Which Premier League clubs are ‘winning’ the transfer window?

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The Football Faithful

·11. Juli 2025

Which Premier League clubs are ‘winning’ the transfer window?

Every single summer the tabloids love to anoint a “winner” of the summer transfer window among the Premier League clubs.

It’s almost treated as a trophy in itself, as if medals are handed out to the clubs who sign the most players or spend the most money on fees. In reality, quality trumps quantity and we can’t possibly know how good a new arrival is until they, you know, play some games.

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Take West Ham United as an example. A number of media outlets praised their business last summer, when they spent £123.4m on eight new players, before a ball was even kicked. But in actuality they spent their money very poorly.

It’s a pretty dumb rubric for assessing a club’s transfer activity, used purely as a means for filling copy. So obviously we are going to engage in some 20/20 foresight and judge which teams are currently coming out on top of this makey-uppy league table and try to assess which ones are actually making good moves.

Here they are in alphabetical order.

The Premier League clubs ‘winning’ the transfer window so far

Arsenal

Players In: 3

Players Out: 9

Transfer Spend: £75m

First thing’s first: Arsenal let alleged rapist Thomas Partey leave the club at the end of his contract. That’s a win of sorts, although they get minimal credit for that given they were reportedly in talks to renew his terms up until recently.

Fringe players like Nuno Tavares and Marquinhos have left, while the eternally injured Takehiro Tomiyasu has been released and Jorginho was allowed join Flamengo as the Gunners restructure their midfield.

To that end they have signed Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard. Kepa Arrizabalaga has also arrived as cover for David Raya, for a cheap fee too.

That’s not too many signings, but they are close to getting Noni Madueke from Chelsea for a pretty good price and have narrowed in on Viktor Gyokeres as their main striker target. If they can navigate the drama surrounding the latter’s potential exit from Sporting CP, then they will have constructed a really strong squad with a lot of quality in depth.

Read – Five Premier League players who need a loan move

Chelsea

Players In: 6

Players Out: 3

Transfer Spend: £210.6m

Ah, Chelsea. The club that constantly breaks the scale when it comes to the transfer report card. They have been the biggest spenders in in each of the last three summers and probably will be again this year.

But do they spend their money well? They have acquired a few gems since Clearlake Capital took over the club, but it’s all a bit inefficient, isn’t it? They bring in so many young players with high potential, which isn’t a bad strategy, but they seem to be constantly making those bets without a clear plan.

This summer should have been about consolidating the progress they’ve made under Enzo Maresca by signing a few surefire stars to make them serious challengers for the Premier League and Champions League. Instead they have bought a clutch of admittedly exciting but relatively inexperienced players in attack.

Liam Delap could turn out to be an excellent piece of business at £30m. But, as is tradition, they paid over the odds for a Brighton player, handing over £55m for Joao Pedro. And they spent just slightly less on Jamie Gittens, who might turn out to be great, but is not obviously better than what they have now.

Which brings us to Madueke. They are about to sell the winger to London rival Arsenal for a reported £50m transfer fee, which is below market price when you see what similar players such as Bryan Mbeumo, Mohammed Kudus and Antoine Semenyo are being valued at. I don’t understand their logic, but that’s nothing new.

It’s not what I would call a ‘winning’ approach, but at least they did get rid of two of their ten million goalkeepers.

Read – Chelsea’s ‘Evil Saka’ and the funniest nicknames in football history

Liverpool

Players In: 6

Players Out: 9

Transfer Spend: £194.5m

After spending virtually nothing last summer, Liverpool have made a real splash in the market ahead of next season as they work to bolster a Premier League title-winning side.

The Reds may have lost Trent Alexander-Arnold, but they did somehow pull off one of the signings of the summer, beating Bayern Munich and Manchester City to Florian Wirtz. Jeremie Frimpong also arrived from Bayer Leverkusen as a replacement for Trent, while Milos Kerkez joined from Bournemouth to play on the opposite side.

To be honest, when you put all these players into a lineup it looks very unbalanced, but this is the definition of ‘winning’ a window. Big names! Loadsamoney! Who cares about the practicalities?

The picture appears a little less rosey when we look at the centre-back situation. Jarell Quansah has moved to Leverkusen for £30m, which is good money for a player Arne Slot clearly didn’t fancy. However, Ibrahima Konate could leave this summer as his contract expires in 2026. Yet again Liverpool have allowed one of their key players run their deal down to the final 12 months and risk losing him for nothing.

Virgil van Dijk may have renewed terms, but Konate might fancy following Trent to Real Madrid; that would leave them perilously short at the back. A reported move for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi would be very expensive. Perhaps both men leave on free transfers next summer, which wouldn’t be a terrible outcome if Liverpool can secure the England international over their rivals.

Read – Every footballer signed for £100m as Wirtz joins Liverpool

Man City

Players In: 4

Players Out: 6

Transfer Spend: £109.6m

This summer started off on a sad note for City fans as they bade farewell to a club legend and a much loved veteran of the side that finally won the Champions League in 2023. I am, of course, talking about Scott Carson.

Oh, and Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker also left the club with a combined 12 Premier League winner’s medals between them. They’ll be missed too, I guess.

City moved quickly to reinvigorate an aging squad following a tropyless campaign and ahead of their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup. Wirtz would have been the ideal De Bruyne replacement, but they settled for Rayan Cherki at a much cheaper price.

Tijjani Reijnders also arrived to bolster the midfield, attacking left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri was signed from Wolves, and Marcus Bettinelli has been brought in as the third-choice goalkeeper.

Moving quickly in the window will always earn a club good marks on their transfer exam sheet, and they’ve done some decent business despite probably overpaying for Reijnders (who could end up costing them up to £61m). That said, it still feels like they need to do more ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Read – Five players who could return to the Premier League this summer

Sunderland

Players In: 6

Players Out: 4

Transfer Spend: £96.76m

Losing Jobe Bellingham was less than ideal. But Sunderland have moved quickly and often to get new players into the door before the season starts, which is crucial for a promoted team.

Their primary focus, though, has been to recruit unknown prospects from abroad; Noah Sadiki, Chemsdine Talbi and Habib Diarra. This is a risky ploy for a side who will be battling against relegation as we have no idea what they will bring to the table or if they can hack it in the top tier of English football.

Making Enzo La Fee’s loan a permanent deal was a smart move, while signing Simon Adingra from Brighton ensures they have brought in a certain amount of Premier League experience. The problem is, that experience has mostly consisted of him being pretty good right up until he enters the final third, at which point he flubs his lines.

The Black Cats will earn praise for being brave in the transfer market, but I remain unconvinced they’ve made the right moves.

Of course, we all know Burnley are the only true winners of every transfer window for their incredible reveals.