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18th November 2025
03:26pm GMT
Last week we set you the vital task of scoring all of this summer's biggest Premier League signings from 1 to 10, and the results did not disappoint.
Based on the responses of more than 400 readers, we can now definitively conclude which of the biggest signings look to have been successes (so far) and which are heading towards transfer flop status.
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The summer's transfer window was nothing short of record-breaking. Between them, the 20 Premier League clubs spent a combined £3 billion on new acquisitions.
Liverpool brought in £440 million worth of talent, Man United spent close to £200 million on three players (Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbuemo, and Matheus Cunha) and even the likes of Nottingham Forest’s business saw more than 15 players arrive.
While not every single new player has hit the ground running quite yet, some of the new Premier League stars have been lighting the league up since day one.
Here's how you ranked them.
Reader rating: 0 | SportsJOE rating: 5
Alexander Isak's arrival at Liverpool didn't exactly take place behind closed doors.
Between the moment the champions first expressed interest in the Swedish superstar and the day that Isak finally arrived at Anfield, were three arduous months of very public tensions.
By the time the former Newcastle United star eventually departed St James' Park in September, his transfer status had become one of the biggest football stories of the year.
And yet, Isak's time on the pitch since arriving at Anfield has been nothing less than underwhelming.
The 25-year-old's controversial decision to avoid training at Newcastle during those final three months of his tenure has had a long-lasting impact on his start to life at the Premier League champions.
Clearly lacking match fitness, Isak has managed to appear just four times for the Reds in the league, where the £125 million signing is yet to score a goal. His only strike has come in the EFL Cup against Southampton.
Considering his lack of time actually spent on the pitch, at SportsJOE we've opted to give the 25-year-old the benefit of the doubt with a score of 5. We still expect his quality to shine through by the time he finally gets back into top physical condition.
Isak hasn't been quite as lucky in the eyes of readers though. Based on those four Premier League appearances so far, Isak has a reader rating of zero.
Reader rating: 0 | SportsJOE rating: 4
Florian Wirtz's struggles at Anfield have been one of the great surprises of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Arriving in England as one of the best-rated talents in world football, the Germany international joined the Reds for close to £116 million in the summer, after being the subject of a hotly-contested transfer battle that included both Bayern Munich and Man City.
Unlike Isak, Wirtz's fitness hasn't been a problem, and yet he too is still yet to score his first Premier League goal.
By now, it's become clear that Wirtz needs real time to adapt to the physicality of English football. And his stats in the Reds' European fixtures do back this up.
Wirtz is top of the expected assists charts with 2.1 per game, and is joint-top in chances created (16) and big chances created (four). [Opta via TNT Sports]
Considering his price tag, and the situation his Liverpool side find themselves in, they need to see more from Wirtz. As a result, it's a 4 from us at SportsJOE.
Much like Isak, from the readers it's another zero for the second of Liverpool's biggest summer signings.
Reader rating: 8 | SportsJOE rating: 7
Fortunately for Arne Slot's side, in the case of at least one of their major signings this summer, they certainly got it right.
Hugo Ekitike has been a breath of fresh air in the Liverpool frontline.
Since joining the champions in July, and scoring on his debut in the Community shield, the Frenchman simply hasn't looked back. Seven goals and one assist in just 16 games so far is a fantastic start, especially considering how unsettled Arne Slot's side have been in recent weeks.
While he has struggled to maintain his hot streak over the Reds crisis month of October, this is owed more to the overall instability of Liverpool's form during that period.
Ekitike has clearly impressed fans across the country too. Readers rated Ekitike at 8/10 for his form so far. Since he's not hit the net for the Reds since a Champions League tie with Frankfurt last month, 7 is as high as SportsJOE can rate Ekitike for now.
Reader rating: 4 | SportsJOE rating: 5
Benjamin Šeško is another player who was subject to a major transfer saga this summer. The Slovenian was closely linked to both of Arsenal and Newcastle United before eventually settling at Old Trafford.
Much like local rivals Liverpool, Man United have had a topsy turvy opening to the Premier League season, with five wins, three draws, and three losses so far. Far from the ideal environment needed for a 22-year-old centre-forward to properly bed in!
Sesko's return of two goals and an assist in six Premier League starts aren't a terrible start at all for a player new to the division, especially when the Red Devils have been so inconsistent.
Since he hasn't quite set the league on light so far, but hasn't underperformed either, a SportsJOE score of 5 seems fair.
Readers opted for a point lower, rating Sesko 4/10 so far.
Reader rating: 8 | SportsJOE rating: 8
Bryan Mbuemo hasn't just been one of the best signings of the season, since arriving at Man United the Cameroonian has properly established himself amongst the finest players in the Premier League.
Unlike many of the Red Devils' past striker signings, in Mbuemo, the club have uncovered an attacker who knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.
The 26-year-old has eight goal contributions in just 12 matches.
Those clinical stats have helped transform Man United into a much more serious proposition this season. So, he scores an easy 8/10 so far — both in the eyes of readers and SportsJOE.
Reader rating: 6 | SportsJOE rating: 6
Viktor Gyökeres is another player who has had a mixed impact on his side.
As with all striker signings, Gyokeres was brought in to score goals, and while he has had a great overall impact on Arsenal's overall attacking shape and structure, he hasn't exactly flown to the top of the scoring charts quite yet.
At the same time, Gyokeres also deserves a great deal of credit for the Gunners' position at the top of the table.
Where last season, Arsenal’s prolific wide forwards Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli often struggled for space to create, Gyökeres’ bullish power in the centre has made this impossible.
His prowess in the air and willingness to run in behind has meant that opponents have had to focus more energy than ever before the Gunners’ number 9, leaving the rest of Arteta’s attackers freer than ever.
Just four Premier League goals so far isn't really enough to earn him any better than a score of 6/10.
This time the readers' score was also in alignment, so it's 6/10 for the Arsenal man so far.
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Reader rating: 7 | SportsJOE rating: 9
No one arrived at their club under greater pressure than Nick Woltemade.
The departure of ex-Magpie Alexander Isak wasn't just the story of the summer, it was one of the biggest transfer sagas of all time.
Incredibly, despite Newcastle trying and failing to sign both of Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko, they eventually landed on the perfect replacement.
Aged just 23, and like Sesko also adapting to a new type of football and a new way of life, Woltemade has exceeded expectations. He's got seven goals in just 14 matches so far.
This season's Newcastle haven't been the free-flowing side of previous years. And yet with the Magpies still 14th so far, having lost 5 games already, the former Stuttgart man has still found a way to score.
Woltemade comes out on top with a score of 9/10. His reader score also comes out high at 7/10.
Reader rating: 7 | SportsJOE rating: 7
Matheus Cunha's arrival at Man United came under similar circumstances to now teammate Bryan Mbuemo.
The Brazil star was brought in for big money (£62.5 million) from a bottom-half Premier League side with the expectation that he would immediately hit the ground running.
Where he managed to score 15 times and register six assists with Wolves last term, the 26-year-old has just one Premier League goal for the Red Devils so far.
That said, Man United are a far better team this season than they were 12-months ago and a great deal of that upturn is owed to Cunha's creativity in attack.
As a result, it's 7/10 for Cunha, which has been backed up by the reader response score also of 7/10.
Reader rating: 7 | SportsJOE rating: 6
Brighton's former star man arrived at Stamford Bridge this summer with expectations understandably very high.
While Pedro may have hit the ground running at first, helping the Blues to a surprise triumph in the Club World Cup before registering 5 goal contributions in his first four PL games, the Brazilian has since struggled for consistency.
After that flying start, the Brazilian went on a five-game run in which he neither scored nor managed a single shot on target.
With Pedro now back to scoring in his last two games, he looks to be back on track, but it's too little too late to earn a score any higher than 6/10 from the SportsJOE perspective.
Our readers have been more generous, scoring Pedro 7/10.
Reader rating: 3 | SportsJOE rating: 3
As Liverpool made preparations to move on from their vastly successful full-back pairing of Trent Alexander-Arnold (departed for Real Madrid) and Andy Robertson (who endured multiple spells of poor form last season) this summer, the then-Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez was right at the top of the list.
Somewhat surprisingly the Hungarian hasn't quite been the solution that Arne Slot had envisaged.
After losing four Premier League games on the bounce for the first time in a decade between September and October, the Reds' return to form over the past fortnight only really came about after the Reds' Dutch manager began to reintegrate Robertson back into their side.
Even in Liverpool's best performance of the season, the 1-0 victory over Real Madrid, it was the Scotsman who played 88 minutes and kept Mbappe and Vini Jr at bay.
At 22, and considering how well he played for Bournemouth last season, Milos Kerkez is certain to come good given time and support from his teammates. However, based on his Liverpool career so far — it can only be 3/10.
It doesn't take a mathematical genius to work that one Premier League club scored considerably lower than their rivals.
Despite topping the spending charts, Liverpool's record-breaking transfer dealings have failed to materialise into any form of progress on the pitch. With the exception of Hugo Ekitike.
Having won just one of their last five Premier League matches, 8th placed Liverpool's title defence is already all but over and they're likely to have a serious battle on their hands to simply qualify for European competition next year.
Responsibility for that cataclysmic decline may now fall on Arne Slot's shoulders.
After seamlessly succeeding Jurgen Klopp last season, by wrapping up an unexpected Premier League title, Slot was rewarded with the largest investment in a Liverpool side in history.
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As pointed out by former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher last month, Slot badly misjudged the direction that English football was moving in.
Speaking on The Overlap Carragher said: "They’ve [Liverpool] tried to take the team of last season that won the league, but in Slot’s eyes, he wanted it to be more sexy, more goals, more entertaining.
“He’s always speaking about Paris Saint-Germain. He loves Pep [Guardiola]. You hear him speaking about Pep before the game. His hero is Pep, so you know he’s trying to move that team towards more football and more goals, and the league has moved [the other] way.
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“The league’s gone [more] powerful, set pieces, long throws, almost like a throwback to the 2000s, and Liverpool have been left behind. They’ve almost just got it wrong in terms of where the game’s going, and I think that’s been a big problem for them.”
Some Liverpool supporters have taken this criticism even further, suggesting that Slot won the league only because of Jurgen Klopp's ideas and players.
Slot has certainly earned enough good favour with the Liverpool ownership to keep his position for the short term, but if their decline continues to worsen, could there be a point at which they have to make a change?
Have your say: is it time that Liverpool move on from Jurgen Klopp?
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