Johan Cruyff never lived to see a bag of money score a goal. This summer, Premier League clubs spent £3.528 billion, per The Athletic, trying to prove him wrong anyway.
When the window closed in the late hours of Monday, it did so with a new landmark – the highest transfer expenditure in a single window in the history of the sport. It eclipsed last year’s mark of £3.14 billion – itself the first time any window had crossed the £3 billion threshold. For context, the other members of Europe’s so-called ‘big five’ – Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 – spent a combined £2.44 billion. Put together, they still fell more than a billion pounds short of their neighbours across the Channel.
The next nine months will decide whether financial muscle translates into footballing triumphs, though history offers English clubs some comfort. Over the last eight seasons, English clubs have won nine of the 21 European titles on offer, across Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
The Indian Express analyses how the traditional big guns of the richest league have fared in the window.
Arsenal: Where’s the striker
Mikel Arteta’s team barely put a foot wrong the previous season. The one blemish, if one is determined to find one, was the gap between attack and defence – Arsenal conceded fewer goals than anyone, yet ranked only third in expected goals, behind a Chelsea side that finished 10th in the table.
In accordance, attackers were yearned for, but they could only acquire one – Greek winger Christos Tzolis, from Club Brugge, for £34 million. With Gabriel Martinelli (transfer yet to be finalised), Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard all shown the door, the club’s attacking options look thinner than in last season.
Chelsea: Age equals experience
The Blues were involved in a chaotic now-you-have-him-now-you-don’t deadline-day saga involving AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara. Eventually, they didn’t have him. What they do have, though, is 11 new players through the Cobham doors. headlined by £117-million recruit Morgan Rogers. The more revealing story was a quiet retreat from the club’s youth-first doctrine. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, midfielder Jordan Henderson and striker Danny Welbeck arrived with a combined age of 105 and a combined price tag of just £12.5 million.
On the other side of the ledger, the club became the first in England to post more than £500 million in sales in a single window, with Enzo Fernandez’s £125 million exit doing most of the heavy lifting.
Liverpool: One big arrival
Liverpool talked to everyone and signed almost no one. Despite being linked with a seemingly endless list of targets, new manager Andoni Iraola will start the season with only four new arrivals, the marquee name being French winger Bradley Barcola, signed from Paris Saint-Germain. The other Ligue 1 acquisition was Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet.
The numbers in the outgoings column are not reflected in the sales figure that the team generated, with many notable players – none more so than Mohamed Salah, the club’s third-highest goal-scorer of all time – leaving on a free transfer.
Manchester City: Price no bar
City made two of the market’s four nine-figure signings, determined that life after Pep Guardiola should not mean a slide into mediocrity. Enzo Fernandez’s acquisition from Chelsea, for £125 million, became the British record fee, while Elliot Anderson briefly became the most expensive English player for £116 million, before being pipped by Rogers.
Ayyoub Bouaddi, among the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s standout performers, is another important facet of their tri-faceted midfield makeover, necessitated by the exit of Ballon d’Or and World Cup winner Rodri.
Manchester United: Left is not right
Having earned a return to the UEFA Champions League after a two-season hiatus, Manchester United were expected to spend heavily. They did not. Like their neighbours, the red half of Manchester focused on a midfield rebuild, signing the trio of Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba for a cumulative £148 million.
But as with Arsenal, gaps remain – most alarmingly at left-back, where Michael Carrick is left choosing between an injury-prone Luke Shaw and 19-year-old Harry Amass.
Tottenham Hotspur: Investment awaits returns
Spurs are currently placed at the very bottom of the Premier League points table, with their scouts being more active than their players in front of the goal thus far. Roberto de Zerbi’s headline arrivals were Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, for £100 million, and Mateus Fernandez, for £85 million – further proof that this was the summer to be a midfielder available for transfer in England.
The attacking additions invite more scrutiny. Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush arrive having scored a combined 12 Premier League goals between them, while Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk hasn’t kicked a ball in a competitive game in 20 months.