Transfer window winners and losers: How Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, others fared

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  Sam TigheSep 1, 2026, 06:07 PM ET

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  Sam is a writer, broadcaster and podcaster for ESPN. He will write on the Premier League, scouting and transfers.

The 2026 summer transfer window has closed and there can be no more deals to bolster teams until January offers another chance to do so.

Some clubs enjoyed success over the past few months, spending serious money to improve their XI, adding numbers to squads that were clearly flagging, or just generally maneuvering smartly. Others were less fortunate, either failing in their attempts to add or, in some extreme cases, losing huge talents against their will.

Here's who nailed this window, and who fell foul of it.

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WINNERS

Real Madrid

It's always a big summer at Real Madrid, but for various reasons, this one felt bigger than usual.

It began with the appointment of José Mourinho as manager, returning to the Bernabéu 13 years after he left the club by mutual agreement. He remains a box-office figure, someone top players want to play for, and so that proved in the early transfer work.

A quick €55 million deal was struck for Marc Cucurella, who would go on to win the 2026 World Cup with Spain as a Madrid representative, while Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konaté were signed on free transfers from Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. Inter wing back Denzel Dumfries soon followed for a bargain €20m fee.

Then, it was time for the big splashes.

First, Los Blancos fended off serious competition from Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and more for wing wonder Yan Diomande, who had exploded onto the scene with RB Leipzig and Ivory Coast in 2026. On paper at least, he looks the best of the €100m-plus deals struck this summer -- of which there were quite a few!

Then, Madrid batted away Arsenal's advances on Brazilian star Vinícius Jr., tying him down to a new long-term contract, proving they're still the ultimate destination club.

There was still room for some smart, profit-generating work, too: They sent backup striker Gonzalo García to Fulham for €40m, then activated Carlos Espí's €25m release clause at Levante to replace him.

If there's one knock on Madrid's window, it's that they not only couldn't get a deal done for Rodri, but he slipped over to Barcelona, bolstering their title rivals considerably. It's fair to say Madrid were initially unconvinced they should pursue the 30-year-old, but by the end of the World Cup they were -- and then lost out. That stings.

Atletico Madrid

While we're on the topic of Madrid, let's also celebrate the smart work Atlético did this summer.

Individually speaking, Cristian Romero (€40m, from Tottenham), Morten Hjulmand (€40m, from Sporting CP), Lee Kang-In (€35m, from Paris Saint-Germain) and Alejandro Grimaldo (€15m, from Bayer Leverkusen) are all spectacular value deals. Grimaldo is the pick of the bunch, as he finally returns to Spain after a decade away carving out a reputation as one of the very best attacking full backs. They supplemented those deals by making close to €65m on a series of unwanted players, sending Matteo Ruggeri to Aston Villa, Thiago Almada to River Plate and Nahuel Molina to Roma, while also freeing up a sizable chunk of weekly wages off the back of the heartfelt departure of Antoine Griezmann to Major League Soccer side Orlando City.

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Of course, the biggest victory of their window was to keep hold of star forward Julián Álvarez. It must have felt like a torturous experience at times, resisting constant interest from Barcelona, a very public bid from Real Madrid, and several more discreet enquiries from Arsenal. On top of that, the Argentine was outwardly pushing to go.

There was a point mid-summer where Alvarez leaving Atleti felt inevitable, but in the end, los Colchoneros admirably dug their heels in, telling suitors that not even €200m would be enough to change their minds.

Keeping a brilliant player, a difference-maker, and refusing to bow to the pressure exerted by the big boys, is a huge win, although short-term it has come at a cost: fans at the Metropolitano have booed the Argentine upon his return to the matchday squad and this situation will need some time to smooth over.

Chelsea

Rivals have looked at Chelsea's summer dealings with dismay as the club have gone about doing, well, just about everything everyone has been telling them to do for the last two years.

First of all, they finally addressed the absence of experience in the dressing room, and although there's an argument to suggest signing 35-year-old Danny Welbeck from Brighton and 36-year-old free agent Jordan Henderson took things a bit far, you can't fault the logic. (Also, Welbeck remains a reliable forward, having scored 13 Premier League goals last season.)

Then they added good players in Maxence Lacroix (£52m, from Crystal Palace) and Marco Palestra (€60m, from Atalanta), who fit manager Xabi Alonso's preferred 3-4-3 formation brilliantly. Lacroix is the ideal central center back, while Palestra is a flying wing back, a reigning Serie A Defender of the Year, who should love the space he's given to play in.

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The huge splash was midfielder Morgan Rogers, signed from Aston Villa for £117m, a record for a British player. A lot has to go right for this to prove "worth it," but his inbuilt relationship with star man Cole Palmer, forged in Manchester City's youth teams, has helped him get off to a hot start.

And then came the kicker: After years of standing firmly by goalkeeper Robert Sánchez despite his many mistakes, one poor performance in the opener was all it took for Alonso to do what Chelsea should have done when Édouard Mendy left in 2023: Sign a world-class goalkeeper. Emiliano Martínez (from Villa) was a brilliant, opportunistic addition at a bargain price of £7.5m. He turns 34 on Sept. 2, so he'll also add a veteran presence to the squad as well as a feverish will to win.

Equally impressive has been some of their outgoing work. They somehow tripled their money on striker Marc Guiu, who did very little for the Blues but has moved to RB Leipzig for €16m; earning £48m for depth midfielder Andrey Santos looks great on the books; and striking a £45m deal for Liam Delap, who scored just twice last season, represents incredible work.

Deadline day then brought the best deal of all: They accepted a £120m fee for Enzo Fernández, a player who publicly stated his desire to leave as far back as March, and who only one club -- Manchester City -- ever actually showed interest in. Usually you need a bidding war to drive up this kind of value, but the deal was organized and agreed even as an official announcement from Man City wasn't yet made before the window closed. Despite the late collapse of a move for Monaco's Lamine Camara as an ostensible Enzo replacement, the Blues can still reflect upon a summer of excellent business.

NEUTRAL/UNDECIDED

Barcelona

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Barcelona are closer to the losers category than the winners one here, but one massive signing keeps them out: Rodri. You'd struggle to call any summer in which a club signs the world's best No. 6 a bad one.

However, there are fair questions to be asked about the forwards they've accumulated. Anthony Gordon was clearly a priority for the Blaugrana, but beyond him, did they bring in the quality they wanted to? A haul of Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus was never Plan A to replace Robert Lewandowski -- they wanted Julián Alvarez, they couldn't get him.

Oh, and they failed to sign a much-needed center back (again).

Arsenal

Arsenal entered the summer with the clear intention of adding a star player to the forward line in an attempt to level up. Unfortunately, they missed out on all three of their major targets: Rogers went to Chelsea, Vinícius Jr. chose a new Real Madrid contract over them, and Julián Alvarez said no. Meanwhile, Leandro Trossard (£18m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£60m) departed to make space in the squad, with only Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge arriving.

Their work in other areas looks good: Bruno Guimarães (from Newcastle) and Ezri Konsa (from Aston Villa) are two excellent, reliable and Premier League-proven players who will bring real quality to the team. But for obvious reasons, they can't offer that attacking star dust Mikel Arteta clearly wanted.

Manchester United

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United will rightly feel smug about ducking some of the mad prices some central midfielders have transferred for this summer. Instead, they struck a £48m deal with Chelsea for Andrey Santos, activated Youri Tielemans' £35m release clause at Aston Villa, and then finally landed their long-term target, Carlos Baleba, for an initial £65m from Brighton & Hove Albion.

But while that midfield makeover deserves a pat on the back ... what about the rest of the squad? United did not sign a backup striker so Joshua Zirkzee must linger on at the club, and they probably should have added competition for Luke Shaw in the left back area too. Inaction in these areas could end up costing them.

LOSERS

Liverpool

Liverpool fans spent the final few days of the transfer window panicking, and rightly so. A summer noted for its general inactivity was threatening to come to a quiet end, the early performances on the pitch were alarmingly poor, and what were the club doing to fix that? Calmly lining up deals for talented young players set to join in 2027.

It's always good to have an eye on the future, but when the present is causing headaches, it might have been better to divert focus.

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It's important not to brush over the positives too quickly: Víctor Muñoz (from Osasuna) is a handful on the flanks and could prove a snip for €40m, while Bradley Barcola (from Paris Saint-Germain) is a headline addition for £106m plus add-ons, though the pressure will be on for him to excel from the off.

But what about all the other holes that went unaddressed? The Reds exit the summer window without enough full backs and still lacking a true defensive midfielder to balance the team. The first two Premier League performances unequivocally proved that those areas needed addressing, but no one was brought in.

Worse yet, Liverpool were forced to decline an £85m bid for Cody Gakpo from Manchester City late in the window because they didn't feel as though they could sign a replacement. That kind of offer is probably never coming around again, yet the club were so unprepared -- and lacking in recruitment options -- that they had to pass on it. Disaster.

Tottenham

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There were two themes to Tottenham Hotspur's summer: The first was overspending, and the second was hoarding.

The overspending began in July, when the club splashed out £92.5m (rising to £100m) on Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United and £85m on Mateus Fernandes from West Ham, then continued into August as a further £75m was spent on Sávio from Manchester City.

At least two of these feel like obscene overpays. There is a world in which Fernandes potentially proves worth it, as he's a very mouldable, coachable prospect, but it's tough to believe the other two can come close to living up to expectations set by these price tags. Tonali has started his Spurs career with two poor performances, which obviously will not help.

But that wasn't the end of it; the signings kept coming. This wasn't a case of spending big on a select few players you think can elevate you -- it was a case of spending a lot of money on a lot of players. In total, 10 arrived as Robert De Zerbi oversaw a complete, voluntary squad refresh via the transfer market.

In order to make room for all the new faces, several departures were sanctioned, and some for very disappointing fees in today's market. They earned just €40m for Romero (who went to LaLiga) and £30m for Djed Spence (to Inter Milan), while also sending top defensive prospect Luka Vuskovic to Brighton & Hove Albion in a £46m move that could conceivably come back to bite them.

One might argue an aggressive switch-up was needed; after all, this is a team that finished 17th in back-to-back Premier League seasons. But Spurs nearly sunk in the chaos of last term, a whirlwind experience presided over by three managers in which every single player looked a lot worse than they actually are.

Rather than calm the waters this season, they've (voluntarily) whipped up another storm for themselves, ramped up expectations by spending hundreds of millions, and their start to the season suggests they could easily be swept away by it all once again.

Aston Villa

We expected a summer of change at Aston Villa, but the extent of it has shocked everyone, from the terraces to the boardroom and everywhere in between. Over the course of the window, just about everyone with even a passing interest in soccer has asked what on earth is going on at Villa Park.

It defies logic for a club that has been unequivocally successful in recent years -- qualifying for the Champions League for the second time in three years and winning the Europa League last May -- to be hit with an exodus against its will, but six key players departed the club this summer for various reasons. Be it financial pressures applied by UEFA, release clauses, lucrative Saudi Arabia offers, record-breaking fees or simply goodwill, there's a good reason for each and every departure; stack them all up together in the same window, though, and you have a problem.

Whatever the cause, Aston Villa have been forced into a complete rebuild. They signed an entire new XI over the summer, from the goalkeeper to the striker, and this squad looks borderline unrecognisable as a result. It's video game stuff.

Neutrals will call it fun, while Villa will be confident they've signed the right replacements and have set themselves up perfectly for the next five years. They might both be right, but that doesn't change the fact that it's been a gut punch of a summer -- both for the club to lose so many reliable players in one go, and for fans to say goodbye to so many of their heroes in quick succession.