September 1, 2025 will be remembered as one of the craziest transfer deadline days to date. A few long awaited transfers finally got over the line, some clubs were making multiple signings in a singular day, some transfers collapsed right at the end and other transfers were stalled and then once again were back on. Let us have look at some of the crazy stories that took place during this deadline day.
Newcastle United Ending 2 Sagas in 1 go
A few days before transfer deadline, it was reported that Newcastle United had reached an agreement to sign the German striker from Bundesliga side Stuttgart for a full package deal of €80m (€75m + €5m add-ons). With Newcastle finally signing a striker, this opened the doors for Liverpool to finally sign Alexander Isak on deadline day and they spared no expense for the Swedish striker by offering Newcastle a British record fee of £130m. Simultaneously Newcastle also ended another transfer saga being the tension between Brentford and one of their star forwards Yoane Wissa. The 29-year-old had informed Brentford of his desire to leave and potentially play for a team that is in any UEFA competitions, and there were reports of clubs like Tottenham and Nottingham Forest being interesting in the Congolese forward but nothing materialized. On August 31 Wissa released a statement claiming Brentford were blocking his exit from the club even though they had a written agreement in place on his departure, all this drama came to an end on deadline day when Newcastle made a bid worth £55m for Wissa which Brentford accepted as they deemed the amount reasonable to their £60m valuation.
Liverpool’s Failed Double Swoop
As mentioned previously, Liverpool finally got their dream striker target in Alexander Isak from Newcastle United after struggling for months to get the deal over the line. It was also no secret that Liverpool also wanted to sign another centre back in their already busy summer signings list as well as it also no secret that Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi was keen on a move to the red side of Merseyside. With one year left on his contract, it looked almost certain that the English centre back was set to join Liverpool especially since Crystal Palace looked to have accepted an offer of £35m that also included a 10% sell-on clause in the deal. There were even reports that Liverpool had setup medical tests in London, close to Guehi to help move the transfer along before the transfer window closed. Everything seemed all set and done however roughly 4 hours later it was reported that even though all the medicals were completed and all the documents were submitted, Palace refused to approve the move due to their own issues of struggling to find a replacement for the 25-year-old English centre back. With that Liverpool’s final deal before the transfer window collapsed just moments before the window closed.
Aston Villa Scrambling For Signings
Aston Villa did struggle very much in the transfer window this summer only managing to land 2 signings all summer that included 34-year-old goalkeeper Marco Bizot and 24-year-old centre back Evann Guessand which is not very good recruitment for a club that will be playing in the Europa League this season. The days leading up to deadline day were quite a crazy time for Villa fans as their club was seen being linked and approaching quite a large list of players that they seemingly missed out on. The list included; a push for Chelsea outcasts Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, a bid for young French centre back Jaydee Canvot, approached Paris Saint Germain for Marco Asenio to make a return to Villa Park and made a move for West Ham United’s captain Lucas Paquetá who reportedly was looking to leave West Ham United this summer.
All those approaches seemingly failed as every mentioned player found a new club apart from Lucas Paquetá who confirmed his commitment to West Ham following his celebration after scoring his penalty against Nottingham Forest where the Brazilian gestured to be ignoring the phone calls of other clubs and then followed by pointing to the West Ham badge. Despite all of this, Aston Villa managed to land 3 signings right before the transfer window closed. On the day before deadline day former Manchester United centre back Victor Lindelöf had reportedly signed for Aston Villa after the club won the race for the 31-year-old by offering a better proposal than both Fiorentina and Everton. Villa then followed that up by making 2 surprising loan signings, the first being Man Utd outcast Jadon Sancho who will join on a straight loan deal with Aston Villa covering 80% of Sancho’s wages and the second being Liverpool Academy graduate Harvey Elliot joining Aston Villa on loan with an Obligation to Buy clause guaranteed package deal of £35m.
Senne Lammens and Emi Martinez goalkeeper tug of war
On the topic of Aston Villa, they were also busy the transfer market keeping an eye out for potential goalkeeping replacements for their want away first choice goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Early on in the transfer window Martinez was linked with a potential move to Manchester United and the Argentinian made his feelings very clear that he was very keen on the move to Old Trafford. Man Utd were taking their time exploring their options and reportedly settled on deciding whether they would go for a more experienced goalkeeper in Emi Martinez or a much younger long-term goalkeeper in Senne Lammens. During the final weeks of the transfer window it looked as though United had settled on Lammens as their new goalkeeper however the deal that seemed simple was dragging on for quite a while, personal terms were already agreed however there was a disagreement between the clubs on the valuation of the Belgian goalkeeper where Man Utd were reportedly negotiating a fee around €20m where as Royal Antwerp valued the goalkeeper at €25m.
The negotiations went on up until deadline day where Man Utd prepared a backup deal in case the Lammens deal could not reach a solution which the backup deal was Emi Martinez. Man Utd had made contract with Martinez, quickly agreed personal terms and Martinez even informed Aston Villa on his desire to join Man Utd as the 33-year-old goalkeeper was always keen on the move which in a wild twist of events prompted Aston Villa to approach Senne Lammens as a potential replacement should Martinez leave for United. As it stood it looked as though 1 player was guaranteed to be joining Man Utd while the other was going to either stay or become a new Aston Villa player. In the end Man Utd and Royal Antwerp managed to agree on a deal that was valued at €21m (plus add-ons) for the 23-year-old goalkeeper while Emi Martinez, who waited for Man Utd, remains at Aston Villa going into the international break however there is still the possibility he could leave in the Turkish transfer window.
Nicolas Jackson’s on and off deal with Bayern Munich
All summer long everybody knew of the situation between Nicolas Jackson and Chelsea where the Senegalese striker became surplus to requirements at Chelsea and was even replaced by 2 striker signings in the form of Liam Delap and João Pedro. The 23-year-old striker took his time evaluating his options to which he had plenty off with clubs like AC Milan, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and FC Bayern Munich all reportedly interested in signing the Senegalese International. In the end, Bayern Munich seemed to have won the race for the striker and offered to sign Jackson on a €15m loan deal with an option to buy clause of €80m which also included a sell clause. One of the most expensive loan deals ever looked all set and done however Chelsea came across an emergency with one of their new strikers, Liam Delap, picking up an injury early on in Chelsea’s last game before the international break against Fulham which promoted the West London club to try call the deal off. Nicolas Jackson and his agent were already on a flight to Germany to finalize the deal and were told by Bayern that Chelsea wanted Jackson to return to which Jackon’s agent stated that they would not return and that they would not give up on this deal. While Bayern and Jackson’s agent tried to come up with solutions, Chelsea managed to find solutions of their own by managing to recall their young striker Marc Guiu from his loan move at Sunderland AFC to which Sunderland in turn made their solutions by signing Bryan Brobbey from Ajax for €20m (5m Add-ons) as a deadline day replacement. The Jackson Bayern Munich deal was back on but with some changes to the deal that included an increased loan fee that is now €16.5m instead of €15m as well as the Option to Buy clause now became an Obligation to Buy clause with Jackson already agreeing on a 5-year deal.
