Summer transfer window verdict: how every Premier League club fared
Sep 2, 2022
Arsenal
It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will rue failing to add numbers in midfield or out wide. They could not tempt Aston Villa to part with Douglas Luiz on deadline day and inquiries about several wingers were not followed up. Their earlier work in the window was admirable: Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have made instant impacts for the league leaders and Fabio Vieira brims with promise. Perhaps the young wide man Marquinhos, signed from São Paulo, will now get his chance. Arsenal come out looking stronger but questions about their depth remain. Nick Ames
Aston Villa
What seemed a promising window at the beginning of July when Villa had five new faces through the door in time for their pre-season tour of Australia suddenly does not feel quite so satisfying. Diego Carlos’s long-term injury left Villa scrambling on deadline day for a centre-back in Jan Bednarek, who fell out of favour at Southampton. The arrival of Leander Dendoncker from rivals Wolves will strengthen their midfield but the early evidence suggests they have not made as much progress as first thought. Ben Fisher
Bournemouth
A testing and low-key summer resulted in Scott Parker losing his job but the interim head coach Gary O’Neil, even if he was hardly going to repeat Parker’s insistence that the squad is inadequate, insists Bournemouth are good enough to scrap for survival. “I think we have enough to be competitive at this level,” O’Neil said. Marcus Tavernier looks a smart addition but it remains to be seen whether Marcos Senesi and Jack Stephens help tighten a defence that has been torn to pieces on occasions, notably in defeat at Anfield. BF
Brentford
The Bees tried until the very last day to complete an ambitious move for the Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhaylo Mudryk, a long-term target, but could not tempt the Ukrainian club to part with him. But that would have been the icing on the cake of a window that saw brisk business, with Keane Lewis-Potter and Mikkel Damsgaard looking handy additions to the attack. Ben Mee and Aaron Hickey have strengthened problem areas in defence and, while losing Christian Eriksen was a disappointment, Thomas Frank feels his squad has emerged with a good balance. NA
Brighton
A testing window that saw the departure of three starters from the side that did so well last season might be cause for concern for most managers but not for Graham Potter. Brighton acquired the Ecuador left-back Pervis Estupiñán from Villarreal to replace Marc Cucurella and made a late move for Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour, but the loss of Yves Bissouma and Neal Maupay is likely to be covered by existing players from the squad. Ed Aarons