The 2025 summer transfer window officially came and went, and the Premier League bossed every other league in European football with numerous record deals and blockbuster transfers, proving that there is indeed a growing gulf between the English top flight and all other leagues.
All the spending and blockbuster transfers promise to make an already highly competitive Premier League even more intriguing in the 2025/26 season, and now that the dust has finally settled, it’s time to grade all of the biggest transfers of the window.
All prices are provided in euros and courtesy of Transfermarkt so that the ranking and comparison of fees can be consistent.
10. Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal, 65.8M
Arsenal had to snag a new striker this summer transfer window by any means necessary, and while they did get the cheaper option than any of Newcastle, Manchester United, or Liverpool, they still paid a fair bit of money for a footballer who is 27 and won’t have any resale value at the end of his new contract.
But Gyokeres did beat out all the other strikers in terms of goals scored last season with 38, and if there are concerns about his goal-scoring record translating to the Premier League, he did at least allay some of them by putting a hat trick past Manchester City in the Champions League last season.
Gyokeres is a little bit better all-around than he gets credit for, but, then again, Arsenal are looking for a deadly finisher and super athlete. Even if Gyokeres flops, it was better for Arsenal to take this risk than sign nobody at all, given how they’ve come in second three years running.
Grade: B
9. Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, 69.3M
Meanwhile, Eberechi Eze is in the same boat as Gyokeres in being closer to the age of 30 and having no resale value at the end of his contract, and while signing him did prevent North London rivals Tottenham from landing the FA Cup winner, Spurs did get a young and better (and cheaper) player in Xavi Simons in the end.
Eze is a good player, but there’s no way he’s worth around 70 million euros as an attacking midfielder who can play on the left wing but may not be significantly better than Leandro Trossard in terms of output at the position.
Best in tighter areas and not really a speed burner outside, Eze isn’t a sure-fire starter for Arsenal, and yet the Gunners splurged more than only eight other players – including another one of their own – in the Premier League this season.
Grade: D
8. Martin Zubimendi to Arsenal, 70M
Look, 70 million euros for a defensive midfielder is a lot of money and seems like overpay to the average fan, because No. 6’s who don’t even rack up statistics or even very much in the advanced stats columns aren’t going to get talked about very much.
Martin Zubimendi didn’t help his case either by flopping miserably in the face of Ryan Gravenberch in his first real test in an Arsenal shirt against reigning champions Liverpool, so to say that the Spanish international is a slam-dunk great signing for the Gunners would be a bit extreme.
However, Zubimendi was the best No. 6 available on the transfer market, and even Liverpool were after him, along with the dominant La Liga duo of Barcelona and Real Madrid, and they’ve seen the former Real Sociedad star up close and personal for years.
Zubimendi is a great anchoring midfielder who has a chance to be a special player, and he fits exactly what Mikel Arteta is looking for. They couldn’t have signed a better player or any other world-class defensive midfielder for cheaper.
Grade: B
7. Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, 74.2M
Matheus Cunha is next on a rather sizeable list of players older than 25 to go for more than 60 million euros this summer transfer window, but at least he has an established track record of success in the Premier League.
He pretty much carried Wolves to safety last season, and without him, the Premier League side are putrid. Cunha has the magic in his boots to score or assist from any possible situation, and that alone was worth the price tag for a hapless Manchester United side that wasn’t exactly far off from Wolves last season themselves.
Cunha is a gamble of a signing, but if you are desperate like Manchester United are, it’s actually worth it to go for someone with game-changing ability and a track record of back-to-back seasons with at least 19 goal contributions in the Premier League.
Grade: B-
6. Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United, 75M
Right winger Bryan Mbeumo scored 20 goals with 7 assists for Brentford last season as arguably the biggest breakout star in the Premier League, and the early returns on his signing are arguably more impressive than anyone else on the list.
Manchester United would not have been competitive in any of their three games without Mbeumo, who was the literal Man of the Match in their first win of the campaign against Burnley.
Mbeumo is a rare athlete and has plenty of end product to boot. The 25-year-old could be one of the most valuable players in the Premier League this season and is a monster of a player.
Grade: B+
5. Benjamin Sesko to Manchester United, 76.5M
Manchester United’s new No. 9, Benjamin Sesko offers far more upside than his predecessors and is actually the profile the Red Devils should have been targeting all along with his size, athleticism, and clinical ability.
Sesko hasn’t gotten off to the best start, but the goal threat is clearly there and the signs are there, too. The 22-year-old is getting into the right positions, and he has more future upside than other similarly priced players on this list.
Although Sesko wasn’t the most consistent striker for RB Leipzig and was actually the backup to Lois Openda for that reason, there’s more than enough quality in him to believe that he can be the solution for Manchester United. At the very least, we can say he’s worth gambling on.
Grade: B
4. Nick Woltemade to Newcastle, 85M
Nick Woltemade is the Alexander Isak replacement, and while the former Bundesliga sensation has an intriguing all-around profile with the ability to drop off deeper and pair well with Premier League veteran striker Yoane Wissa whom the Magpies also signed, 85 million euros is a steep price.
When actually objectively evaluating his performances, Woltemade wasn’t convincingly better than teammates Chris Fuhrich, Deniz Undav, and Jamie Leweling when comparing everyone’s body of work over the last couple of seasons, so this is a massive gamble.
No other team thought that Woltemade was worth signing for more money than Sesko or Gyokeres, and he certainly wasn’t as impressive as Hugo Ekitike last season. Newcastle had to sign someone young and exciting with upside to replace Alexander Isak, but this was a price too hefty.
Grade: C
3. Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool, 95M
With three goal contributions in his first three games and excellent all-around quality, new Liverpool striker/left winger Hugo Ekitike looks like another ace addition to the best team in the Premier League.
Liverpool can utilize Ekitike in multiple different looks, and he has the work rate and creativity to offer more than just goals with significantly better finishing than his predecessor, Darwin Nunez.
Ekitike was one of France’s biggest phenoms at Reims before cooling off with a poorly-timed move to Paris, but his career is fully back on track now and could not be in a better position than it is at Anfield.
Grade: B+
2. Florian Wirtz to Liverpool, 125M
There is always huge risk when signing a player for this much money, and while everyone knew Florian Wirtz would go for 120-150 million euros this summer after winning multiple Bundesliga Player of the Season awards at Bayer Leverkusen, the price tag still carries plenty of pressure.
But with the way this U23 talent has carried himself as a veteran leader at Leverkusen for years, you’d back him more than anyone else to carry the weight of that transfer fee well.
Wirtz is going to have a tough adjustment period to the Premier League and the shifting parts at Anfield, but with his work rate and technical ability, the main requisite ingredients are there.
The German sensation will steadily improve, and if he can lead Leverkusen, of all teams, to an undefeated season and Bundesliga title win to break up Bayern Munich’s hegemony, then succeeding in the Premier League with the Liverpool juggernaut isn’t actually as hard as some people will say that it is.
1. Alexander Isak to Liverpool, 144M
Likewise, Alexander Isak will have to deal with more than his fair share of critics who would like to see him fail at Anfield on his superteam, especially because of the way he left Newcastle.
But Isak’s brazeness was ultimately proven correct in juxtaposition to a Premier League veteran who did all the right things, played nice for a transfer to Liverpool, and still got screwed over by his current club, Crystal Palace. That player would be Marc Guehi.
So nobody at Liverpool, at least, will hold Isak to any kind of unfair standard or be wary of him for his decision. Isak was the best striker in the Premier League last season, and to try and build a team capable of winning the treble, and not only the Premier League, the Reds wanted a striker who can match Erling Haaland’s goal record while being versatile enough to combine with other goal-scoring forwards.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2011. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has contributed to sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. Joe’s work has appeared in ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling, respectively.