Premier League clubs smashed records this summer, with spending soaring past £3 billion. But how did London’s teams shape up in the transfer window? Let’s take a look, with our assessments of each club’s summer transfer business.
Arsenal
Rating: 9/10
It has not come cheaply, but Arsenal enjoyed a very successful transfer window. The Gunners have managed to strengthen in many key areas, giving them a squad that looks much better than last season on paper. Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera provide excellent cover in the heart of defence, while the highly rated Martin Zubimendi and Premier League-proven Christian Norgaard have replaced Jorginho and Thomas Partey.
In attacking areas, Arsenal fans have been crying out for a natural number nine, and this time, they finally got their wish. The club splashed the cash to sign the prolific Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP. The other area of weakness for Arsenal coming into the summer was at left wing. To help with this, they signed Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze. The only limitation with this is that Eze is more accustomed to playing centrally, while Madueke has spent most of his time on the right. Both should be able to provide quality on the left-hand side.
As far as purchases go, it’s been a terrific window for Arsenal. The only slight disappointment is the inability to get decent fees for unwanted players. This resulted in the Gunners having a £257m net spend, which was the highest in the league.
Brentford
Rating: 4/10
Losing four regular starters from last season in Bryan Mbuemo, Yoane Wissa, Norgaard, and Mark Flekken was not Brentford’s dream scenario for the summer. That said, they managed to get excellent fees for Mbuemo and Wissa, which helped soften the blow. The Bees did not spend all the money they received, far from it. They were still relatively active in the window. Dango Ouattara was the big-money deal, and following a club-record £42.5m price tag, he represents quite a risk, but certainly an exciting one.
Getting Caoimhín Kelleher to replace Flekken seems to be a good bit of business based on what he showed at Liverpool. Triggering the buy option for Michael Kayode was also something of an obvious choice, given the performances he put in while on loan. Jordan Henderson can help fill the gap left by Norgaard, and both Reiss Nelson and Antoni Milambo add some needed attacking depth. Overall, some decent bits of business, but it is hard to say Brentford look stronger than they did last season.
Chelsea
Rating: 7/10
Despite spending nearly £300m on players, Chelsea somehow recorded a profit this transfer window thanks to their exceptional selling ability. The Blues managed to offload a lot of unwanted players for very decent fees, and this enabled them to sign plenty of young talent. How many of these young stars make an immediate improvement to the starting eleven, though?
Joao Pedro and Estevao both look like excellent signatures, and there are other names like Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap, and Jorrel Hato that may (or may not) prove to be good bits of business. None of them provides clear upgrades on existing options, though. Mind you, the issue is not really with who Chelsea signed, but who they didn’t. The Blues really would have benefited from an experienced central defender and an upgrade on Robert Sanchez in goal. Buying young players may be great for turning a profit, but the Blues’ lack of experience could harm them.
Crystal Palace
Rating: 5/10
Not the best window for Palace, who bid farewell to fan favourite Eze and managed to annoy captain Marc Guehi by cancelling his Liverpool transfer at the very last second. Palace’s failure to sign another centre back led to this deadline drama and made them look a little foolish. They were, however, able to fill the attacking void left by Eze as the Eagles swooped in for La Liga stars Christantus Uche and Yeremy Pino. Whether either will be a Premier League hit remains to be seen, but the pair appear to have plenty of talent.
Elsewhere, Palace added depth at left back, in goal and in the centre of defence, but none of Jaydee Canvot, Borna Sosa or Walter Benitez are expected to have a starring role this season. Based on this, it is hard to see huge improvements from Palace this year.
Fulham
Rating: 5/10
It looked as though Fulham were going to go the entire window having spent just £500k on a reserve goalkeeper, much to the frustration of boss Marco Silva. A busy deadline day changed matters, though, with the Londoners signing three players. Club-record signing Kevin was the headline act while Samuel Chukwueze and Jonah Kusi-Asare both joined on loan. There is some hope that Brazilian winger Kevin and Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze can make an impact, but it is best to limit expectations for Jonah Kusi-Asare, given his extremely limited senior experience.
A couple of exciting signings do not make for a terrible window, but moving so late is not to Fulham’s benefit. Additionally, they would have benefited from bringing in a central player following the departure of Andreas Pereira.
Tottenham Hotspur
Rating:8/10
Given the highly publicised failed attempts to sign Morgan Gibbs-White and Eze, it would be easy to think it was not a great window for Spurs. However, despite the setbacks, the north Londoners added real quality options to areas that needed them. Palhinha and Kudus have already made positive starts, while Xavi Simons is a hugely exciting prospect who helps fill the void left by the injured James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.
The deadline day deal for Randal Kolo Muani also provides backup in attack, which will be especially useful if Dominic Solanke’s injury requires surgery. What stops the window from being a 10 is the failure to sign a backup central defender and a quality left-winger. Although the club is not short on players who can play left-wing, there are no standout candidates.
West Ham United
Rating: 5/10
Having finished 14th last season with just 43 points, West Ham needed to improve their squad over the summer. To an extent, they have done this, but the Hammers’ faithful would have preferred to see more activity. Focussing on the positives, Mateus Fernandes looks to be an excellent acquisition, while El Hadji Malick Diouf has shown real promise at left back. Additionally, the club managed to offload a lot of deadwood, which has helped significantly with the wage bill.
The jury is still out on Soungoutou Magassa, who is yet to make his debut, while goalkeeper Mads Hermansen has not enjoyed the most convincing start at his new club. In an ideal world, West Ham would have signed a top centre back, rather than getting an unwanted loanee from Brighton, as well as a young striker. Callum Wilson is a decent pick-up on a free transfer, but he and Fullkrug combine to form an injury-prone and ageing front line.