Top Premier League Signings This Season: Liverpool Star Makes List as Sunderland Ace Takes No.1 Spot
We ranked the top summer acquisitions before the season kickoff. After playing a lot of matches, it’s time to go back and remove Florian Wirtz from the top 10 as much as possible.
Alexander Isak isn’t quite up and running yet, and Wirtz has had trouble making an impact at Liverpool.
The Premier League winners made a significant investment during the summer transfer window, but only one of their new additions is included in our list of the season’s top 10 acquisitions.
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10) Estevao (Chelsea)
We cannot entirely take back all of the complimentary remarks we made about each player we previously named one of the summer’s top acquisitions.
Is Mbeumo Bryan? Yes, exactly. Who is Matheus Cunha? Yes. Florian Wirtz? Oh, definitely. Estevao, however, is deserving of his place in our top ten ranking.
This is already a significant signing for the present and a huge one for the future. Estevao’s dramatic victory over Premier League winners Liverpool demonstrates that he is already prepared to seize the most important opportunities.
For a person his age, that is invaluable. The 18-year-old’s decision to join Chelsea is the best part of this acquisition. Instead of joining a Premier League team, Brazilian wonderkids typically join Real Madrid, Barcelona, or PSG.
We love it. Hopefully, by choosing not to visit England, he will satisfy the need that Neymar was unable to.
9) Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man city)
Although he hasn’t accomplished as much as some honourable mentions, Donnarumma is hard to ignore. Not because of his height, either. 99% of our decision to include him is based on our observations of Donnarumma prior to his arrival at Man City on the day of the deadline.
The Yashin Trophy, which he received for the second time in his career, just acknowledged that he has been the world’s finest custodian this season.
The Italian played a pivotal role in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory, producing some incredible saves during the two legs of their semi-final matchup with Arsenal.
It is impossible to leave out someone who is the absolute greatest in their position if you have signed them.
8) Nordi Mukiele (Sunderland)
Although Regis Le Bris’ team is now in a dismal seventh place in the Premier League after seven games, we have included up to three Sunderland players in this ranking.
After an unsatisfactory loan stint at another major club, Mukiele had the makings of a flop written all over him, yet he has been a bloody revelation at the back.
We are really appreciative of what he has done to make Sunderland appear like a legitimate Premier League team. The Black Cats’ success is a welcome change after the previous two seasons saw all three promoted teams relegated.
After winning the playoffs. In order to assist them adjust to the top flight after an eight-year break, Sunderland added a wonderful blend of youth and experience during the summer transfer window. At the rear, Mukiele has set an example.
7) Jordan Henderson (Brentford)
After an outstanding start to his Brentford career, Henderson grudgingly finishes in ninth position.
Henderson is a wise signing for a new manager like Keith Andrews since the former Liverpool captain, who won the Champions League, can serve as a second manager on the pitch.
In addition to playing effectively in the Brentford midfield, he isn’t just hanging about yelling at people.
Without playing very deep while out of possession, which teams won’t do against the Bees, you can’t really stop his long-range assists and defense-splitting passes, which have swiftly grown to be a major weapon in Brentford’s inventory.
Henderson deserves some recognition for his performances this term, despite what we’ve said about him.
6) Sean Longstaff (Leeds)
Longstaff is acting like he has something to prove. He’s not feeling sorry for himself in the Leeds midfield, even if leaving his boyhood club was always going to be difficult. He was a huge coup for Leeds for just £12 million.
What the Elland Road supporters can expect from Longstaff was demonstrated by his Player of the Match performance against his old team, Newcastle.
Since then, he has excelled, most notably scoring and providing an assist against Bournemouth on matchday six.
5) Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool)
In the first few months of 2025–2026, Ekitike has been outstanding for Liverpool despite his stupid red cards.
It’s regrettable that he will be punted out wide to make room for him because he has accomplished more for Liverpool than a certain £125 million striker has thus far.
Arne Slot does, however, have some striker depth currently. Arsenal supporters will be disappointed that they didn’t choose him over Viktor Gyokeres, but the season is long and the Swede may well end up with more Premier League goals than Ekitike.
4. Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal)
In the end, Arsenal may have needed an outstanding defensive midfielder rather than a new striker.
That is what Zubimendi is, and he has given Mikel Arteta’s team, who must be our favourites for the title perfect balance.
The £60 million Arsenal spent for Zubimendi may end up being a steal. If it’s feasible… If he wins them the league, it most likely is.
3) Robin Roefs (Sunderland)
Given how well his Sunderland career has started, Roefs deserves his roses. The Black Cats are enjoying the benefits of their bold decision to bring in a young custodian from overseas to be their new number one.
Roefs has made some significant saves and saved a penalty in a home victory against Brentford, but his best performance for Sunderland came in the team’s 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend.
His Saturday save against Bruno Fernandes was also of the highest calibre, earning him a spot in this top ten on its own.
If Senne Lammens proves to be as successful as every Manchester United acquisition over the previous five years, we’re just waiting for them to sign him for £50 million next summer.
2) Jack Grealish (Everton)
I guess everyone agrees that it’s great to see Jack Grealish having fun with football once more? Thomas Tuchel might not be entirely on the same page just yet.
Grealish was left off of Pep Guardiola’s Club World Cup team after spending a season warming the bench for Manchester City, which was a blatant indication that his time there was coming to an end.
Everton seemed unconcerned by Grealish’s exorbitant salary, and the 30-year-old is returning the favour this season with some outstanding performances.
Grealish helped Everton defeat Brentford 2-0 in their first competitive match at their new stadium on his complete debut.
He recorded two more assists as the Toffees defeated Wolves a week later. Grealish is ideal for a team led by David Moyes. It won’t be long, buddy, until England is remembered.
1) Xhaka Granit (Sunderland)
Our Premier League acquisition of the season so far is right here.
No one believed that Sunderland was making a mistake when they showed interest in Xhaka, but there were doubts about the Switzerland captain’s motivation to play for a recently promoted Premier League team.
After leaving Arsenal in 2023 at the ideal moment, he quickly rose to prominence and took charge of Bayer Leverkusen, which went undefeated to win the Bundesliga.
Xhaka was outstanding once more in 2024–2025, but he wanted to be a part of the big exodus at Leverkusen.
He could have had a lot of teams vying for his services, but he took a chance that has already paid off. Sunderland was a major supporter of his wish to go.
He is already the captain of Sunderland, and some of the team’s fans have called him the best midfield player they have ever seen play for them.
