Over the course of the summer, Premier League clubs spent a record £2.37bn on new signings.
Some of that money was spent exceptional well, some wasn’t…to say the least.
Following the transfer window finally slamming shut for another few months, 90min decided to rank every Premier League club’s summer 2023 business.
In: Alex Iwobi (Everton, permanent), Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan, loan), Raul Jimenez (Wolves, permanent), Calvin Bassey (Ajax, permanent), Adama Traore (Wolves, permanent), Steven Benda (Swansea, permanent), Timothy Castagne (Leicester, permanent)
Out: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal, permanent), Kevin Mbabu (FC Augsburg, loan), Shane Duffy (Norwich, permanent), Joe Bryan (Milwall, permanent), Paulo Gazzaniga (Girona, permanent)
The good news for Fulham fans is that Joao Palhinha was not sold on deadline day.
The bad news is that their star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was sold and replaced by two players who combined for grand total of nine goals in the last two Premier League seasons.
That is not good. At all.
In: Boubacar Troare (Metz, permanent), Matt Doherty (Atletico Madrid, permenant), Tom King (Northampton, permanent), Enso Gonzalez (Libertad, permanent), Santiago Bueno (Girona, permanent), Tommy Doyle (Man City, loan), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Strasbourg, permanent)
Out: Matheus Nunes (Man City, permanent), Goncalo Guedes (Benfica, loan), Ryan Giles (Luton Town, permanent), Conor Coady (Leicester, permanent), Nathan Collins (Brentford, permanent), Raul Jimenez (Fulham, permanent), Ruben Neves (Al Hilal, permanent), Adama Traore (Fulham, permanent)
The big question to ask at the end of every transfer window is: are [team] better now than they were before the window?
The answer to that question in Wolves case is a big NO. NO, THEY ARE NOW MUCH WORSE.
In: Ashley Young (Aston Villa, permanent), Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal, loan), Youssef Chermiti (Sporting CP, permanent), Jack Harrison (Leeds, loan), Beto (Udinese, permanent)
Out: Alex Iwobi (Fulham, permanent), Mason Holgate (Southampton, loan), Tom Davies (Sheffield United, permanent), Neal Maupay (Brentford, loan)
It’s fair to say that the summer transfer window was a struggle for Everton.
Basically every single target they started off the summer with turned them down, but they did end up with some players coming through the door.
Are said players good enough to keep the Toffees up? Well…probably not.
In: Tedem Mengi (Man Utd, permanent), Ross Barkley (Nice, permanent), Ryan Giles (Wolves, permanent), Tahith Chong (Birmingham, permanent), Mads Andersen (Barnsley, permanent), Marvelous Nakamba (Aston Villa, permanent), Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham, permanent), Issa Kabore (Man City, loan), Thomas Kaminski (Blackburn, permanent), Jacob Brown (Stoke, permanent), Tim Krul (Norwich, permanent), Albert Sambi Lokonga (Arsenal, loan)
Out: Carlos Mendes Gomes (Bolton, permanent), Sonny Bradley (Derby, permanent), Harry Isted (Charlton, permanent), Elliot Thorpe (Shrewsbury, loan), Fred Onyedinma (Rotherham, loan), John McAtee (Barnsley, loan)
Luton Town have built themselves a much better team than they had last season, but ultimately one that still isn’t good enough to avoid Premier League relegation.
Still, expect Luton to be a bloody brilliant Championship team in 2024/25 with this squad.
In: Cameron Archer (Aston Villa, permanent), Auston Trusty (Arsenal, permanent), Anis Ben Slimane (Brondby, permanent), Benie Traore (BK Hacken, permanent), Yasser Larouci (Troyes, loan), Vinicius Souza (Lommel, permanent), Gustavo Hamer (Coventry, permanent), Tom Davies (Everton, permanent), Luke Thomas (Leicester, loan), James McAtee (Man City, loan)
Out: Enda Stevens (Stoke, permanent), Billy Sharp (LA Galaxy, permanent), Sander Berge (Burnley, permanent), Illiman Ndiaye (Marseille, permanent)
Ndiaye and Berge leaving was a huge blow to Sheffield United heading into their first season back in the Premier League, however the signing of Archer has helped soften that blow a bit.
Much like Luton, the Blades have built themselves a team who will be brilliant in the Championship next season.
In: Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth, permanent), Matheus Franca (Flamengo, permanent), Dean Henderson (Man Utd, permanent), Rob Holding (Arsenal, permanent)
Out: Jack Butland (Rangers, permanent), Wilfried Zaha (Galatasaray, permanent)
Crystal Palace added some decent Premier League quality to their team over the summer, but the main they were able to do was keep hold of Michael Olise.
Olise signing a new deal despite interest from Chelsea will ultimately go down as Palace’s best move of the summer.
In: Nathan Collins (Wolves, permanent), Romeo Beckham (Inter Miami, permanent), Mark Flekken (Freiburg, permanent), Kevin Schade (Freiburg, permanent), Neal Maupay (Everton, loan)
Out: David Raya (Arsenal, loan), Mads Bidstrup (RB Salzburg, permanent), Halil Dervisoglu (Galatasaray, permanent), Sergi Canos (Valencia, permanent), Mads Bech Sorensen (FC Midtjylland, permanent)
Letting David Raya leave on loan seemed an odd move, but Brentford replaced their former number one with an equally excellent goalkeeper in Mark Flekken.
The permanent signing of Kevin Schade also looks set to be a shrewd one by the Bees.
The less said about the Neal Maupay signing on the loan the better though…
In: Axel Disasi (Monaco, permanent), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal, permanent), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, permanent), Kendry Paez (Independiente del Valle, permanent), Robert Sanchez (Brighton, permanent), Moises Caicedo (Brighton, permanent), Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes, permanent), Angelo Gabriel (Santos, permanent), Romeo Lavia (Southampton, permanent), Deivid Washington (Santos, permanent), Djorde Petrovic (New England Revolution, permanent), Diego Moreira (Benfica, permanent)
Out: Kai Havertz (Arsenal, permanent), Mateo Kovacic (Man City, permanent), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan, permanent), Mason Mount (Man Utd, permanent), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, permanent), Lewis Hall (Newcastle, loan), Romelu Lukaku (Roma, loan), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest, permanent), Ethan Ampadu (Leeds, permanent), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal, permanent), Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli, permanent), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Marseille, permanent), N’Golo Kante (Al Ittihad, permanent), Baba Rahman (PAOK, permanent), David Datro Fofana (Union Berlin, loan), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Real Madrid, loan), Cesare Casadei (Leicester, loan), Angelo Gabriel (Strasbourg, loan), Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray, loan), Andrey Santos (Nottingham Forest, loan), Diego Moreira (Lyon, loan)
It’s fair to say that Chelsea were busy during the summer transfer window.
The Blues spent an astonishing £400m on new arrivals, broke the British transfer record with the signing of Moises Caicedo for £115m and, in total, signed 16 new players.
And despite all of that spending, they still don’t have a top quality goalkeeper or striker.
Make it make sense.
In: Han-Noah Massengo (Bristol, permanent), Hannes Delcroix (Anderlecht, permanent), James Trafford (Man City, permanent), Zeki Amdouni (Basel, permanent), Jordan Beyer (Borussia Monchengladbach, permanent), Luca Koleosho (Espanyol, permanent), Michael Obafemi (Swansea, permanent), Dara O’Shea (West Brom, permanent), Nathan Redmond (Besiktas, permanent), Jacob Bruun Larsen (Hoffenheim, loan), Sander Berge (Sheffield United, permanent), Wilson Odobert (Troyes, permanent), Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa, permanent), Logan Pye (Man Utd, permanent), Mike Tresor (Genk, loan)
Out: Ashley Barnes (Norwich, permanet), Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Aarhus, loan), Luka McNally (Stoke, loan), Wout Weghorst (Hoffenheim, loan)
Burnley have been bitterly disappointing so far this season, largely struggling to both score goals and stop conceding them, leaking a league-high 11.
They’ve managed to make it to the mid-table of these rankings however thanks to one particular transfer window coup: Mike Tresor.
Last season’s Belgian Pro League player of the year has joined on loan from Genk and is coming off the back of a 23-assist campaign. He’s a serious player.
In: Harvey Barnes (Leicester, permanent), Sandro Tonali (AC Milan, permanent), Yankuba Minteh (Odense Boldklub, permanent), Tino Livramento (Southampton, permanent), Lewis Hall (Chelsea, loan), Cathal Heffernan (AC Milan, permanent)
Out: Allan Saint-Maximin (Al Ahli, permanent), Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest, permanent), Ryan Fraser (Southampton, loan), Jamal Lewsi (Watford, loan), Karl Darlow (Leeds, permanent), Jeff Hendrick (Sheffield Wednesday, loan)
After qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 20 years, and with an infinite amount of money in the bank thanks to PIF, we were expecting slightly more business from Newcastle in the summer.
Sure, Sandro Tonali, Tino Livaramento and Harvey Barnes are big acquisitions, but judging by the first weeks of the season they don’t seem to be enough for the Magpies to make the next step from top four team to title challengers.
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In: Pau Torres (Villarreal, permanent), Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen, permanent), Rico Richards (West Brom, permanent), Youri Tielemans (Leicester, permanent), Nicolo Zaniolo (Galatasaray, loan), Clement Lenglet (Barcelona, loan)
Out: Cameron Archer (Sheffield United, permanent), Aaron Ramsey (Burnley, permanent), Marvelous Nakamba (Luton, permanent), Ashley Young (Everton, permanent), Morgan Sanson (Nice, loan), Wesley Moraes (Stoke, permanent), Keinan Davis (Udinese, permanent)
A lot of Aston Villa’s business over the summer was dictated by devastating injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia – players they’ve replaced with Clement Lenglet and Nicolo Zaniolo respectively.
While both of these signings could work out well, the undoubted centrepiece of their transfer window was Moussa Diaby. The wide forward has made an instant impact at Villa Park.
In: Alex Scott (Bristol City, permanent), Max Aarons (Norwich City, permanent), Romain Faivre (Lyon, permanent), Justin Kluivert (Roma, permanent), Hamed Traore (Sassuolo, permanent), Milos Kerkez (AZ, permanent), Ionut Radu (Inter, loan), Tyler Adams (Leeds, permanent), Luis Sinisterra (loan)
Out: Siriki Dembele (Birmingham, permanent), Ben Pearson (Stoke, permanent), Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace, permanent), Jack Stacey (Norwich, permanent), Romain Faivre (Lorient, loan), Mark Travers (Stoke, loan), Jaidon Anthony (Leeds, loan)
There were two major coups for Bournemouth over the summer: Alex Scott and Tyler Adams.
While neither have been fit to feature yet, when they do they’ll make a huge impact in this Cherries side.
In: David Raya (Brentford, loan), Kai Havertz (Chelsea, permanent), Declan Rice (West Ham, permanent), Jurrien Timber (Ajax, permanent)
Out: Folarin Balogu (Monaco, permanent), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad, loan), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest, permanent), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen, permanent), Marquinhos (Nantes, loan), Nuno Tavares (Nottingham Forest, loan), Albert Sambi Lokonga (Luton, loan), Rob Holding (Crystal Palace, permanent)
This time last month, Arsenal would probably have been top of this list.
But since then, Jurrien Timber has suffered a devastating injury and Kai Havertz has looked devastatingly bad at football, so the Gunners have dropped all the way down to eighth place.
The Declan Rice signing, as we seen over the weekend in the win over Manchester United, is a fantastic one though. The midfielder has the potential to become an all-time Arsenal great.
In: Mason Mount (Chelsea, permanent), Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina, loan), Andre Onana (Inter, permanent), Jonny Evans (Leicester, permanent), Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta, permanent), Altay Bayindir (Fenerbahce, permanent), Sergio Reguilon (Tottenham, loan)
Out: Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest, permanent), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace, permanent), Zidane Iqbal (Utrecht, permanent), Charlie Savage (Reading, permanent), Alex Telles (Al Nassr, permanent), David de Gea (released), Phil Jones (released), Axel Tuanzebe (released), Fred (Fenerbahce, permanent), Brandon Williams (Ipswich, loan), Tedem Mengi (Luton, permanent), Mason Greenwood (Getafe, loan), Logan Pye (Burnley, permanent), Alvaro Fernandez (Granada, loan)
Manchester United as dysfunctional as ever throughout the summer transfer window, and yet, somehow, they managed to get pretty much everything they wanted.
The Red Devils secured a world class ball-playing goalkeeper, Erik ten Hag’s favoured midfield targets in Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat, a talented young striker in Rasmus Hojlund and some cover at full-back and in goal.
They got there in the end…somehow.
In: Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich, permanent), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton, permanent), Dominik Szobozslai (RB Leipzig, permanent), Wataru Endo (Stuttgart, permanent)
Out: Jordan Henderson (Al Ettifaq, permanent), Fabinho (Al Ittihad, permanent), Roberto Firmino (Al Ahli, permanent), Naby Keita (Werder Bremen, permanent), James Milner (Brighton, permanent), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Besiktas, permanent), Fabio Carvalho (RB Leipzig, loan), Calvin Ramsay (Preston, loan), Tyler Morton (Hull, loan)
If you’ve watched any Liverpool games in recent weeks, you’ll know that their worthy of being high up on this for the strength of the Dominik Szoboszlai signing alone.
The guy is ridiculous.
In: Carlos Baleba (Lille, permanent), Bart Verbruggen (Anderlecht, permanent), Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund, permanent), Igor Julio (Fiorentina, permanent), Joao Pedro (Watford, permanent), James Milner (Liverpool, permanent), Ansu Fati (Barcelona, permanent)
Out: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool, permanent), Robert Sanchez (Chelsea, permanent), Moises Caicedo (Chelsea, permanent)
Judging by his first few games of the season, the kings of the transfer market look to have fleeced Chelsea by getting a British record fee for Moises Caicedo – a player they spent £4.5m on previously.
While they also sold star man Alexis Mac Allister, Brighton have added some real quality in depth to their squad over the summer, including the big loan signing of Ansu Fati from Barcelona.
In: Andrew Omobamidele (Norwich, permanent), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven, permanent), Divock Origi (AC Milan, loan), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla, loan), Anthony Elanga (Man Utd, permanent), Chris Wood (Newcastle, permanent), Ola Aina (Torino, permenant), Matt Turner (Arsenal, permanent), Andrey Santos (Chelsea, loan), Murrilo (Corinthians, permanent), Nuno Taveres (Arsenal, loan), Nicolas Dominguez (Bologna, permanent), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea, permanent), Odysseas Vlachodimos (Benfica, permanent)
Out: Andre Ayew (released), Jack Colback (QPR, permanent), Jesse Lingard (released), Remo Freuler (Bologna, loan), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham, permanent)
Trust Nottingham Forest to go out and sign a billion players again.
This time, to be fair to them, they’ve made some very shrewd acquisitions including Anthony Elanga and highly-rated midfield duo Andrey Santos and Ibrahim Sangare.
In: Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus, permanent), James Maddison (Leicester, permanent), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli, permanent), Manor Solomon (Shakhtar Donetsk, permanent), Ashley Phillips (Blackburn, permanent), Pedro Porro (Sporting CP, permanent), Micky van de Ven (Wolfsburg, permanent), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham, permanent)
Out: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, permanent), Harry Winks (Leicester, permanent), Lucas Moura (released), Joe Rodon (Leeds, loan), Djed Spence (Leeds, loan), Sergio Reguilon (Man Utd, loan), Japhet Tanganga (Augsburg, loan)
Yes, despite selling literally their greatest player of all time, Tottenham Hotspur are number three on this list.
That’s how good the likes of James Maddison and co. have looked since joining the club this summer.
In: Jeremy Doku (Rennes, permanent), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig, permanent), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea, permanent), Matheus Nunes (Wolves, permanent)
Out: Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli, permanent), Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr, permanent), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona, loan), Shea Charles (Southampton, permanent), James Trafford (Burnley, permanent), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona, permanent), Benjamin Mendy (Lorient, permanent), Carlos Borges (Ajax, permanent), Cole Palmer (Chelsea, permanent)
After winning the treble, Manchester City have seen a number of key individuals like Riyard Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan leave the club, but have managed to replace them with quality players.
Jeremy Doku is a particularly fun signing.
In: Mohammed Kudus (Ajax, permanent), Edson Alvarez (Ajax, permanent), James Ward Prowse (Southampton, permanent), Konstantinos Mavropanos (Stuttgart, permanent)
Out: Declan Rice (Arsenal, permanent), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta, permanent), Athur Masuaku (Besiktas, permanent), Manuel Lanzini (River Plate, permanent), Flynn Downes (Southampton, loan), Nikola Vlasic (Torino, permanent)
Hands up who thought that, after selling Declan Rice, West Ham would end up being a better football team?
Put your hands down, no one did.
And yet, here we are heading into the international break and West Ham are sitting joint second in the table having bagged 10 points from their first four games of the season.
Edson Alvarez looks like a world beater, James Ward Prowse is the best set-piece taker in the Premier League and Mohammed Kudus will add an X-factor the Hammers XI that they simply haven’t had before.
Brilliant business all round.
