Transfer window winners and losers: Liverpool, Arsenal lead the way as Newcastle rue missed opportunities

Another summer transfer window, another unrivalled period of spending for Premier League clubs, who combined to fork out an astronomical £3bn on incomings over the course of the last three months.

And as is customary with any and every transfer window, dealings went right down to the wire on a chaotic deadline day, where players who took drastic measures to get their moves got their moves, and others who adopted a more professional approach did not.

Business is not quite done for sporting directors - unwanted players could still be offloaded to the Turkish Super Lig before September 12 - but barring any surprise moves for free agents, all clubs' incomings are complete.

Here, Sports Mole picks out three Premier League-based winners and losers from the 2025 summer transfer window.

Transfer window winner: Liverpool

If one was to rate Liverpool's summer transfer window out of 10, a 9.5 would not be inaccurate - the missing 0.5 simply stems from the deadline-day Marc Guehi collapse, which they were pretty much powerless to prevent.

However, Guehi is likely to get his dream move to Anfield at some point in 2026 anyway, and the Crystal Palace centre-back will join the Reds' two new record arrivals, including the man who stands alone as the most expensive transfer in British football history.

The Alexander Isak soap opera ended with Liverpool twisting Newcastle United's arm and concluding a deal for £125m - down from the £150m that the Magpies were reportedly after - while Manchester City and Bayern Munich were powerless to prevent Florian Wirtz from moving to Anfield for nine figures either.

The Reds also wasted little time in hiring Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson's successors, while Hugo Ekitike has hit the ground running up front, and embryonic defender Giovanni Leoni has an incredibly high ceiling.

Add in £190m through player sales - obtaining significant fees for Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Jarell Quansah, Ben Doak and even accruing £8.4m for Trent Alexander-Arnold with a month left on his deal - the summer of 2025 was a Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards masterclass.

Transfer window loser: Newcastle United

Newcastle may have received the biggest transfer fee ever in British football history, but they failed to obtain the £150m they had held out for, and their gratitude to Isak ceased to exist if a curt 37-word transfer confirmation was anything to go by.

The Magpies nevertheless managed to bolster their attacking ranks with the captures of Yoane Wissa - who followed the Isak playbook of going rogue to force a transfer - Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey, but only after so many proposed deals had fallen through.

Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo both opted for a Europe-less Manchester United over a Champions League-competing Newcastle, while moves for all of James Trafford, Joao Pedro, Matheus Cunha, Ekitike, Dean Huijsen and Guehi all failed to materialise for one reason or another.

Sesko and Mbeumo may have been the only two players to 'reject' the Magpies, but the fact that Man United were able to put out a stronger sales pitch after finishing 15th than Newcastle could with Champions League football should raise alarm bells.

Scoreless matches vs. Leeds United and a 10-man Aston Villa showed just how big a hole Isak's departure may leave in the squad, and while the towering Woltemade is an exciting talent, there is no guarantee he will hit the ground running in the Premier League right away.

Transfer window winner: Arsenal

Knowing that it may be win or bust in 2025-26 after three consecutive second-placed finishes, Mikel Arteta went on the offensive and then some this summer, joining forces with no-nonsense sporting director Andrea Berta to bring in an excellent eight new arrivals.

Furthermore, each member of that octet will play an incredibly important role in the 2025-26 season; from signing the world's most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for just £5m to stealing boyhood Gunner Eberechi Eze from under Tottenham Hotspur's noses.

The number nine that Arsenal fans oh so craved also arrived in the shape of Viktor Gyokeres, while both Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke have also shown flashes of their quality, and the defensive duo of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie could easily be a starting pair in the Premier League.

The less said about Arsenal's ability to sell the better - the Gunners have a perennial problem when it comes to obtaining reasonable fees for unwanted players - but focusing purely on incomings, they did not miss a beat.

Transfer window loser: Fulham

As some Premier League clubs up and down the country concluded deal after deal, the powers-that-be at Fulham took biding their time to a new level, only adding one new player to Marco Silva's ranks before September came around.

Even then, that signing was an essential rather than exciting one - second-choice goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte - and the Frenchman was just one of two new players to arrive at Craven Cottage permanently alongside Brazilian attacker Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Fulham did strike late loan deals for AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze and Bayern Munich's Jonah Kusi-Asare, but the latter is only 18 years of age, and a proposed £22m move for Chelsea's Tyrique George fell through at the final moment.

George staying at Chelsea at least meant that Fulham kept hold of Leeds United-linked Harry Wilson, but it is hard not to feel incredibly underwhelmed by the Cottagers' summer dealings, especially seeing as they have also failed to win any of their first three Premier League games of the season.

Transfer window winner: Sunderland

On account of winning the so-called richest game in football - the 2024-25 Championship playoff final - Sunderland had much cash to splash this summer, and the Black Cats pulled off many a major coup as they shelled out close to £200m.

The man pictured above is arguably the Black Cats' standout acquisition among many standout acquisitions, as Bayer Leverkusen Invincible and Arsenal FA Cup winner Granit Xhaka was persuaded to make the move to the Stadium of Light, as were many others of an esteemed European pedigree.

Xhaka's Leverkusen teammate Nordi Mukiele is a signing that must not fly under the radar, while Simon Adingra is Premier League-proven, Brian Brobbey and Habib Diarra have bags of potential, and left-back Reinildo was a stalwart of the Lille team that beat Paris Saint-Germain to the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title.

Taking six points from nine on offer so far this season suggests that Sunderland's blockbuster business is already paying dividends, and the only way it could have been improved would have been if Jobe Bellingham was not seduced by Borussia Dortmund and if Chelsea did not recall Marc Guiu following Liam Delap's injury.

Transfer window winner: Wolverhampton Wanderers

Losing Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo - on a free transfer - early doors gave Wolverhampton Wanderers adequate time to plan for life without the crucial trio, but the early indications are not at all promising.

Aside from converting Jorgen Strand Larsen's loan from Celta Vigo into a permanent move, Wolves brought in players lacking the know-how of England's top flight, as Jackson Tchatchoua, David Moller Wolfe, Tolu Arokodare, Jhon Arias and Ladislav Krejci have never played on British soil before.

That is not to say that a few of Wolves' imports will not immediately adapt to the demands of England's top flight, but it is unrealistic to expect all of them to set Molineux alight straight away. The issue is, Vitor Pereira's side need results straight away.

The Old Gold are the only side without a point on the board after three games of the 2025-26 Premier League season, and a lack of genuine star quality within the squad could prove to be their undoing in the relegation dogfight.