There’s less than a week left of the Premier League transfer window: Which squads are bloated and which need significant bolstering?
We have consulted the clubs’ own official websites for this list, so the make-up of the squad varies. Some clubs list the kids, some don’t. Some clubs omit those who have been sidelined (Chelsea!) and other clubs include everybody who owns a shirt.
So some numbers need to be taken with a small pinch of salt. All we know is that Aston Villa are buggered, and some clubs need to start selling and loaning post-haste.
Aston Villa: 21
Ouch. That’s a thin squad. And just one name under ‘forwards’ and that’s Ollie Watkins. This is where we end up in a place where Emiliano Buendia is your first man off the bench.
Fulham: 23
They might want to think about bringing in a couple of players as this is basically last season’s squad.
Everton: 25
And four of those are goalkeepers, emphasising that there is work to be done to bring in players ahead of the deadline. Seamus Coleman should not be on a Premier League bench in big 2025.
Leeds United: 27
They’re not good at admin at Leeds, leaving out half their new signings from their official list, so we’ve added them and taken off the quartet – including Patrick Bamford – deemed unworthy of a squad number.
West Ham United: 27
And only two or three of them have any pace at all. The total sounds fine, the breakdown not so much.
Wolves: 27
Stuck together on this list just as they are stuck together at the bottom of the Premier League table. Never mind the length, check out the girth.
Newcastle United: 28
At least one of those doesn’t want to be in that first-team squad. Newcastle have wisely listed by number rather than position, which would have exposed their striker-shaped hole.
Arsenal: 28
Clearly there’s some deadwood needs shifting; it’s hard to imagine Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson or Albert Lokonga helping a Premier League club fighting for the title. And they still want more left-sided defenders. At this point it’s an addiction.
Liverpool: 28
There’s a feeling that Liverpool are lacking forwards – they list only four and one of those is Federico Chiesa – but there are surely more loans afoot for the likes of Calvin Ramsay and Stefan Bajcetic.
Manchester City: 29
Very interesting that the supposed Premier League title favourites all have similar-sized squads, almost like there’s an optimum number.
Chelsea: 29
One option to keep the numbers down is just to pretend that certain players no longer exist. In Chelsea’s case that means Axel Disasi, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Raheem Sterling and David Datro Fofana. They include Mykhaylo Mudryk, mind. Better to be both banned and sh*t, apparently.
Nottingham Forest: 30
And that’s after 11 players have left on either permanent or temporary deals. As always, Forest do a whole lot of business.
Tottenham: 30
And yet it still feels like they are desperately short, with Savinho the latest to be strongly linked. Wait a minute fellas…you still have Bryan Gil.
Bournemouth: 30
Sounds like a lot for a club stripped of three-quarters of their first-choice defence this summer, but there are a good sprinkling of kids and returning loanees on that list. Expect movement.
Manchester United: 31
No repeat of the underhand Chelsea trick here: All of Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia and Alejandro Garnacho are listed as being part of the first-team squad, presumably ready to emerge again when Ruben Amorim is inevitably sacked.
Crystal Palace: 31
See above. There’s a generous interpretation of ‘first-team squad’ being used by Palace here.
Brentford: 31
Another hefty squad which – as it stands – contains five goalkeepers. It also contains a very annoyed Yoane Wissa.
Brighton: 33
A big old squad full of players that we could not pick out of a line-up. That list includes Julio Enciso, who is rather curiously and chillingly included without a picture. A shadow of his old Chelsea-bound self.
Burnley: 34
This is what happens when you get promoted and then make 13 first-team signings. Expect a few more to follow Luca Koleosho out on loan.
Sunderland: 35
There’s no prize. Just a massive scramble to send some players out on loan this week.