Premier League Transfer Window Ratings: Every Club's Story
After a record-smashing summer and a Deadline Day that never seemed to end, every Premier League club has their story. Some rebuilt. Some gambled. Some simply survived. Here’s how Sky Sports’ reporters have rated the window, club by club.
Arsenal – 8/10
Arteta trims, then reloads
Eight senior players out. An 8/10 window. The symmetry isn’t lost on anyone at Arsenal.
Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Christian Norgaard, Fabio Vieira, Ethan Nwaneri (loan), Jakob Kiwior and Reiss Nelson have all gone, with only Nwaneri still tethered to the club’s future. The clear-out has banked more than £100m and shaved a serious chunk off the wage bill – particularly in Jesus’ case.
The dream scenario? A marquee left winger. If Arsenal had managed to land Vinicius Junior or Julian Alvarez, this would have been a nine, maybe even the perfect 10. They swung, they missed – but they were at least in that rarefied air of conversation.
Supporters get that those deals were long shots. What they’re struggling with is the reality that last season’s two main left-sided attackers have not been properly replaced. The club tried, the Vinicius saga dragged, and the “right fit” never materialised.
So they improvise on the left. The hierarchy – and Mikel Arteta – believe the answers are already in the building. Christos Tzolis has made a lively early impression, even if he wobbled at Villa Park. The fans have taken to him quickly. Eberechi Eze has shown he can operate there too. Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka can both flip sides if required.
That flexibility could open the door for more Max Dowman minutes on the right. There’s even a growing idea that Riccardo Calafiori could be pushed higher up, in the same way Arteta once reinvented roles for Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
No left winger. No new striker. Yet Arsenal are deeper almost everywhere else. One glance at the bench at Villa Park told the story: defensive and midfield depth of genuine quality, with the ability to rotate heavily without losing edge.
And crucially, Arteta got his two top targets: Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa. That alone makes this a very strong window.
Aston Villa – 7/10
Emery’s champions ripped up, rebuilt on the fly
A few weeks after lifting the Europa League, Aston Villa watched six starters walk out the door. Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa – gone. It’s the sort of exodus that keeps managers awake at night.
Under tight financial controls, Villa have pivoted to youth and potential. Ibrahim Mbaye and Johan Manzambi headline the new wave, backed by the experience of Leon Goretzka and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Nicolas Jackson arrives ready-made for the Premier League and looked sharp on his debut.
Zion Suzuki’s first outing in goal was encouraging, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis has already spoken about how much he expects to grow under Unai Emery.
The Spaniard is the trump card here. Villa have balanced the books in the middle of a forced rebuild and handed Emery a squad with upside. Now they need proof. The optimism is real, but it rests on how quickly these new faces can look like Villa players rather than just signings.
Bournemouth – 9/10
Holding the crown jewels, adding smartly
Two summers, two very different stories. In 2025, Bournemouth cashed in on key players. This time, they dug in.
Rayan, Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott all stay. The club’s model allows exits, but not at the expense of ripping up Marco Rose’s project. They promised him they wouldn’t sell the team from under him. They kept that promise.
European football has tightened the financial screws. Bournemouth needed to strengthen and cut costs at the same time. They’ve managed both.
Michele Di Gregorio arrives as last season’s Juventus No 1. Antonio Silva, once linked with Europe’s elite, looks a value pick at centre-back. Juanlu Sanchez offers reliability at full-back, and Alvaro Rodriguez brings a different attacking profile.
Fringe players have been moved on, and the decisive early work meant no Deadline Day scramble for the first time in years. Rose and the hierarchy will view this as a near-ideal summer. The platform is there. Now comes the hard part: turning it into results.
Brentford – 9/10
Sangare steals the show in near-perfect window
Brentford’s summer business comes close to a clean 10. The mission was clear: secure a midfield cornerstone. Enter Mamadou Sangare for £39m – already looking like one of the bargains of the window and a potential signing-of-the-season candidate.
He’s the major change to the starting XI, but El Hadji Malick Diouf looks likely to nail down the left-back spot. Jaidon Anthony has already started twice. Callum Wilson is proving an ideal foil – or challenger – to Igor Thiago, and Jannik Schuster adds cover at centre-back with Sepp van den Berg sidelined.
Just as important, the spine remains intact. Jordan Henderson departs, but Brentford have kept Thiago, Kevin Schade and Yehor Yarmoliuk, whose rise has not gone unnoticed by bigger clubs. Michael Kayode and Vitaly Janelt have signed new deals.
Deadline Day was quiet, save for Jayden Meghoma’s loan to Portsmouth – a move that fits the club’s philosophy of real minutes for young players.
The only reason this isn’t a 10? As Keith Andrews would probably say, there’s always another level to hit.
Brighton – 7.5/10
Big spend, bold bets
Brighton, usually masters of the understated tweak, went loud this summer. Nine first-team signings. Nearly £170m spent. The squad now has serious depth, particularly in defence.
Luka Vuskovic arrived for a club-record £50m, a statement signing at the back. On Deadline Day, Brighton snatched Chema Andres from Stuttgart – a Spain U21 defensive midfielder who helps plug the Carlos Baleba-sized gap left by his move to Manchester United. He’ll need time, but the talent is obvious.
They’ve lost experience and goals with Danny Welbeck’s departure. The hope is that loan striker Promise David can shoulder some of that burden.
Keeping Yankuba Minteh, despite Liverpool’s interest, is a victory in itself.
Once injuries clear and the new arrivals settle, Fabian Hurzeler will believe he has enough to juggle Premier League demands with a Conference League campaign. The stakes are higher. So is the ceiling.
Chelsea – 9/10
Alonso’s Chelsea grow up overnight
Chelsea didn’t just tweak their squad. They changed their philosophy.
The club finally leaned into Premier League-ready signings to complement their conveyor belt of young talent. The chases for Jordan Henderson, Emiliano Martinez and Danny Welbeck marked a sharp break from the post-takeover obsession with pure potential.
Geovany Quenda fits the old model – one of the world’s top young prospects – but the broader shift is clear. Joao Pedro has been tied down on improved terms. The core is being locked in.
Last season unravelled after Enzo Maresca’s exit, leaving Stamford Bridge flat despite an FA Cup final run. Xabi Alonso’s arrival, coupled with a smarter recruitment plan, has jolted the place back to life. The 4-3 thriller against Brighton felt like a reset.
On the pitch, work remains. Off it, the mood has flipped.
The Enzo Fernandez saga was the one sour note. A self-imposed 5pm August 15 deadline failed to bring clarity, and uncertainty bled into the start of the campaign. Yet three wins from three suggest the dressing room has handled the noise.
Emiliano Martinez, Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix walk straight into the strongest XI. Losing Marc Cucurella hurts, but Chelsea again sold superbly, cashing in on Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson and Alejandro Garnacho at strong prices.
They’ve become elite traders. Now comes the only question that matters: can Alonso turn clever dealing into a team that wins trophies again?
Coventry – 8/10
Bold, structured, and not afraid to spend
Coventry have come up swinging. Big outlay, but with a clear blueprint.
Frank Lampard has more depth than at any point in last season’s promotion push. Carl Rushworth returns permanently after his starring role in that campaign. Aurele Amenda adds pace and power at centre-back. Caleb Yirenkyi injects energy into midfield, while Frank Onyeka brings Premier League nous and Gustavo Hamer offers creativity and familiarity.
Up front, Taiwo Awoniyi gives them a proven top-flight focal point. Loum Tchaouna and Sidiki Cherif bring pace and upside.
The lingering doubt? Goals. Two games, two defeats, no goals scored is not the launch they wanted. But in pure squad terms, Coventry are stronger, deeper and more varied.
For a newly promoted side, this is ambition with a plan rather than recklessness. It’s a serious statement that they intend to stick around.
Crystal Palace – 7/10
Losing stars, reloading quietly
Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Munoz were two of Crystal Palace’s best players. Both have gone. That’s a hit.
But Palace know this game by now. They’ve kept Adam Wharton, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr. In this market, that’s a win.
Mateta, still carrying the scars of a collapsed move to AC Milan last January, may need to help Sarr through a similar disappointment after Liverpool’s pursuit fell short. Mateta is also entering the final year of his deal, setting up another winter of speculation.
Sarr’s form between now and January will be the litmus test of the club’s hard line in keeping him.
Palace have shopped smart rather than spectacular. Axel Disasi, Dwight McNeil, Ben Chilwell and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all proven Premier League performers. Dario Osorio could be the jewel: highly rated, and at a club with a knack for unearthing stars. Honest Ahanor strengthens the back line, while Anan Khalaili has the tools to grow into Munoz’s role.
The squad finishes the window deeper than it started, which matters with European football on the agenda again. Palace have lived this cycle before: lose big names, recalibrate, compete.
They don’t look guaranteed success. They rarely do. But once again, they’ve given themselves a fighting chance.
Everton – 2/10
Chaos, regret and a gaping hole up front
This is Everton in a nutshell. A window that started with hope and ended with a familiar sense of self-inflicted damage.
They’ve halved a strike force that wasn’t firing to begin with. Letting Beto go to Fiorentina before Folarin Balogun was over the line now looks naïve at best. The late, failed pivot to Joshua Zirkzee only deepened the sense of panic.
Then came the sale of Iliman Ndiaye, the brightest talent at the club. All summer, Everton stressed their strong position: three years left on his deal, no need to sell. They eventually agreed a £65m fee – more than four times what they paid two years ago, but still short of the figure that would have softened the blow for supporters.
The aborted swap with Spurs – Ndiaye for £60m, Richarlison returning for £35m – set the tone for Deadline Day. Richarlison’s valuation raised eyebrows and the deal collapsed. So did a move for Kenny Tete, with Fulham unwilling to budge without a replacement in hand. There’s a lesson there.
All this played out while ownership mulled Nottingham Forest’s £40m bid for Harrison Armstrong, as David Moyes publicly stressed the need for reinforcements.
Evertonians are left hurt, embarrassed, angry and worried. And they’re right to feel it didn’t have to unravel like this.
There were positives. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Jack Grealish, Hayden Hackney, Christian Norgaard, Merlin Rohl, Tyrique George and Brennan Johnson have all arrived. But those steps forward are dwarfed by the failure to equip the manager properly.
Last year, the gaps were at right-back and centre-forward. This season, Moyes must stagger on with Thierno Barry as his only recognised striker until at least January.
A European push now looks fanciful. And if it doesn’t happen, that can’t be pinned on the man in the dugout.
Fulham – 7/10
Arbeloa’s high-wire act backed in the market
Fulham’s summer can only really be judged once Alvaro Arbeloa’s new blueprint beds in. High press, high tempo, high risk. It will take time.
On paper, they’ve addressed key needs. The standout was obvious: a striker. Gonzalo García arrived from Real Madrid and has started fast, with two goals in his first three games.
Midfield has been heavily reinforced. Cesar Palacios and Manuel Angel, both Real Madrid academy products, join Shea Charles and Hugo Larsson to give Arbeloa a deeper, more flexible engine room. There’s energy, technique and variety.
The worry sits at the back. Fulham have already been exposed defensively, a natural by-product of pushing centre-backs high and full-backs even higher. That’s why Deadline Day signing David Affengruber is intriguing. His profile suits Arbeloa’s demands: defending big spaces, coping one-on-one, living on the edge.
Out wide, there’s a glaring omission. Harry Wilson and Samuel Chukwueze have gone, and no specialist winger has come in. Palacios has been used on the left, but that’s not his natural role. Some fans will look at that and wonder if it’s a risk too far.
Still, the club have recruited to fit the manager’s ideology rather than simply plugging holes. If Arbeloa can find the sweet spot between aggression and stability, Fulham have enough to steer clear of trouble.
Hull – 8/10
Eighteen signings, one clear identity
Hull wanted pace, athleticism and quality. They’ve gone out and signed 18 players to get it, six of them on Deadline Day.
Owner Acun Ilicali has been front and centre, selling the club’s ambition to prospective signings. The strategy has been patient but targeted, landing primary options on favourable terms.
The squad is deeper and younger. The club have focused on players who can grow with them, accepting the risk that comes with that in exchange for potentially huge upside.
Crucially, the core of the promotion-winning side remains. The spirit that took them up hasn’t been ripped out, just reinforced. In a brutal Premier League season ahead, that balance between continuity and upgrade could be decisive.
Ipswich – 9/10
Lessons learned, money spent, standards raised
Ipswich have been here before. Two years ago they spent around £110m to cling on to their Premier League status. It didn’t work.
This time, they’ve gone bigger and smarter. Fourteen in, 18 out, roughly £200m spent, capped by Zian Flemming’s Deadline Day arrival from Burnley. The message is unmistakable: they intend not just to survive, but to compete.
Julio Enciso comes in as a record signing. Abdul Fatawu, Emersonn and Exequiel Palacios add serious attacking threat. Sasa Lukic, Issa Diop and Florentino Luis bring Premier League experience. Daizen Maeda adds searing pace and proven work-rate.
The standout theme is depth. Ipswich haven’t just replaced; they’ve upgraded across the pitch. The squad now looks built for the grind of a full season, not just a short-term scramble.
Gary O’Neil’s task is clear: blend it quickly. The early signs have been encouraging. Now we see whether this version of Ipswich can avoid the mistakes of 2024.
Leeds – 8/10
Early business, late spark
Leeds’ Deadline Day drama will grab the headlines, but the real work was done weeks earlier.
Daniel Farke identified three key positions and got his men: Harry Wilson, Tarik Muharemovic and James Trafford. Each improves the starting XI, each raises the technical ceiling.
Depth, a major issue last season, has been addressed with Nico Elvedi, Michael Zetterer and Melvin Bard. The bench now looks like it belongs in the Premier League.
Jean-Matteo Bahoya, the last through the door, is the wildcard. Blistering pace, game-changing potential. If he hits, this window will look even better in 12 months.
Regardless, Leeds emerge with a squad that looks capable of consolidating and pushing on. The chaos of last summer feels a long way away.
Liverpool – 7/10
Youth, pace, but one big hole left unfilled
Liverpool have ticked off several priorities. But not the biggest one.
They’ve added pace out wide with Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz. With Cody Gakpo staying – he was never likely to go once moves for Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr fell through – Andoni Iraola now has four wide options, including Rio Ngumoha. Gakpo can also back up Alexander Isak centrally while Hugo Ekitike recovers.
Ronald Araujo strengthens both centre-back and right-back, vital cover with Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni injured. His style dovetails nicely with Jeremy Jacquet, whose deal was pre-arranged in the winter and who already looks a natural Liverpool centre-half.
The problem? Mohamed Salah’s position remains without a natural heir. Barcola, Gakpo, Ngumoha and Munoz can all play on the right, but none is a like-for-like.
There’s also a case that another high-level full-back and a specialist holding midfielder would have transformed this squad’s potential.
Even so, Barcola brings star power, Munoz has the mentality to thrive, and the Araujo–Jacquet axis has already clicked with supporters. Calling the window a failure would be wrong.
The average age of Liverpool’s first-team signings over the last two summers is around 22. Lucca Brughmans and Djylian N’Guessan, both 18, are already lined up for next season.
The future looks bright. The present, though, still feels one or two signings short of complete.
Manchester City – 8/10
Rodri out, Enzo in, revolution continues
On the face of it, losing Rodri – the standout player at the World Cup – to Barcelona should drag any rating down. Manchester City have refused to let it.
Just as unease was building among the fanbase, City struck twice late in the window. Enzo Fernandez arrived on Deadline Day for a club-record fee, the second time this summer they’ve broken that mark. He joins Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi in a £300m midfield that will turn heads across Europe.
Those close to the club insist the squad is stronger now than 12 months ago. Sales of Savio, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Ake and James Trafford have funded the arrivals of Iliman Ndiaye and Allan in attack.
Enzo Maresca has been handed serious tools for his tactical overhaul. Now comes the real question: is this enough to keep City at the very top of the title race?
Manchester United – 7/10
Midfield rebuilt, other fires left smouldering
Manchester United entered the summer with one clear priority: fix the midfield. They’ve done that.
Around £155m has gone on Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba. Add Kobbie Mainoo and Michael Carrick suddenly has multiple combinations to navigate a long season.
The obvious shortfall is at left-back. United didn’t get one. But they do have makeshift options: Noussair Mazraoui, who filled in there for Morocco at the World Cup, and Diogo Dalot.
The club also failed to generate the exits they had envisaged. Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte and Marcus Rashford all stayed, limiting room to strengthen other areas. That could yet work in their favour if Rashford maintains his promising early-season form. For Carrick, he might feel like a new signing.
United haven’t solved every problem. They rarely do in one window. But they have addressed the biggest one.
Newcastle – 8/10
From looming disaster to bold reset
Newcastle’s window threatened to implode early on after a couple of hijacked deals. Instead, they’ve emerged with eight signings and a squad that looks both stronger and younger.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo’s Deadline Day arrival completed the set. Of the eight, Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic, Nico Gonzalez and Fernandez-Pardo step straight into the strongest XI. Behind them, Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba, Bazoumana Toure and Ewan Jaouen represent raw, long-term bets.
The numbers are eye-catching: £262m spent, £245m recouped from the sales of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon.
The late double swoop for Gonzalez and Fernandez-Pardo, costing a combined £101m, feels like the defining moment – ambitious, aggressive, and very much in line with Newcastle’s new reality.
And all this comes with Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, signed for £110m last summer, now starting to look like fresh weapons in their own right.
A window that once looked doomed has been turned around. Now the football has to follow.
Nottingham Forest – 7.5/10
Glasner gets his profile players
Oliver Glasner’s first Forest window was never going to be about volume. It was about getting the right profiles.
He wanted a physical No 9 with room to grow. Liam Delap fits the brief. He wanted a starting wing-back. Daniel Munoz, a trusted lieutenant from previous work, has been reunited with him. Ousmane Diomande was another direct Glasner target, as was Xaver Schlager, another familiar face from Wolfsburg days.
The one miss was a young, dynamic, forward-thinking midfielder to replace Elliot Anderson. Forest did, though, get strong money from Manchester City for him.
All told, it’s a solid, coherent first window under the new boss.
Sunderland – 7/10
Late chaos, key men kept
Sunderland flirted with disaster, then got what they needed in the final hours.
They spent the entire window chasing a winger. They ended up with Malick Fofana – but only after a frantic 24-hour tug-of-war with Crystal Palace that played out at Lyon airport. Owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus had to personally intervene, increase the offer and drag the deal over the line.
After all that, Fofana has to start. So does Dayann Methalie, the other major summer signing.
The quiet triumph, though, is retention. Granit Xhaka, Brian Brobbey and Noah Sadiki all remain. For Sunderland’s ambitions, keeping that core intact matters as much as any incoming.
Tottenham – 7/10
Big money, big swings, big risks
On pure spend, Tottenham score a 10. On the quality and fit of those signings, the jury is still out. For now, they sit at a seven.
This was a window like few in recent Spurs history. They burst out of the blocks, beating Manchester United to Mateus Fernandes and landing Sandro Tonali – a name many thought beyond their reach.
Roberto De Zerbi has been allowed to reshape the squad in his image. The £50m outlay on Jan Paul van Hecke, who had just a year left on his deal, underlines that shift. This is not the cautious Spurs of old.
Defence and midfield have been addressed. The glaring issue last season, though, was the forward line. The long pursuit of Savio finally ended in success. Omar Marmoush followed, delighting fans craving attacking spark.
De Zerbi still wanted one more marquee addition. Cody Gakpo was the target, but once City entered the race, his destination was never in doubt.
Then came the twist. After a bruising defeat to Newcastle, Spurs woke to news of an agreement with Everton for Iliman Ndiaye, with Richarlison going the other way. It was the kind of move that would have lit up the fanbase. By Monday, Ndiaye had chosen City and Richarlison had publicly criticised Tottenham.
Spurs pivoted again, this time to Chelsea. Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo arrived, a remarkable piece of business between two clubs who rarely trade.
Mudryk is the gamble. He hasn’t played competitive football in nearly two years. But if De Zerbi can unlock the version that once terrified defenders, the risk could pay off handsomely. Chelsea’s insistence on a high loan-to-buy fee suggests they haven’t fully given up on him either.
Tottenham have spent big and backed their manager. The question now is whether this collection of bold calls can finally drag them from nearly-men to genuine contenders.
