Which Premier League club "won" the transfer market?

Looking at everyone's business, now that the window is shut

Win the window, win the league. That’s how it works, right?

Well, no. But it’s fun to talk about. And while a bunch of our preconceived notions about the various moves around the league will 100 percent prove to be wrong, some great players will make for bad signings and vice versa, let’s try and rank everyone’s windows from worst to first.

Starting with …

20. Luton Town

Acquired: Albert Sambi Lokonga (loan), Ryan Giles (£5m), Tahith Chong (£4m), Mads Andersen (£3m)
Sold: N/A
Net Spend: -£22.75m

What to say about Luton Town’s window, really? They really only gained Sambi as an experienced PL player. They added three players who do appear to be in Rob Edwards’s plans for the season, but it’s hard to look at this window and say with any confidence that they have more than a snowball’s chance at staying up.

19. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Acquired: Matheus Cunha (£43m), Santi Bueno (£10.3m), Bertrand Traoré (£9.4m), Matt Doherty (free)
Sold: Matheus Nunes (£53m), Ruben Neves (£47m), Nathan Collins (£23m), Connor Coady (£7.5m), Raúl (£5.5m)
Net Spend: +£76m

Wolves made some big sales. Hooray! I know they’ve looked bright early on, but I have no idea how this club ends up competing for the entire season. Cunha above is just a purchase that was a loan + obligation. I’ll definitely believe this one when I see it. Crystal Palace

18. Everton

Acquired: Beto (£21m), Chermiti (£10.7m), Arnaut Danjuma (loan), Ashley Young (free)
Sold: Moise Kean (£26m), Ellis Simms (£6m), Yerry Mina (free)
Net Spend: -£1.25m

I’m not entirely sure what Everton are doing. Early results from Beto are good, but he’s going to have to perform even better than he did in Italy for Everton to exceed expectations. Chermiti is a total project who wasn’t even key to Sporting yet. I’m sure they’ll finish 15th and be fine, though, because Dyche.

17. Fulham

Acquired: Alex Iwobi (£22m), Calvin Bassey (£19m), Timothy Castagne (£11m), Raúl (£5.5m), Ashley Young (free)
Sold: Aleksandar Mitrovic (£45m)
Net Spend: -£30m

I like the addition of Iwobi, who I do think has plenty to offer a club like Fulham, but Mitrovic was not properly replaced here and I can’t help but feel that’s really going to hurt them. Raúl, by my model, was one of the worst-performing 9s in the Premier League last season. Wolves tax, but they need someone who’ll be lethal there and I’m not sure they’ve got it. Bassey and Castagne are certainly solid pieces, and keeping Palhinha was huge.

16. Crystal Palace

Acquired: Matheus França (£20m), Dean Henderson (£15m), Rob Holding (£4m)
Sold: Wilfried Zaha (free)
Net Spend: -£32m

I guess I’d say this is more of a “run it back” window for Palace, in the sense that it mostly ended up being about who they kept (Doucoure, Eze, Olise) rather than who they signed. Dean Henderson is a solid keeper and I like him as a Guiata replacement. But do they have the necessary firepower to replace Zaha in attack? They tried really hard to keep him.

15. Sheffield United

Acquired: Cameron Archer (£18.5m), Gustavo Hamer (£15m), Vinicius Souza (£10.7m), Auston Trusty (£5m), James McAtee (loan)
Sold: Iliman Ndiaye (£15m), Sander Berge (£12m)
Net Spend: -£28.7m

I’m a fan of Archer, Hamer and Souza on the incomings but it really feels like Sheffield United sold two of their best/their two best players after being promoted. That feels like a mistake. Let’s stay tuned here.

14. Brentford

Acquired: Nathan Collins (£23m), Kevin Schade (£21.4m), Mark Flekken (£11.1m), Neal Maupay (loan)
Sold: Mads Bistrup (£5m), David Raya (loan + option)
Net Spend: -£56m

I like the addition of Nathan Collins, but otherwise this window feels a little…meh for Brentford, who have plenty of quality already in the squad but were definitely pushing for more. Early returns on Flekken aren’t great, and he’s an older keeper so it’s optimistic to hope for much more. Losing Raya feels like a big blow to them. They were pushing hard for Nicolas Gonzalez and Johan Bakayoko for their right wing position at different points in the window, and I think either move would’ve been great. But they couldn’t get them done, unfortunately.

13. Nottingham Forest

Acquired: Ibrahim Sangaré (£30m), Anthony Elanga (£15m), Chris Wood (£14.5m), Murillo (£10m), Nicolas Dominguez (£8.5m), Matt Turner (£7m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4m), Nuno Tavares (loan)
Sold: Brennan Johnson (£47m)
Net Spend: -£33m

I really like what they’ve done in midfield, adding Sangaré and Dominguez and loaning Andrey Santos. The former is a monster who should either thrive in the Premier League, or show why it’s taking so long to leave PSV. Outside of that, it’s a lot of shuffling but I don’t know if they’re markedly better for it. Elanga and Nuno should at least provide box office moments.

12. Liverpool

Acquired: Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m), Ryan Gravenberch (£40m), Alexis Mac Allister (£36m), Wataru Endo (£17m)
Sold: Fabinho (£40m), Jordan Henderson (£12m), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (free), James Milner (free), Roberto Firminho (free)
Net Spend: -£61m

I’ll put myself out there…I didn’t really get this window. Liverpool’s midfield may find itself lacking any real power for most or all of the season, with Fabinho gone (and he needed replacement anyway). AMC and Szo are very good players in their day, but I would have felt better about a similar investment in more of a defensive player, Caicedo would’ve obviously been huge. Endo seems serviceable, but is that enough for this side? Gravenberch is the type who might be able to be trained into a 6, but I don’t think What’s worse, they needed more depth at the back and got none.

11. Burnley

Acquired: Zeki Amdouni (£16m), James Trafford (£15m), Aaron Ramsey (£14m), Jordan Beyer (£13m), Sander Berge (£12m), Wilson Odobert (£10m), Darragh O’Shea (£6.7m)
Sold: N/A
Net Spend: -£92m

What Burnley have done this summer is a sort of hybrid of Arsenal in 2021 and Chelsea now. They’ve put the club in the hands of very young and talented player, and a rising manager with good ideas, and are hoping for the best. This is a very big outlay for a club of Burnley’s size, so staying up will be of even more crucial importance than it normally is. This could be a fine side to watch.

10. Manchester United

Acquired: Rasmus Højlund (£64m), Mason Mount (£50m), Andre Onana (£45m), Altay Bayindir (£4m), Sergio Reguilon (loan), Sofyan Amrabat (loan + purchase)
Sold: Dean Henderson (£15m), Anthony Elanga (£15m), Fred (£8.4m), Alex Telles (£4m)
Net Spend: -£121m

To me, this window rides entirely on Højlund. I now hate Onana but I do recognize his quality; he should be solid for them most of the time. Mount could hit or miss, but the pressure will be squarely on the back of the Danish youngster, whose fee demands performance now. In some ways I feel like Amrabat may prove to be most important here. By the way, Arsenal fans: How do you feel about Arsenal not closing sales knowing this club had £60m on the table for Maguire and McTominay and sold neither?

9. Bournemouth

Acquired: Tyler Adams (£23m), Hamed Junior Traore (£22m), Alex Scott (£19.8m), Milos Kerkez (£15.4m), Roman Faivre (£12.8m), Justin Kluivert (£9.6m), Max Aarons (£7m), Luis Sinisterra (loan)
Sold: NA
Net Spend: -£108m

Bournemouth’s window is like if you scooped out my most online mind over the past couple of seasons and dumped it onto a football pitch. Adams, Traore, Kerkez, Sinisterra and Faivre have all caught my eye in recent years, and they join up with Dango! Ouattara, another whose charts have graced these (web)pages. It’s a lot to put all together, but I’m excited to watch it.

8. Chelsea

Acquired: You think I’m going to write it all out? LOL yeah right. (Caicedo, Lavia, Nkunku, Palmer, Disasi, Jackson for starters)
Sold: Kai Havertz (£60m), Mason Mount (£50m), Mateo Kovacic (£25m), Kalidou Koulibaly (£20m), Christian Pulisic (£17m), Edouard Mendy (£16m), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£13.7m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4m), Lukaku & Kepa (loans), Auba, Kante and Azpi (free)
Net Spend: -£166m

Is this really going to work? Who can say for sure. Chelsea’s worst-case outcome is that they have created too much of a logjam with players who are supposed to be integrated into the team, take too long, stunt their development, and end up needing to eat some money on many of them. If one of a group of five DMs signed hits, does that make for a win in that scenario? It would be better if they simply have too many good players to choose from, but that feels rosy with so many of them inexperienced. Meanwhile, I question how much they’ve strengthened their first team this summer. Nkunku and Caicedo should help, and Jackson has bright moments. But will Lavia really play that much? What about Cole Palmer? I don’t really rate Disasi, I think that move turns out poorly.

7. Tottenham Hotspur

Acquired: Brennan Johnson (£47m), James Maddison (£40m), Mickey Van de Ven (£34m), Pedro Porro (£34m), Dejan Kulusevski (£26m), Guglielmo Vicario (£17m), Alejo Véliz (£13m), Manor Solomon (free)
Sold: Harry Kane (£85.6m), Harry Winks (£10m), Lucas Moura (free)
Net Spend: -£118m

A lot of money here from Spurs comes from triggering previous purchase options, neither of whom I’m really high on. If I were a Spurs fan (yuck) I’d be worried about Kulusevski, and I have real doubts about Porro’s fit for this system. Brennan Johnson feels like it’s either going to be a wonderful move, or a nightmare. Mickey Van de Ven has looked a little iffy so far, to be honest. Meanwhile Maddison looks like one of the best signings of the summer — Spurs was a good fit for him.

6. West Ham

Acquired: Mohamed Kudus (£37m), Edson Álvarez (£32.5m), James Ward-Prowse (£30m), Konstantinos Mavropanos (£17m)
Sold: Declan Rice (£105m), Gianlucca Scamacca (£21m), Nikola Vlasic (£11m)
Net Spend: -£118m

West Ham’s summer was of course all about Declan Rice. Objectively speaking I think they handled that sale well, getting their maximum possible amount for him. They then turned around and made a couple of solid buys, particularly Kudus. I have my questions about Edson, but he seems to be adjusting to life in the league pretty well so far. JWP is a master of the dead ball arts, but will he help enough when the ball is alive? Big questions, but what West Ham has done is, to me, one of the better-case scenarios and I find them pretty stable now, in terms of expectations.

5. Aston Villa

Acquired: Moussa Diaby (£47m), Pau Torres (£28m), Nicolo Zaniolo (loan), Youri Tielemans (free), Clement Lenglet (loan)
Sold: Cameron Archer (£18.5m), Marevelous Nakamba (£2m), Ashley Young (free)
Net Spend: -£57m

In Tielemans, Diaby and Torres, I think Villa have added three pieces who could really help them break that seal that exists between the top 6 and the rest. Diaby is a player I rate, and I think Emery seems to have a good role in mind for him, based on early returns. Torres felt like a smart purchase but has looked shaky so far, let’s watch that. I don’t know how badly Villa needed Tielemans but he’ll be a good add for them.

4. Brighton

Acquired: João Pedro (£29m), Carlos Baleba (£23m), Bart Verbruggen (£17m), Igor (£14.5m), Ansu Fati (loan), James Milner (free), Mahmoud Dahoud (free)
Sold: Moisés Caicedo (£100m), Alexis Mac Allister (£36m), Robert Sanchez (£20m)
Net Spend: +£74m

Brighton’s sales record this summer was great. They really played Chelsea exquisitely to raise £120m, and the AMC deal could make them around £50m when the add-ons flow in. Did the club do enough to strengthen behind Caicedo? That’s a good question. Baleba is a more expensive bet than they’re used to, and he’ll be under some pressure to perform. Dahoud is a great bridge, a wonderful free signing. Meanwhile, I love what they did in attack, adding Pedro and Fati to an already dynamic and fun to watch group.

3. Newcastle

Acquired: Sandro Tonali (£55m), Harvey Barnes (£38m), Tino Livramento (£32m), Lewis Hall (loan + option)
Sold: Allan Saint-Maximin (£24m), Chris Wood (£14.5m)
Net Spend: -£93m

I’ve been critical of the Tonali spend, which I think was high, but Newcastle definitely added some pieces that could help them make the jump up to power club. The Italian has looked useful so far, as has Barnes. I’ve definitely doubted Barnes in the past, so let’s see how he does. Livramento and Hall are two high-upside purchases, but NUFC are definitely making costly bets on them, not that it will bother ownership. Still a top-four favorite to me, although I’m intrigued to see how they fare in the Champions League.

2. Manchester City

Acquired: Josko Gvardiol (£77m), Matheus Nunes (£53m), Jeremy Doku (£51m), Mateo Kovacic (£25m)
Sold: Cole Palmer (£40m), Riyad Mahrez (£30m), Aymeric Laporte (£23.5m), İlkay Gündoğan (free), João Cancelo (loan)
Net Spend: -£108m

This is a tough window to objectively judge for me. I think Gvardiol has a huge future ahead of him, and clearly so do City. But when I ask myself, “did they replace their key outgoings with upgrades?” I keep coming back to either “no,” or “if it works out.” Jeremy Doku could become an incredible player, but I would not have wanted Arsenal to pay that price for him. He’s got an injury history that’s scary, and could prove to be too expressive and not controlled enough for Pep’s approach. Nunes is a turnover heavy, but very aesthetically pleasing, midfielder. I could see both falling short of the mark, which I’ve not said about a City signing in some time. Losing two glue players like Mahrez and Gündoğan feels bigger than what’s been said out in the world, but I still expect City to City, and ultimately this spend isn’t going to really hurt them.

1. Arsenal

Acquired: Declan Rice (£105m), Kai Havertz (£60m), Jurriën Timber (£34m), David Raya (loan + option)
Sold: Folarin Balogun (£26m), Granit Xhaka (£13m), Matt Turner (£7m), Austin Trusty (£5m), Rob Holding (£4m), Kieran Tierney (loan), Nuno Tavares (loan)
Net Spend: -£144m

I know a lot of Arsenal folks who wanted one more today, and so will scoff at this, or will throw this in my face at the first injury. But purely ranking this by business done, which I am, I think Arsenal may have done the best as things stand. They got the piece, to me, who does the most to make a club better in Declan Rice. There are holes in the squad, and I wouldn’t say our squad is best in the league, but I don’t think that Liverpool, or Chelsea, or Spurs, or United, or Newcastle got out of the window having addressed every issue, either. Or, at least in a couple of cases, not in a way that I’d be satisfied enough to stop calling them issues.

So when I went to pick which was best, it really came to these top three, but I felt Newcastle needed to add more or something different to midfield, and add more quality depth at the back, I’m unconvinced City have replaced their outgoing vets in a satisfactory way, and Arsenal have questions as well. In reality, I could feel very differently about this ranking six months from now, or even one month from now. But as of now, this is where I stand.

You can read my full thoughts on Arsenal’s window in my full breakdown below.