: €113.7m

Outs:
Rasmus Kristensen to Eintracht Frankfurt
Sam Greenwood to Pogon Szczecin
Junior Firpo to Real Betis
Darko Gyabi to Hull City
Maximilian Wober to Werder Bremen (loan)
Largie Ramazani to Valencia (loan)
Mateo Joseph to RCD Mallorca (loan)
Joe Gelhardt to Hull City (loan)
Isaac Schmidt to Werder Bremen (loan)
Charlie Crew to Doncaster Rovers (loan)
Patrick Bamford released
Josuha Guilavogui released
Total Income: €8m

Their window started well, but seemed to fall apart after the early additions. Unfortunately they do not seem to have fixed their issues in attack or goalkeeping. Perri looks suspect and a forward line of Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha is not one to strike fear into any opposition hearts. For all the bluster from Paraag Marathe about doing deals in his sleep, well you can only assume he must have had insomnia for long periods of the summer! He certainly has not helped Farke in his quest to finally avoid relegation. The worrying thing is the lack of incoming funds from transfers, that will mean that even if they stay up, they will be hamstrung by PSR regulations.

Overall: D
Needed to raise some funds through sales and did nothing to fix their lack of firepower.

Liverpool

Ins:
Alexander Isak from Newcastle United
Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen
Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt
Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth
Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen
Giovanni Leoni from Parma
Freddie Woodman from Preston North End
Total Spent: €482.9m

Outs:
Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich
Darwin Nunez to Al-Hilal
Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen
Ben Doak to Bournemouth
Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford
Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid
Tyler Morton to Olympique Lyonnais
Nat Phillips to West Bromwich Albion
Harvey Elliott to Aston Villa (loan)
Konstantinos Tsimikas to AS Roma (loan)
Vitezslav Jaros to Ajax (loan)
Harvey Davies to Crawley Town (loan)
Total Income: €219.5m

That is about as close to perfection that a transfer window can come. The Guehi transfer falling through is a letdown, but other than that, the ins are the kind of transfers you can only usually make in video games. The only possible criticism I can come up with, to try and give this some balance, is that the prices paid were all top end, there were no bargain signings really. However, that also applies to the outs, which all raised around the top end of the price that could be hoped for, so it is a very tiny criticism really. Slot now has a squad that will allow him to contest every trophy possible.

Overall: A+
Even on Champ Man I would struggle to create a transfer window this good for Liverpool!

Manchester City

Ins:
Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan
Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rayan Cherki from Olympique Lyonnais
James Trafford from Burnley
Gianluigi Donnarumma from PSG
Sverre Nypan from Rosenborg
Marcus Bettinelli from Chelsea
Total Spent: €206.9m

Outs:
James McAtee to Nottingham Forest
Yan Couto to Borussia Dortmund
Maximo Perrone to Como
Ederson to Fenerbahce
Manuel Akanji to Inter Milan (loan)
Kevin De Bruyne to Napoli
Ilkay Gundogan to Galatasaray
Kyle Walker to Burnley
Vitor Reis to Girona (loan)
Jack Grealish to Everton (loan)
Claudio Echeverri to Bayer Leverkusen (loan)
Sverre Nypan to Middlesbrough (loan)
Juma Bah to OGC Nice (loan)
Issa Kabore to Wrexham (loan)
Scott Carson released
Total Income: €70.5m

It feels like Pep Guardiola has completely taken his eye off the ball at Citeh, the recruitment is no longer as thought out as it used to be. It has gone from targeting players to suit the system to almost buying random players, on the face of it. They have brought no one in to fill in the void left by De Bruyne or even close to it. When they were rejected by Wirtz, they instead went and got Cherki who is a completely different kind of player and plays a different position. Worse is the goalkeeping recruitment, they have signed three players who are not comfortable with the ball at their feet, at best they could be considered mediocre. Trafford and Donnarumma feel like panic buys, as neither can play the way Guardiola wants and seemed to be bought simply because they were available. Has Guardiola still got an appetite for Man City success or is he simply just waiting for the Barcelona job to become available for his return? City need Guardiola to bring his best as they still have a very good squad, it is just not built for his style, so he needs to adjust.

Overall: D-
They have failed to fix any of the issues they had.

Manchester United

Ins:
Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig
Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford
Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp
Diego Leon from Cerro Porteno
Total Spent: €250.7m

Outs:
Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea
Antony to Real Betis
Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli
Victor Lindelöf to Aston Villa
Marcus Rashford to Barcelona (loan)
Jadon Sancho to Aston Villa (loan)
Toby Collyer to West Bromwich Albion (loan)
Harry Amass to Sheffield Wednesday (loan)
Daniel Gore to Rotherham United (loan)
Ethan Wheatley to Northampton Town (loan)
Christian Eriksen released
Jonny Evans retired
Total Income: €74.2m

They have certainly backed Amorim, fixing two of the problem areas of the team by bringing in players to create and score goals and a goalkeeper to replace the clown Onana. They probably needed to raise more funds through sales to be able to recruit any further, but letting Collyer go out on loan seems a strange move when he is exactly the kind of player they need in midfield. That weakened what is now the weakest part of the team, on top of it being weaker as Casemiro ages and gets even slower and less mobile. Overall though, there is a clear step forward in quality with the addition of Mbeumo and Cunha.

Overall: C+
A step forward but still so much left to do.

Newcastle United

Ins:
Nick Woltemade from VfB Stuttgart
Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest
Yoane Wissa from Brentford
Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa
Malick Thiaw from AC Milan
Aaron Ramsdale from Southampton (loan)
Antonito Cordero from Malaga CF
Total Spent: €288.85m

Outs:
Alexander Isak to Liverpool
Lloyd Kelly to Juventus
Sean Longstaff to Leeds United
Callum Wilson to West Ham United
Isaac Hayden to QPR
Martin Dubravka to Burnley
Odysseas Vlachodimos to Sevilla (loan)
Matt Targett to Middlesbrough (loan)
Antonito Cordero to KVC Westerlo (loan)
Joe White to Leyton Orient (loan)
Jamal Lewis released
Total Income: €176m

A difficult window for the Toon, who had lost their director of football but do not yet have the leadership positions above that sorted after Amanda Staveley and her husband sold up and moved on. So they ended up turning to Eddie Howe's nephew to fill in, which turned out to be a poor choice, though I am sure he did his best. It was clear he was out of his depth trying to sort out the forward positions, as striker after striker rejected them. When they did find one who wanted to join, Wissa, Brentford played hardball and refused to let him move. All the while they were having similar problems with Isak, who was all agreed to join Liverpool months before the deadline day move finally took place. All because they just could not get anyone in to replace him, when they needed the sale for PSR purposes. It was not easy for an interim DoF to sort out. In the end it seems to have worked out for them.

Though they are taking a big chance on Woltemade, who has only really had 6 months of solid first team football to judge him on. Overall though, they do look to have done about as well as possible considering they were losing one of the top strikers in the world.

Overall: B-
Struggled to complete deals for a striker but eventually got the replacements they wanted.

Nottingham Forest

Ins:
Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town
Dan Ndoye from Bologna
Dilane Bakwa from Racing Strasbourg
Arnaud Kalimuendo from Stade Rennais
James McAtee from Manchester City
Igor Jesus from Botafogo
Nicolo Savona from Juventus
Jair Cunha from Botafogo
John Victor from Botafogo
Cuiabano from Botafogo
Douglas Luiz from Juventus (loan)
Angus Gunn from Norwich City
Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal (loan)
Total Spent: €236.9m

Outs:
Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United
Danilo to Botafogo
Ramon Sosa to Palmeiras
Andrew Omobamidele to Racing Strasbourg
Matt Turner to Olympique Lyonnais
Carlos Miguel to Palmeiras
Lewis O'Brien to Wrexham
Harry Toffolo to Charlotte FC
Jonathan Panzo to Rio Ave
Josh Bowler to Blackpool
Marko Stamenic to Swansea City
David Carmo to Real Oviedo
Cuiabano to Botafogo (loan)
Omar Richards to Rio Ave (loan)
Tyler Bindon to Sheffield United (loan)
Eric da Silva Moreira to Rio Ave (loan)
Wayne Hennessey retired
Total Income: €124.4m

A noticeable change in recruitment policy accompanied the arrival of Edu from Arsenal and it is difficult to tell if it is a step forward or a step back. The only thing that was clear is that there was a power struggle between Edu and Nuno Espirito Santo, as the coach went public with his recruitment complaints. His frustrations are understandable, as the recruitment does not seem to have been done with much of an eye on what the team needed right now, but public disputes are never a good thing. That is the key thing, there does not seem to have been any thought of bringing in what the coach wanted and needed, after recent seasons of excellent recruitment which clearly brought in better players.

Overall: D
This season's recruitment is very questionable, with little thought seemingly given to what the team needed.

Sunderland

Ins:
Habib Diarra from Racing Strasbourg
Simon Adingra from Brighton & Hove Albion
Enzo Le Fee from AS Roma
Brian Brobbey from Ajax
Chemsdine Talbi from Club Brugge
Noah Sadiki from Union Saint Gilloise
Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen
Nordi Mukiele from PSG
Omar Alderete from Getafe
Robin Roefs from NEC Nijmegen
Bertrand Traore from Ajax
Reinildo Mandava from Atletico Madrid
Arthur Masuaku from Besiktas
Lutsharel Geertruida from RB Leipzig (loan)
Marc Guiu (loan)
Total Spent: €187.9m

Outs:
Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund
Tom Watson to Brighton & Hove Albion
Pierre Ekwah to Saint-Etienne
Nectarios Triantis to Minnesota United
Nathan Bishop to AFC Wimbledon
Patrick Roberts to Birmingham City (loan)
Alan Browne to Middlesbrough (loan)
Jenson Seelt to VfL Wolfsburg (loan)
Adil Aouchiche to Aberdeen (loan)
Nazariy Rusyn to Arka Gdynia (loan)
Niall Huggins to Wycombe Wanderers (loan)
Milan Aleksic to Cracovia (loan)
Luis Semedo to Moreirense (loan)
Total Income: €51m

Sunderland have certainly had a go at staying up by recruiting heavily, bringing in an entire new team for the Premier League. You do fear for them, as they still look the weakest squad in the Premier League on paper and relegation would require a fire sale. If it works, they will no doubt be hampered by PRS regulations in future windows, so it is a big gamble.

Overall: B-
They have rolled the dice and done about as well as possible for a team that came up via the play-offs.

Tottenham Hotspur

Ins:
Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig
Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United
Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich
Kevin Danso from Lens
Luka Vuskovic from Hajduk Split
Kota Takai from Kawasaki Frontale
Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich (loan)
Randal Kolo Muani from PSG (loan)
Total Spent: €210.6m

Outs:
Heung-min Son to LAFC
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to Marseille
Bryan Gil to Girona
Mikey Moore to Rangers (loan)
Manor Solomon to Villareal (loan)
Luka Vuskovic to Hamburg SV (loan)
Alfie Devine to Preston North End (loan)
Min-hyeok Yang to Portsmouth (loan)
Alejo Veliz to Rosario Central (loan)
Sergio Reguilon released
Fraser Forster released
Alfie Whiteman released
Total Income: €41.5m

A new era under Frank, and now without Levy as well after the window closed, has been marked by a similar type of recruitment as previously. That does make you question how much input Frank had in transfers. They do look to have improved the squad, despite the loss of the talismanic Son, but still failed to address the lack of left-back depth.

Overall: C+
They are swamped with wide forwards now, but have just one natural left-back on the books.

West Ham United

Ins:
Mateus Fernandes from Southampton
Jean-Clair Todibo from OGC Nice
El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague
Mads Hermansen from Leicester City
Soungoutou Magassa from Monaco
Kyle Walker-Peters from Southampton
Callum Wilson from Newcastle United
Igor Julio from Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
Total Spent: €143.8m

Outs:
Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham Hotspur
Nayef Aguerd to Marseille
Edson Alvarez to Fenerbahce (loan)
Emerson to Marseille
Kurt Zouma to CFR Cluj
Danny Ings to Sheffield United
Vladimir Coufal to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Aaron Cresswell to Stoke City
Maxwel Cornet to Genoa (loan)
Kaelan Casey to Swansea City (loan)
Lewis Orford to Stevenage (loan)
Junior Robinson to Livingston (loan)
Michail Antonio released
Lukasz Fabianski released
Total Income: €89.5m

A very troubled window, which included the unsavoury dumping of John Victor (who went on to sign for Forest) at the airport in London, after he had flown all the way over to England to sign. According to the player and his agent, the Hammers just never turned up and left him sat there. Instead they went and got Hermansen from Leicester for the goalkeeping space in the team. As usual with Sullivan in control, it was a mad dash at the end of the window to grab players to fill out the squad after messing around for months. But, and this is a big but, they do look to have recruited well with what they got, the lack of depth might even be a bonus with a number of very good prospects in the youth set up to bolster the first team.

Overall: C-
Improved the team, but decimated the squad depth.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ins:
Jorgen Strand Larsen from Celta de Vigo
Tolu Arokodare from KRC Genk
Fer Lopez from Celta de Vigo
Ladislav Krejci from Girona (loan)
Jhon Arias from Fluminese
Jackson Tachtchoua from Hellas Verona
David Moller Wolfe from AZ Alkmaar
Total Spent: €140m

Outs:
Matheus Cunha to Manchester United
Rayan Ait-Nouri to Manchester City
Fabio Silva to Borussia Dortmund
Goncalo Guedes to Real Sociedad
Nelson Semedo to Fenerbahce
Pablo Sarabia to Al-Arabi SC
Chiquinho to Alverca
Bastien Meupiyou to Alverca
Joe Hodge to Tondela
Chem Campbell to Stevenage
Tom King to Everton
Tommy Doyle to Birmingham City (loan)
Nasser Djigga to Rangers (loan)
Boubacar Traore to Metz (loan)
Pedro Lima to Porto (loan)
Sasa Kalajdzic to LASK (loan)
Craig Dawson released
Total Income: €137.5m

While they did lose their key creator in Cunha, holding onto their one real goalscorer in Strand Larsen was a massive plus for the club. Other than that, it is a case of them taking a chance on players, it seems mainly based on their physical attributes. Have they done enough to survive another season in the Premier League though, that is the minimum aim and it is not an easy target with the promoted sides investing heavily. It is going to be a tough ask and mainly depend on whether Pereira is as good as he seemed last season.

Overall: D
Lost key players and replaced with players that mainly seem to be about pace. They might rue the loss of technical ability as the season goes on.

Written by Tris Burke September 06 2025 06:10:52