Premier League clubs have ensured deadline day was one of the most dramatic of all time, but not every team are keen to celebrate.
English top-flight sides have spent more than £2billion this summer, with the British transfer record broken twice by the champions.
21
Numerous other teams broke their club record for both signings and sales, but which navigated the market the best?
talkSPORT.com ranks ALL 20 clubs’ window from worst to first…
20. Wolves
Exactly where they find themselves in the real table is ironically where Wolves have ended up on this list as well.
The club’s 3-2 defeat to Everton means the Molineux outfit are the only side with no points on the board after the first three games.
That may not be a surprise to their fans, who had to wait until the start of November last season for the club’s first Premier League win.
Since then, Wolves’ starting XI has been pilfered with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Cunha and Nelson Semedo all leaving this summer.
To add insult to injury, Wolves fans were heard chanting against Fosun and Jeff Shi to ‘back the team or sell the club’ on Saturday.
Even more alarmingly, all three promoted sides this season have invested over £100m each, which isn’t a good omen for the Old Gold.
Vitor Pereira joined the voices calling for new signings, with Tolu Arokodare completing his £24m move from Genk, while Jørgen Strand Larsen was kept out of Newcastle’s clutches in another welcome boost.
21
19. Fulham
The Cottagers have been up against it on-and-off the pitch so far, with a VAR mix-up proving deeply costly in their defeat to Chelsea.
What hasn’t been costly is the club’s balance sheet this window, with manager Marco Silva even bemoaning Fulham’s lack of business.
Backup goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte was the sole arrival for the majority of the summer for less than £500,000.
Their long-standing interest in turning former loanee Reiss Nelson into a permanent addition even failed to come to fruition.
Fulham did manage to survive a late hijack attempt from Porto to seal a club record £34.6m move for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin.
Meanwhile, they also signed Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan.
However, a £22m deadline day deal for Chelsea’s Tyrique George fell through in a huge setback for both player and Fulham.
Following a record Premier League points tally and an 11th-place finish last term, Fulham have missed an opportunity to back Silva.
21
18. West Ham
The Hammers received a huge boost with their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, highlighted by Lucas Paqueta’s celebration.
The Brazilian’s commitment to West Ham after they rejected Aston Villa’s offer worth £47m has just been enough to avoid bottom place.
Before Sunday, things were looking extremely dicey in east London after three straight defeats in all competitions, conceding 11 goals.
Captain Jarrod Bowen was also captured confronting some of the travelling supporters in the aftermath of the club’s Carabao Cup exit.
Hammers hero Dean Ashton argued Graham Potter has been let down in the transfer window, with Mohammed Kudus a high-profile exit.
Club legends Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski, and Vladimir Coufal were all moved on with no real succession plan in place, with deals for Mads Hermansen and Callum Wilson not setting the world alight.
Late deals for Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa, on the back of that morale-boosting Forest win, has improved the mood slightly.
As things turned out, West Ham played a huge role in the dramatic deadline day story with the loan capture of Brighton defender Igor Julio leading to Marc Guehi missing out on a move to Liverpool…
21
17. Crystal Palace
The Eagles get a slight bit of leniency in that, for months, they didn’t know if they were selling Europa League football or a Conference League campaign to both prospective targets and their key stars.
Ultimately, it proved to be the latter – which may have been the definitive blow in any hopes of retaining Eberechi Eze.
It’s unfair to expect Yeremi Pino to provide the same quality as the England star, but it’s undeniable that Palace have downgraded.
Keeping Eze from returning to his boyhood Arsenal may have always been impossible, but the same can’t be said for Marc Guehi.
Palace have been aware for over a year that their captain wasn’t extending his stay at Selhurst Park, and yet their manager and owner found themselves at odds over whether to stick or twist by deadline day.
Oliver Glasner only just won the battle in holding onto Guehi, but the Eagles now run the risk of failing to build on the greatest era in their history.
Christantus Uche, Borna Sosa and Walter Benitez may all help in bulking out Palace’s squad for their debut European campaign.
But Glasner, who has one year left on his deal, cast doubt over his own future in response to his frustrations at another poor window.
If the impressive Austrian does leave Palace this summer’s activity will be a watershed moment in his historic tenure in south London.
21
16. Aston Villa
It’s hard to quantify how much Unai Emery‘s transfer plans were altered after a goal they didn’t get against Manchester United on the final day of last season led to them missing out on Champions League football.
Villa had invested heavily to try and build a side regularly able to compete in Europe’s elite, and now financial restrictions from dropping into UEFA‘s second tier have hamstrung further investment.
PSR woes meant fans have had to say goodbye to one of their own, with Jacob Ramsey the fall guy, having been forced to Newcastle.
A £30m move for forward Evann Guessand represented the only major signing for Emery until deadline day.
He was given his first start for the club in the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, but the Ivory Coast striker was hooked at half-time.
Two Manchester United flops have since followed Guessand through the door, with Victor Lindelof a free agent since leaving Old Trafford.
Villa fans will hope Emery gets the same tune out of Jadon Sancho that he did from his last Red Devils loanee in Marcus Rashford.
The pair’s England colleague, Harvey Elliott, was also snapped up, while Emiliano Martinez, who was left out of their squad on Sunday, did stay put but has had his commitment to the club questioned.
21
15. Brentford
On balance, the Bees have suffered more than the five clubs below them in this list but have at least done what they can to back their manager.
In June, owner Matthew Benham would have thought that would have been Thomas Frank, but Tottenham swooped to land him.
Both of last season’s top goalscorers, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, eventually left – as did captain Christian Norgaard.
But in the cases of Mbeumo and Wissa, Brentford made Manchester United and Newcastle pay over the odds to complete a move.
Brentford did add some firepower as a much-needed replacement for the outgoing front duo with Reiss Nelson joining on a season-long loan from Arsenal. However, Nelson is yet to consistently perform in the Premier League.
Jordan Henderson is a shrewd signing to replace Norgaard’s leadership, with a club-record deal for Dango Ouattara also sanctioned.
Despite his mistake in the 2-1 defeat to Brentford, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will show his worth long-term.
The Irishman was a snip at £12.5m (rising to £18m), perhaps the only example of Liverpool not maximising the value of one of their sales.
21
14. Leeds
The Whites would have bitten your hand off for four points from their first three Premier League games, with two clean sheets.
A 5-0 thumping at Arsenal aside, a win over Everton and a draw to Newcastle showed that they can compete at the top-flight level.
But the goalless stalemate on Saturday underlined the need for attacking arrivals, with a penalty their only Premier League goal thus far.
That at least came via their new striker, Lukas Nmecha, but the signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who hasn’t hit double digits for Premier League goals since the 2020/21 campaign, with just three in 26 appearances for Everton last season.
Leeds deserve credit for their £100m outlay on new stars, with Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff the standouts from the 10 fresh faces.
However, several key targets were missed out on, including Harry Wilson, Gustavo Hamer, Eduard Spertsyan, Igor Paixao, and Facundo Buonanotte.
21
13. Bournemouth
It says a lot about the success of the Cherries’ recent transfer windows that they’ve had Europe’s elite fighting for their stars.
Milos Kerkez, Illia Zabarnyi, and Dean Huijsen have all departed for Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid, respectively.
The trio were always going to leave this summer, but any team losing such a level of quality would have a damaging effect.
As they’re now renowned for, Bournemouth looked to have replaced well, with Adrien Truffert and Bafode Diakite impressing early.
Alex Jimenez, Djordje Petrovic, Amine Adli, and Ben Gannon-Doak all represent smart value in today’s market.
Arguably, their biggest boost was tying down Antoine Semenyo, who had attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur prior to signing a new deal.
The departures of Neto and Ouattara have left Bournemouth slightly light in the back-up goalkeeper and striker departments, though.
21
12. Brighton
The Seagulls have served as the blueprint which Bournemouth have had to study this summer after years of losing their top talents.
Again, it was Chelsea, and this time it was Joao Pedro, whose fee has seen Brighton recoup just shy of £300m in fees from the Blues in just three years.
But they did succeed in giving Man United the hands-off during thier brief pursuit of midfielder Carlos Baleba.
As previously reported, Brighton owner Tony Bloom wants to keep Baleba for at least one more season.
Bloom believes Baleba will eventually be worth as much as £115m transfer Moises Caicedo.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler has been one of the rare Premier League bosses to publicly admit that he is happy with his squad.
Brighton landed their key targets early, with summer signings afforded time to ease in, bar Maxim de Cuyper.
Stephanos Tzimas, Babis Kostoulas and Tommy Watson all could blossom into future stars in the Amex environment.
However, there is a sense that the club are light up top following Pedro’s exit and Evan Ferguson‘s departure on loan to Roma.
Danny Welbeck remains the only recognised number nine, with Giorginio Rutter preferred in deeper areas.
21
11. Burnley
Scott Parker has been armed with 14 new signings in a bid to survive in the Premier League, with a promising start to the campaign.
Defeats away to Tottenham and Man United won’t decide Burnley‘s fate, with a huge six-point victory over Sunderland in between.
The Clarets have matched their fellow promoted rivals in spending £100m, but it’s yet to be seen whether they’ve got value for money.
Armando Broja has joined for an undisclosed fee believed to be worth up to £20m from Chelsea, having failed to score in ten Premier League appearances on loan at Everton last year.
Similarly, his ex-Blues teammate Lesley Ugochukwu arrived in a similar deal, but has a job on his hands protecting a Burnley back line that has shipped three goals in two of their three top-flight games.
On the flip side, a £5m deal for England’s Kyle Walker from Man City could be one of the best pound-for-pound moves of the summer.
Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis then became a highly welcome deadline day boost in another coup for the Turf Moor outfit.
The 26-year-old has joined initially on loan, with a conditional obligation to buy for a club-record £20.8m.
21
10. Manchester City
Pep Guardiola became the first manager to spend €2billion on signings in history this summer, and yet similar problems exist.
Mistakes this time last year forced City into one of the most expensive January windows in football history with a £123m spree.
Half a year on, only Omar Marmoush looks to have shown anywhere close to the price tag shelled out for him to move to the Etihad.
City have attempted to conduct the bulk of their business before the Club World Cup to avoid similar errors this summer.
But Guardiola was denied his first-choice long-term successor to talisman Kevin De Bruyne, when Florian Wirtz opted for Liverpool.
His back-up option, Rayan Cherki, scored on his Premier League debut but is now sidelined for two months through injury.
Tijjani Reijnders has shown why he was named the Serie A Midfielder of the Year during his early Premier League career.
In contrast, goalkeeper James Trafford has already found himself usurped as Guardiola’s No.1 three games into his return to the club.
Incoming signing Gianluigi Donnarumma is an undeniable upgrade between the sticks, but De Bruyne, Walker, Ederson and Jack Grealish‘s departures all leave a void in the dressing room.
21
9. Manchester United
Ruben Amorim has splashed over £230m this window, months after Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed the club could ‘go bust by Christmas’ without cost-cutting measures.
Despite another poor start to the season, it’s hard to argue that United have not had a more positive summer than first feared.
Man United came into the summer market off the back of their worst-ever Premier League campaign by finishing 15th.
They were also beaten in the Europa League final, which suggested transfer activity would be hampered by no European football.
However, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko all snubbed interest from elsewhere to move to Old Trafford – the first two also being proven Premier League goalscorers, despite their comparatively slow starts in red.
A fanciful move for Brighton’s Baleba never materialised, but more importantly, goalkeeper Senne Lammens did arrive on deadline day.
In terms of outgoings, Christian Eriksen, Jonny Evans (since retired) and Lindelof have all been released to trim the wage bill.
Bomb squad members Rashford, Sancho, Antony, and Alejandro Garnacho have also all left, either on loan or permanently.
The Red Devils got in on the deadline day excitement with the signing of Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens to provide competition for the struggling Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.
21
8. Newcastle
The Magpies are proof that it’s not how you start, but how you finish, having been on track for an all-time disastrous summer last month.
Anthony Elanga represented the only new arrival on Tyneside for a huge portion of the window, as numerous players rejected moves.
Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro, James Trafford, Liam Delap, and Sesko were among the targets who opted for different Premier League clubs.
Then came the saga of the summer after Isak asked to leave, and then made his future at the club untenable.
His eventual move to Liverpool is obviously a blow to Eddie Howe, but the Swede was at least sold on Newcastle’s terms for a £125m fee.
The Toon secured a coup of their own with a club-record £69m deal for Nick Woltemade, who had been eyed by Bayern Munich.
Newcastle also managed to get Wissa over the line before the deadline, with Ramsey another impressive addition.
Isak aside, the rest of the group at St James’ Park that delivered the Carabao Cup and returned to the Champions League remains intact.
Considering where Newcastle may have found themselves as recently as two weeks ago, it’s been a mighty recovery to rescue the window.
21
7. Nottingham Forest
Mr Marinakis can pat himself on the back with another summer window well done – though Nuno Espirito Santo will disagree.
Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White turned his back on a move to Tottenham after they thought they had activated his £60m release clause.
Forest lodged a legal complaint after they believed Spurs’ approach was illegal, which sparked a total U-turn from the midfielder.
He pledged his long-term future to the Reds, penning a new three-year deal to keep him at the City Ground until 2028.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has since followed suit by signing an extension of his own, with Elanga the only star from last season moving on.
Forest have spent around £180m this summer, the most eye-catching of their 10 new arrivals proving to be Dan Ndoye, who already has a goal and assist in his opening three Premier League games.
Former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz has arrived on a season-long loan from Juventus, with Dilane Bakwa signing on deadline day.
England Under-21 starlets Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee are both smart purchases from Ipswich and Man City, respectively.
And on deadline day they announced more deals including that of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal.
But all of that good work in the market threatens to be undone by manager Nuno’s ongoing spat with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
21
6. Everton
Gabby Agbonlahor was right to warn Premier League clubs to be wary of Everton this season following the arrival of Jack Grealish.
The England international has gone from forgotten at City to the Toffees’ main man in near-record time.
The former Aston Villa captain has already claimed four assists after just two Premier League starts for his new loan side.
In fact, Grealish is in contention for best single signing of the window, but Everton have also spent over £100m to back David Moyes.
Moyes previously admitted ‘we’re just finding it very difficult’ to complete deals, but Thierno Barry, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Tyler Dibling have all made the switch to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
German midfielder Merlin Rohl was plucked from Freiburg before the deadline, but a new right-back failed to prove the icing on the cake.
21
5. Chelsea
There haven’t been many transfer windows since Todd Boehly and co. took over at Stamford Bridge that the Blues haven’t won the window.
Again, Chelsea have proved a real force across the market with another £270m accrued in sales from fringe players.
But it’s not been perfect with their outgoings, highlighted by the recall of Marc Guiu from his Sunderland loan just three games into the season amid uncertainty around the future of Nicolas Jackson.
The latter eventually succeeded in pushing through his move to Bayern Munich, but Raheem Sterling is among the stars still in exile.
However, Joao Pedro has enjoyed a sensational start to his Chelsea career, with Estevao one of the brightest young talents around.
Question marks remain over some of the transfer strategy at the club, with Enzo Maresca admitting Garnacho is ‘quite similar’ to Jamie Gittens despite signing both this summer.
The Chelsea boss also publicly stated he wanted a new centre-back following Levi Colwill‘s serious injury, but none arrived.
Xavi Simons was a well-known target, but instead joined Spurs, while no goalkeeping replacement for Robert Sanchez materialised.
21
4. Sunderland
Even the most optimistic around the Stadium of Light couldn’t have envisaged the summer the club have enjoyed.
The Black Cats sealed a club-record sale of £31m move to allow Jobe Bellingham to join Borussia Dortmund days after their Championship playoff final triumph.
Yet far from that being a sign that Sunderland would struggle in the Premier League, Regis Le Bris has been backed to the hilt.
Sunderland have now surpassed Nottingham Forest’s £142m spree in the summer of 2022, which was a British record for a promoted club.
The termination of Guiu’s loan is undoubtedly a blow, but one that the Wearsiders countered on deadline day with Brian Brobbey.
The Ajax striker joined his Netherlands countryman at RB Leipzig, defender Lutsharel Geertruida, in a double swoop on Monday.
Habib Diarra remains the statement arrival after completing a club record £30m from Strasbourg.
Granit Xhaka and Nordi Mukiele have both swapped Champions League football to move to Sunderland.
Their statement of intent has been backed up on the pitch, with the Black Cats winning both of their opening two home matches thus far.
21
3. Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs boss Frank is in a curious scenario where he has missed out on key targets and yet has simultaneously conducted fantastic business.
Key defender Cristian Romero committed his long-term future to the club, with Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel‘s loans made permanent.
The Lilywhites then atoned for their slip-ups in doomed deals for Eze and Gibbs-White by pulling off a coup with the arrival of Simons.
The departure of captain and club icon Heung-Min Son, coupled with James Maddison‘s serious injury, meant more was still needed.
Joao Palhinha has a case for being the bargain of the summer, joining on loan from Bayern just a year after Fulham sold him for £42.3m.
Elsewhere, Kudus has proven an instant upgrade to Frank’s attacking options and already has two assists from his opening three matches.
Following the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth, Spurs landed Randal Kolo Muani on loan from PSG on deadline day.
The Frenchman spent the second half of last season at Juventus, where he scored 10 goals in 22 games across all competitions.
21
2. Arsenal
Unfortunately for the team that has finished Premier League runners-up for three straight years, it’s second place again.
Until the final week of the window, Mikel Arteta had overseen the best business of any manager with several key signings.
The long-awaited arrival of former Liverpool target Martin Zubimendi and Norgaard served as upgrades on Jorginho and Thomas Partey.
Kepa Arrizabalaga and Noni Madueke are also high quality back-ups to David Raya and Bukayo Saka.
Hijacking arch-rivals Tottenham’s move for Eze was another major boost, with Viktor Gyokeres finally ending Arsenal’s search for a No.9.
However, where the Gunners have been let down has been in moving on fringe stars, as another window has come and gone, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s £35m move to Liverpool in 2017 remains the club’s record sale.
Jakub Kiwior, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Fabio Vieira all left for relatively small fees, while Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko are still on the books.
21
1. Liverpool
Was there any doubt? talkSPORT.com was already predicting it to be the ‘best transfer window of all time’ at the end of July.
That bar is an extremely high one, and not one to be taken lightly, with Premier League clubs often at the forefront of such debates.
Best transfer window ever?
Honourable mentions go to Man City’s 2010/11, (Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli, David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, James Milner), Chelsea’s 2004/05, (Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Arjen Robben, Tiago, Petr Cech, Mateja Kezman), and of course, Real Madrid’s 2009/10, (Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaká, Xabi Alonso, Raúl Albiol and Álvaro Arbeloa).
However, in all three cases, those clubs were building teams to return their clubs to the top, not from a position of strength.
Liverpool are already the Premier League champions, but hinted at what was to come by tying down captain Virgil van Dijk and talisman Mohamed Salah.
They have since smashed the British transfer record twice, first for Florian Wirtz and now Alexander Isak on deadline day, although they were hit with the late setback of seeing their £35m move for Guehi fall through.
The data miners at the Reds have even signed the Swede’s successor with the £79million signing of Hugo Ekitike, who has hit the ground running at Anfield, with the arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili serving the same role for Alisson Becker.
Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, at ages 24 and 21, will be Liverpool’s two full-backs for the next decade, injuries permitting.
18-year-old centre-back Giovanni Leoni has just received his first Italy call-up, which shows the coup the Reds have got in the defender.
That’s just the incomings – Liverpool have also accrued £220m in sales, starting with an £8m fee for just three weeks of outgoing vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez have both been flogged for a combined triple-figures, with a buyback clause also inserted on Jarell Quansah.
21
#time #Ranking #Premier #League #clubs #transfer #window #including #Liverpools #recordbreaking #summer
