Premier League 2020/21 transfer window power rankings after late moves for Thomas Partey and Edinson Cavani

How every top-flight side fared after an extended summer market

Karl Matchett
Tuesday 06 October 2020 08:31 BST
Comments
Premier League 2020/21 in numbers

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The transfer window is shut for Premier League teams’ dealings with their overseas counterparts, meaning no more big-money signings from the continent - or sales.

While the domestic window remains open, it’s unlikely too many top-flight sides will dip into the Championship and beyond for last-minute recruits.

There is the expectation that it’ll instead be loans heading in the opposite direction into the Football League.

As such, it’s time to assess how each of the 20 Premier League outfits have fared between the end of 2019/20 and now.

With a big restructuring job for some clubs and minor tweaks the order for others, let’s take a look at who is thrilled and who is concerned.

Why Manchester United have signed free agent Edinson Cavani

Cavani joins on one-year contract with option of another year

20 - Burnley

Lost seniors on free transfers and didn’t really replace them with top-level quality. Kept hold of James Tarkowski, importantly.

19 - Fulham

Can’t blame them for not going as wild in the market as last time they were in the top flight, but this season’s survival will depend on the success of four loans, which isn’t ideal: Lookman, Areola, Aina and Lemina.

18 - West Brom

Job No. 1 was to ensure they had last year’s stars signed up, which they did. Job No. 2 was to move from a good Championship side to a competitive Premier League one, which they perhaps didn’t.

17 - West Ham

Certainly not as busy as they’d have liked to be. A new right-back was needed, but hardly pushes them into European territory.

16 - Brighton

Smart buys in Adam Lallana and Joel Veltman but an extra source of goals wouldn’t have gone amiss.

15 - Southampton

Largely the same squad make-up with some like-for-like replacements. Salisu a good buy, given time, but hard to see them dramatically improving.

14 - Leicester

A couple of good signings, but perhaps not the number of them needed to get an extra step up the ladder. Consistency and goals from the second line could still be a problem.

13 - Manchester United

The needs of the team were apparent quite some time ago and the fact they left so much, so late, was a massive source of irritation to fans. Simply didn’t do enough to really push on to where they want to be.

12 - Sheffield United

A lot of emphasis on the future, which is fine, but perhaps needed to focus a little more on the here-and-now to kick on with security.

11 - Crystal Palace

Added exciting, pacy, younger players in a much-needed mini-overhaul of an ageing squad, while also kept hold of Wilf Zaha.

Thomas Partey transfer: Arsenal complete £45m signing of Atletico Madrid midfielder

Ghana international joins Mikel Arteta’s side on a four-year-deal

10 - Arsenal

Strengthened in central defence and central midfield, two important areas. Willian a fine addition, though they’d have hoped to sell a few more of the unwanted squad players.

9 - Leeds

A very ambitious window looks like it will pay off, even if the amounts laid out are perhaps on the high side. Fun times ahead.

8 - Wolves

Lost several key players, but have reinvested. The wing-backs have been upgraded, given time to settle, with Rayan Ait-Nouri an excellent outlet and Nelson Semedo proven as a good operator.

7 - Manchester City

Certainly beefed up the back line with Ake and Dias, but only time will tell if that was enough to bridge what was a sizeable gap last season.

6 - Newcastle

Smart additions, without spending an absolute fortune. This was good from Newcastle, who have improved considerably.

5 - Liverpool

Strengthened with depth in two areas it was needed and added a world-class talent in Thiago. The team to catch just got stronger.

4 - Aston Villa

A massive upgrade on last season with the additions of Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martinez and Matty Cash. Kept hold of Jack Grealish, too.

3 - Everton

Every step this window looks a positive one, with Allan and James Rodriguez raising the quality level considerably.

2 - Tottenham

Let’s be honest; if Bale and Reguilon both do as well as they’re capable of, then Spurs are a big threat. Hojbjerg a sensible addition and they didn’t lose anyone major. And they have a backup striker!

1 - Chelsea

Genuine top quality attackers in through the door. Goalkeeper should be sorted too. Much rests on Thiago Silva…and Frank Lampard’s capacity to get the best out of the elite class now there.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in