The 2025/26 season is expected to be an incredibly memorable one with all of the high profile transfers that have taken place so far with moves like Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free transfer move to Real Madrid, Marcus Rashford’s loan move to Barcelona and most recently the shocking twist transfer of Portuguese forward Joao Felix, who looked set to make a homecoming return to the club where it all started for him Benfica, now joining Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. We are still pretty early on in the transfer window so there is still way more deals to come but for now let’s look at some of the more expensive transfers that have taken place so far:
10. Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid for £50m (€59.5m)
The 20-year-old Spanish centre back has made quite the name for himself in a very sort period of time. Coming from Juventus’ academy, going on loan to Roma and then making a permanent move to the English Premier League playing for AFC Bournemouth where the world started to take notice. Dean Huijsen made 32 appearances in the Premier League for Bournemouth and contributed 3 goals and 2 assists in 26 starts for the club. The Spaniard was in the top 3 for most clearances made per 90 minutes with 194 clearances and his standout attribute has to be his ball playing style that contributed to a lot of Bournemouth attacks last season with the Spaniard having created 15 goal scoring chances. Naturally he garnered a lot of attention from top Premier League clubs but the player could not ignore a call from his dream club Real Madrid. After Real Madrid’s defensive issues last season with injuries and an aging squad also playing a factor, Dean Huijsen’s move to Los Blancos seems like a match made in heaven for the both the player and the club.
9. Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United for £55m (€63.8m)
Newcastle United paid a guaranteed £52m + £3m in add-ons for Nottingham Forrest’s top goal creator in Anthony Elanga. The former Manchester United player had quite an influential 2024/25 season scoring 6 goals and assisting 11 in the Premier League for Forest and aided them in qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League this upcoming season. The Swedish international has made quite a name for himself since Man Utd sold the winger for a measly £15m in 2023, he is now one of the most expensive winger signings in the season moving to Newcastle United where he will being able to play Champions league football once again for the first time in 3 years. The 23-year-old has already hit the ground running scoring in Newcastle’s recent Pre-Season friendly against Arsenal where Elanga scored in the opening 6 minutes of the game.
8. Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham Hotspur for £55m (€64m)
£55m to many seemed like steep price for the Ghanian international after experiencing a fairly difficult 2nd season in the Premier League, only manging 5 goals and 4 assists in the 2024/25 season. However even though the former West Ham forward struggled to contribute goals, his creativity, directness and work rate cannot be overlooked which may have played a huge factor in Tottenham paying top dollar for the 24-years-old’s services. Mohammed Kudus is very versatile playing as an Attacking Midfielder, Left Winger, Right Winger and even as a Striker, and least not forget Kudus’ debut season for West Ham United when the forward managed 14 goals and 6 assists in all competitions. There is definitely plenty of quality in the player and Tottenham are more happy to pay quite fee for it.
7. Martin Zubimendi to Arsenal for £55.8m (€65m)
Martin Zubimendi was a midfielder that a lot of attention in 2024, especially when clubs such at Liverpool were interested in bringing the Spanish defensive midfielder to the Premier League but as reported by David Orstein from TheAthleticFC, the player opted to stay at his boyhood club Real Sociedad amidst Liverpool’s ongoing pursuit. Now fast forward a year later, Martin Zubimendi has made the move to the Premier League but not to the red side of Merseyside but rather to the red side of North London. The 26-year-old was brought in by Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta most likely as a younger number 6 replacement to the outgoing Jorginho and Thomas Partey. After making 235 appearances and contributing 18 G/A for Real Sociedad, the Spaniard now has some big shoes to fill at Arsenal and the player has some serious competition having to compete with fellow central defensive midfielders Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and new arrival Christian Nørgaard who are all Premier League proven players.
6. João Pedro to Chelsea for £60m (€69.68m)
Chelsea’s new first choice no.9 or at least that is how it seems following João Pedro’s £55m + £5m in add-ons move to Chelsea in the middle of the Club World Cup campaign. Chelsea could not wait to get to the Brazilian straight into the action as the Brazilian made his debut in the Quarter-Finals of the 2025 Club World Cup and made then made his first start for the club in the Semi-Finals against his former club, that gave him his senior debut, Fluminense. The 23-year-old did not hold back any punches though as during that game João Pedro scored a brilliant brace sending Chelsea through to the Finals of the competition and went on to score a goal in the final as well. A dream start to life at Chelsea for the Brazilian forward, scoring 3 goals in his first 3 games for the club and lifting the Club World Cup trophy. With Nicolas Jackson on his way out, Marc Guiu looking to go out on loan, Armando Broja’s future uncertain and Liam Delap as the other new striker arrival to the club João Pedro might be set to be Chelsea’s main man up top for years to come.
5. Mattheus Cunha to Manchester United for £62.5m (€72m)
Manchester United’s first summer signing of the season. The 26-year-old Brazilian attacker made it very clear before the transfer window had even opened that his next destination would be Man Utd regardless of Champions League qualification. Mattheus Cunha has only played in the Premier League for 2 and half seasons and in that time, he has quickly become accustomed to life in the English League by already accumulating 48 goal contributions in 92 appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers. In those 2 and half seasons at Wolves, Cunha has proven himself to be a direct, strong and game changing player capable of winning games. Man Utd fans might remember, probably not so fondly, Cunha’s opening game of the season performance against Man Utd in 2023 where Cunha was memorably running circles through Man Utd’s midfield carrying the ball from his own half of the field into the opposition. Cunha has already been handed the no.10 jersey, previously stripped off the now Barcelona player Marcus Rashford, and along with his hefty release clause fee the Brazilian already has a mountain of expectation on his back but judging from interviews and his Pre-Season performances thus far Cunha seems up for the challenge.
4. Viktor Gyökeres to Arsenal for £63.9m (€73.5)
The most talked about transfer saga in the summer transfer window so far, the Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres making a £55.2m + £8.7m in Add-ons to Arsenal was quite the drama and took quite awhile to reach its resolution. The 27-year-old striker reportedly had a “gentleman’s agreement” with the Director of Sporting Lisbon at the time about his potential exit from the club being made easier by the club being open to accepting bids that are lower than Gyökeres’ €100m release clause. The agreement was allegedly made before the start of the 2024/25 season and what followed this summer was a whole saga of “he said, she said” between the club and Gyökeres but never the less the deal finally got over the line and the Swedish striker got his dream move to Arsenal. Arenal managed to put pen to paper on one of the top strikers in the world right now who has unbelievable numbers to his name from his time in the Portuguese league. 102 appearances, 97 goals and 26 assists are outrage numbers for a player who was only in the Liga Portugal for 2 seasons and Gyökeres also has the domestic trophies to back up those incredible stats. Could Viktor Gyökeres be the missing piece in Mikel Arteta’s project and help Arsenal lift a trophy for the first time since 2020?
3. Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United for £71m (€83m)
Another transfer saga that felt like it might have been going on forever, especially to most Man Utd fans. It took an estimated 44 days for Man Utd to seal the deal by offering Brentford £65m + 6m in Add-ons for the Cameroonian forward. After finishing the 2024/25 season with 20 goals and 7 assists in the Premier League, the 26-year-old attracted a lot of interest from top Premier League clubs such Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham, Chelsea etc. However form the beginning Mbeumo made it clear that his desire was to join Man Utd or remain at Brentford which began the many long weeks of negotiations between the two clubs with Brentford rejecting bid after bid until finally the clubs came to the previously mentioned agreement. For many still it feels like Man Utd were made to pay a premium for the player however judging from the current market and the business dealing of other clubs previously mentioned some might argue that Man Utd may have signed Bryan Mbeumo for a bargain price.
2. Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool for £79m (€92m)
Much like players such Viktor Gyökeres, Victor Osimhen, Benjamin Šeško, etc. Hugo Ekitike was one of the many world-class strikers that flooded the very expensive striker market this transfer window. From the beginning Eintracht Frankfurt put a hefty price tag on the player as a way to ward of any clubs interested in the 23-year-old striker, with the club having already sold their top striker Omar Marmoush to Manchester City in the January transfer window earlier this year. €100m was the reported fee but that did not stop some clubs from exploring the idea and seeing if they could maybe negotiate a slightly lower fee. Clubs like Newcastle and Man Utd were interested in the Egyptian forward but ultimately Liverpool won the race by making an offer Eintracht Frankfurt could not refuse. £69m + £10m in add-ons was enough for Eintracht Frankfurt to part ways with another one of their top strikers and help upgrade Liverpool’s already very dangerous attack.
1. Florian Wirtz to Liverpool for £116m (€133.7m)
Once again Liverpool makes the list by making the most expensive transfer deal in the summer window thus far. Liverpool splashed out all the cash to secure the signing of the top young German talents in world football today, 22 year-old attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz. Florain Wirtz is a player that has been on an incredible rise since coming back from 2 sperate ACL injuries at a very young age, for most athletes an ACL injury heavily hinders their performances and sometimes forces them to change up their styles to compensate for the feeling of instability in their knees. Wirtz however seems to have only gotten stronger and better after recovering from the ACL injuries and was instrumental in Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible season that led them to winning their first ever Bundesliga title. 197 Appearances, 57 Goals and 62 Assists later the German international is now making a massive money move to the Premier League and joining the current Premier League champions where there will be an enormous amount of expectation on the player’s shoulders. Some questions are already being asked such as where will Wirtz will play and how he will fit into Arne Slot’s Liverpool team?