Every Premier League club's transfer window - ranked
By Sean Walsh
The summer transfer window is the most chaotic time in the football calendar, particularly in a modern age of social media and a 'war on truth'.
Thankfully, the European window (in most part) closed on Thursday and everyone can now relax and begin the second-most chaotic period - reviewing the summer transfer window.
It's time for 90min's annual summer window rankings for Premier League clubs (and it's your regular reminder from me that if you disagree with any positions or verdicts, then I'm sorry you feel that way).
In addition to simply ins and outs, spend and net spend, the following factors are also considered:
- Did the team lose, gain or keep any key players?
- Do they look stronger than they did last season?
- Did glaring issues in the team get fixed?
- Did they ultimately do enough to help them achieve their goals for the new season?
Let's get into it.
20. Leicester City
Notable ins: Alex Smithies, Wout Faes
Notable outs: Kasper Schmeichel, Wesley Fofana
You know what's a great sign of a transfer window? The club chairman admitting Financial Fair Play is an issue and the manager publicly bemoaning this.
19. Bournemouth
Notable ins: Ryan Fredericks, Joe Rothwell, Marcus Tavernier, Neto, Marcos Senesi, Jack Stephens (loan)
Notable outs: Gary Cahill, Robbie Brady
Unfortunately for Bournemouth, their squad still contains a lot of the rubbish that contributed to their relegation three seasons ago. They didn't do too much for their chances of survival with their summer activity.
18. Aston Villa
Notable ins: Philippe Coutinho, Diego Carlos, Robin Olsen, Boubacar Kamara, Ludwig Augustinsson (loan), Leander Dendoncker, Jan Bednarek (loan)
Notable outs: Matt Targett, Carney Chukwuemeka, Bertrand Traore (loan), Keinan Davis (loan), Trezeguet, Anwar El Ghazi
Aston Villa's squad remains a bloated mess. What the hell is signing Leander Dendoncker and Jan Bednarek on deadline day going to do to solve that?
17. Brighton & Hove Albion
Notable ins: Julio Enciso, Levi Colwill (loan), Pervis Estupinan, Billy Gilmour
Notable outs: Yves Bissouma, Marc Cucurella, Neal Maupay
Graham Potter is doing a terrific job down on the south coast. Brighton just lost three key players and are still in the form of their lives. Imagine if they signed a decent striker (Deniz Undav doesn't count).
16. Liverpool
Notable ins: Darwin Nunez, Calvin Ramsay, Fabio Carvalho, Arthur Melo (loan)
Notable outs: Sadio Mane, Divock Origi, Takumi Minamino, Neco Williams
Ah, our first big example of looking at a team for more than just their ins and outs.
The loss of Sadio Mane is already being felt, though obviously Darwin Nunez could become a top striker. However, with Manchester City losing so many rotation options, this felt like a chance for Liverpool to close that gap once and for all. Instead, they dawdled, admitted they were wrong to dawdle, and panic-loaned Arthur Melo.
15. Everton
Notable ins: James Tarkowski, Dwight McNeil, Ruben Vinagre (loan), Conor Coady (loan), Amadou Onana, Neal Maupay, James Garner, Idrissa Gueye
Notable outs: Richarlison, Dele Alli, Fabian Delph, Jonjoe Kenny
On paper, Everton have made several good signings to help their chances of survival, while they also kept hold of Anthony Gordon. But the loss of Richarlison is hard to understate - if Dominic Calvert-Lewin isn't fit, there's an alarming shortage of goals in their squad.
14. Leeds United
Notable ins: Brenden Aaronson, Rasmun Kristensen, Marc Roca, Darko Gyabi, Tyler Adams, Luis Sinisterra, Joel Robles, Wilfried Gnonto
Notable outs: Kalvin Phillips, Raphinha, Dan James (loan)
Like Everton, Leeds have actually done some decent business, but you can't ignore the loss of two top players in Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha. Sorry, Whites fans, nothing personal.
13. Nottingham Forest
Notable ins: I haven't got all day
Notable outs: You know what, just click this link instead
We don't need to spend too long on this, everyone knows both sides of Forest's busy summer argument by now - it will be hard for a lot of new players to gel, but they needed to replace those who left. At least they brought in some top-flight pedigree.
12. Crystal Palace
Notable ins: Malcolm Ebiowei, Sam Johnstone, Cheick Doucoure, Chris Richards
Notable outs: Cheikhou Kouyate, Christian Benteke
Keeping the likes of Michael Olise, Ebere Eze and Wilfried Zaha (which at least gives them a shot of keeping him in the long run) was huge for Palace, who have made some savvy additions and could push for that coveted Europa Conference League place if they can maintain last season's trajectory.
11. Fulham
Notable ins: Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira, Kevin Mbabu, Bernd Leno, Issa Diop, Manor Solomon (loan), Shane Duffy (loan), Layvin Kurzawa (loan), Willian, Carlos Vinicius, Dan James (loan)
Notable outs: Fabio Carvalho, Cyrus Christie, Michael Hector, Jean Michael Seri, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Joe Bryan (loan)
Marco Silva was critical of Fulham's summer business on the eve of their Premier League return, but now they have the quality and bodies to keep their fast start going. Keeping Aleksandar Mitrovic is also massive.
10. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Notable ins: Nathan Collins, Goncalo Guedes, Matheus Nunes, Sasa Kalajdzic, Boubacar Traore (loan)
Notable outs: Marcal, Romain Saiss, Conor Coady (loan), Ruben Vinagre (loan), Morgan Gibbs-White, Willy Boly, Leander Dendoncker
Wolves' rather underrated summer saw them clear out a lot of deadwood, bring in promising talents like Nathan Collins, Matheus Nunes and Sasa Kalajdzic and resist the urge to sell Ruben Neves. A job well done at Molineux.
9. Brentford
Notable ins: Aaron Hickey, Keane Lewis-Potter, Thomas Strakosha, Ben Mee, Mikkel Damsgaard
Notable outs: Christian Eriksen, Dom Thompson, Marcus Forss, Mads Bidstrup (loan), Mads Bech Sorensen (loan), Fin Stevens (loan)
Christian Eriksen's departure was tipped to doom Brentford's hopes of beating second-season syndrome, but they've recruited excellently to bring in three of their top targets - Aaron Hickey, Keane Lewis-Potter and Mikkel Damsgaard - while the likes of Ivan Toney and David Raya weren't even touted to leave.
8. Manchester United
Notable ins: Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony, Martin Dubravka (loan)
Notable outs: Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, James Garner
A couple of weeks ago, Man Utd's summer looked to be heading down the pan with Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot eyed to fix their early-season woes.
In the end, they landed Casemiro and Antony to round off a pretty solid window. Frenkie de Jong's addition would have had them much higher on this list, alas.
7. Newcastle United
Notable ins: Matt Targett, Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak
Notable outs: Martin Dubravka (loan)
A largely quiet window from Newcastle, despite Eddie Howe's insistence that they have been done no favours by other Premier League clubs following their takeover by PIF (boo hoo, I'm playing the world's smallest violin for you, Edward). However, the late signing of Alexander Isak means they strengthened hugely in three core positions - a big deal after last season's turnaround.
6. Tottenham Hotspur
Notable ins: Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Clement Lenglet (loan), Richarlison, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie
Notable outs: Steven Bergwijn, Joe Rodon (loan), Giovani Lo Celso (loan), Tanguy Ndombele (loan), Destiny Udogie (loan), Sergio Reguilon (loan), Harry Winks (loan)
Some of the shine has come off Tottenham's window due to no late incomings, but Antonio Conte's squad is now more competitive than it was last season and they have a wider array of rotation options.
5. Chelsea
Notable ins: Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Cesare Casadei, Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Denis Zakaria (loan)
Notable outs: Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Emerson Palmieri, Ross Barkley, Marcos Alonso, Billy Gilmour
Chelsea's summer - the most expensive in football history - looks great on paper, signing a lot of players who improve the team and fit Thomas Tuchel's vision.
And yet the consensus is they still won't finish as high in the table as they did last season. That's tough.
4. Southampton
Notable ins: Gavin Bazunu, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Romeo Lavia, Joe Aribo, Sekou Mara, Duje Caleta-Car, Samuel Edozie, Juan Larios, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (loan)
Notable outs: Oriol Romeu, Yan Valery, Fraser Forster, Shane Long, Jan Bednarek (loan)
A proper Football Manager-style window from Southampton, who have seemingly rediscovered their mojo after a few years in the transfer wilderness.
3. West Ham United
Notable ins: Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola, Flynn Downes, Gianluca Scamacca, Maxwel Cornet, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri, Lucas Paqueta
Notable outs: Ryan Fredericks, Mark Noble, Andriy Yarmolenko, Issa Diop
West Ham's thin squad eventually told at the back-end of last season, but the Irons have recruited at a level which has us questioning is this really the same team that has acquired so many duds in recent years. David Moyes' side now look strong enough - on paper at least - to compete on domestic and European fronts for the entire campaign.
Oh, and Declan Rice is still there.
2. Manchester City
Notable ins: Erling Haaland, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, Manuel Akanji
Notable outs: Gavin Bazunu, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling, Romeo Lavia, Darko Gyabi, Samuel Edozie, Juan Larios
Winning the Erling Haaland sweepstakes meant that Manchester City were always going to grab a podium finish on this list.
Our main concern for them is that they have sold a lot of their depth, and if Haaland's injuries return, they could be in a bit of bother.
1. Arsenal
Notable ins: Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Notable outs: Alexandre Lacazette, Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, Hector Bellerin, Nuno Tavares (loan), Pablo Mari (loan), Nicolas Pepe (loan) Ainsley Maitland-Niles (loan)
Have Arsenal brought in major improvements in key positions? Yes.
Have they kept hold of their current stars despite interest from bigger teams? Yes.
Have they welcomed back a young player from a fruitful loan spell who's ready to become a core member of the side? Yes.
Are they in a better position than they were last season? Yes.
Are they well-equipped enough to reach their goals and objectives? Yes.
Arsenal are your winners of the 2022 summer transfer window. Enjoy the curse of the winners always underperforming.