The Premier League summer transfer window closed at 23:00 BST on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Clubs that filed a completed deal sheet before the deadline had until 01:00 to send the remaining paperwork, so the final announcements ran past midnight.
Two rounds of Premier League football have already been played. Arsenal have six points from six. Manchester City have six. Liverpool have two. Manchester United have none from their opening trip to Hull City.
Now the squads are locked until January, and the Premier League outright market has a full picture to price for the first time this season.
Here is what the four clubs at the top of the title market actually did.
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Arsenal: the champions sold more than they bought
Arsenal spent their summer early and their deadline week subtracting.
Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa, Christos Tzolis, Piero Hincapie and Ilhan Meslier all arrived before the season started. Tzolis in particular has settled quickly, contributing to both of Arsenal’s first two goals of the campaign in the 3-0 win over Coventry City.
Then came the exits. Gabriel Martinelli joined Al Hilal for a reported €70 million (around £60 million) fixed, making him the most expensive player Arsenal have ever sold. Gabriel Jesus went to Barcelona on deadline day for £8.5 million.
Julian Alvarez, the striker linked with Arsenal for most of August, stayed at Atletico Madrid. David Ornstein reported that Alvarez had told Mikel Arteta he did not want the move. Arsenal did not sign a replacement forward before the deadline.
That leaves the defending champions thinner on the left flank than they were in May, having won the title with 85 points, 27 goals conceded and 19 clean sheets — the best defensive record in the division for a third consecutive season.
The counter-argument is that Arsenal have not actually dropped a point. Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored against Coventry, and Saka’s goal beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the second round. Squad depth is a question for October, not September.
Manchester City: a £125m midfield answer
Manchester City ran the busiest and most expensive rebuild of the window.
Enzo Maresca replaced Pep Guardiola in June and inherited a midfield that lost Rodri to Barcelona, Tijjani Reijnders to Al-Qadsiah and Bernardo Silva to a contract expiry, with Nico Gonzalez moving to Newcastle United.
City replaced all of it. Elliot Anderson arrived from Nottingham Forest for around £116 million. Ayyoub Bouaddi followed from Lille in a deal worth up to £86 million — £81.3 million fixed plus £4.3 million in add-ons — making the 18-year-old Morocco international the most expensive teenage signing in Premier League history.
Then, on deadline day, City completed the signing of Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for a reported £125 million, equalling the British transfer record. Jack Grealish left for Everton on loan in the same window.
City’s results so far suggest the pieces are fitting faster than expected. They came from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Etihad, Josko Gvardiol scoring in the first minute of stoppage time, then won 4-1 at Crystal Palace.
For a side that finished seven points behind Arsenal last season, that is the most direct answer any title challenger gave to the question the window posed.
Liverpool: heavy spending, unfinished business
Liverpool spent more than anyone on a single player and still finished the window with a hole in the squad.
Bradley Barcola signed from Paris Saint-Germain on Monday in a deal that could reach £123 million. He joined Victor Munoz, Ronald Araujo and Jeremy Jacquet as Andoni Iraola’s summer additions, with goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans arriving from Genk for around £30 million and returning there on loan.
What Liverpool did not get was a right winger to replace Mohamed Salah.
The pursuit of Yankuba Minteh ended when a £50 million bid was rejected and an improved £60 million offer failed to bridge the gap with Brighton. Attention switched to Ismaila Sarr, but Crystal Palace refused to sell, and the move was described as off by both sides before the deadline.
Cody Gakpo’s proposed move to Manchester City also collapsed, which at least keeps a senior forward at Anfield.
Two draws from two — 2-2 at Newcastle United, rescued by Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute penalty, and 2-2 at home to Nottingham Forest — is not the start a squad rebuilt at that cost was priced for. Liverpool finished fifth last season, 25 points behind Arsenal.
Manchester United: the midfield is fixed, the season is not
Manchester United completed one of the window’s biggest deals a week before the deadline.
Carlos Baleba joined from Brighton for £65 million plus £5 million in add-ons, following Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos into a midfield reshaped by Michael Carrick after Casemiro’s move to Inter Miami.
Baleba is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, so the immediate effect is limited. United were otherwise quiet on deadline day, making a late enquiry for Manchester City left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri that did not progress.
The urgency comes from the table. United finished third last season, then lost 2-0 at newly promoted Hull City on the opening weekend, conceding twice from set pieces before half-time.
How transfer activity moves Premier League outright odds
Premier League outright odds are not fixed when the season starts. Sportsbooks reprice continuously as new information arrives, and a transfer window is one of the densest sources of that information.
Three things typically move an outright price:
- Squad strength. A major signing that addresses a known weakness shortens a team’s price. Enzo Fernandez arriving to complete a midfield rebuild is a clearer signal than a squad-depth addition.
- Unreplaced departures. Selling a starter without a replacement pushes a price out. Arsenal losing Martinelli and Jesus without an incoming forward is the version of this that the market watched most closely this window.
- Early results. Two rounds is a small sample, but points on the board are hard information, and they interact with squad news. City’s 4-1 win at Selhurst Park matters more because it came with a new manager and a new midfield.
With the window shut, the next repricing triggers are the Champions League league phase, which begins on September 8, and the first international break of the season.
Check the latest Premier League odds ahead of matchweek three.
