Premier League sides spent big strengthening their respective squads, but neither PSG nor Barca made many moves in the market
The 2025 summer transfer window closed on Monday, bringing an end to a summer of almost endless drama and controversy. Premier League sides spent more money than the other 'Big Five' leagues combined, meaning there's a very real risk of title-challenging teams from La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 becoming feeder clubs for England's elite.
That said, Real Madrid splashed a fair bit of cash remodelling their backline, taking Trent Alexander-Arnold away from Liverpool in the process, but it's not as if the right-back is being missed at Anfield, which bore witness to one of the most remarkable spending sprees in football history.
But who were the big winners of the summer? Below, GOAL grades 10 of the continent's top teams in terms of their summer business…
FC Bayern10Bayern Munich | Grade: D-
Bayern Munich are looking good on the field, but appear to be in utter disarray off it – and a chaotic transfer window is the reason why.
Depending who you talk to, sporting director Max Eberl has either made a mess of this summer's recruitment strategy – or been hindered by the financial restrictions imposed upon him by the board. Whatever the truth, it's clear that Bayern's squad is, as Eberl admitted, "too thin" for a team with aspirations of winning both the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
The departures of Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane, Eric Dier and Joao Palhinha make sense in isolation. but not when measured up against the quantity – and quality – of the arrivals.
As Luis Diaz is already proving, he'll add a lot to the Bayern attack (even the Colombian cost far more than he should have done), while Jonathan Tah represents a fantastic free transfer. However, agreeing to pay Chelsea a €16.5m loan fee for Nicolas Jackson, as well as accepting a €64m obligation to buy, is indicative of the ridiculously high level of desperation that gripped the Bavarians during the closing days of the transfer window.
Vincent Kompany unquestionably has a very strong starting line-up, one capable of going toe to toe with any of Europe's top teams, but the Belgian is clearly short on numbers in key areas and the issues at boardroom level, coupled with the way in which Bayern missed out on top targets Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade, has rightly set alarm bells ringing at the Allianz Arena.
AdvertisementAFP9Barcelona | Grade: D+
Barcelona remain a club still trying desperately to get back on an even keel after the destabilisation caused by years of gross financial mismanagement. Consequently, this summer was always going to be more about offloading unwanted players than signing new stars. In that context, the Blaugrana have done reasonably well, as they ended up making more money (€37m) than they spent (€29m).
Of course, Barca didn't really need a goalkeeper, but Hansi Flick wanted one – so sporting director Deco deserves credit for taking advantage of the ludicrously low buy-out clause in Joan Garcia's Espanyol contract (€29m) to sign one of the best young shot-stoppers in La Liga from their city rivals. The €3m spent on Danish teenager Roony Bardghji could also end up looking like a bargain in a few years' time.
However, there's no getting away from the fact that ending up with Marcus Rashford after pursuing Nico Williams and Luis Diaz is seriously underwhelming from Barca's perspective. Missing out on Williams was particularly painful, as the Spain international was keen to move to Catalunya. However, he rather understandably pulled the plug on the transfer after Barca refused to insert an exit clause into his contract that would have allowed him to leave if the club failed to register him with La Liga.
In a further blow for the Blaugrana, Inigo Martinez left for Al-Nassr because Barca promised to release the veteran defender if he received a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia during the summer. As a result, Flick lost one of the key figures from last season's domestic treble win for absolutely nothing.
So, while the German coach still has some of the most exciting players in the world at his disposal, his squad really isn't any stronger than a year ago.
Getty Images8Paris Saint-Germain | Grade: C
Paris Saint-Germain unsurprisingly opted against making wholesale changes to a squad that won a treble last season. However, Luis Enrique had two requests.
Firstly, he wanted another strong, ball-playing centre-back to provide cover for Willian Pacho and Marquinhos, and Illia Zabarnyi certainly fit the bill.
Secondly, and far more significantly, the coach asked for a new goalkeeper. Gigi Donnarumma may have been utterly integral to PSG's Champions League triumph, but Luis Enrique was never happy with the Italian's distribution of the ball.
Consequently, he made the controversial call to ditch Donnarumma in favour of Lucas Chevalier, the former Lille No.1 who is far more suited to the role of sweeper-keeper. However, the fact that Donnarumma was promptly picked up by Manchester City means this is a deal that is likely to be scrutinised all season long.
Still, Luis Enrique is rightly happy with his lot right now and, looking at the window as a whole, perhaps the one disappointment from PSG's perspective is that Randal Kolo Muani's proposed permanent move to Juventus collapsed, meaning the French and European champions had to accept a loan offer from Tottenham to keep him off their roster for another season.
Getty 7Manchester United | Grade: C+
Manchester United are obviously still counting the cost of more than a decade of dreadful recruitment, so it's going to be some time before they're back competing for major honours. However, some progress was made during the summer – in the transfer market at least.
United managed to find new homes for wantaway wingers Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea) and Antony (Real Betis), while they should be officially rid of Rasmus Hojlund next summer, as the Danish striker's loan move to Napoli will become permanent if the Partenopei qualify for next season's Champions League – which they should do easily.
Former England forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have also been removed from the wage bill but only for a year, and it really wouldn't be a surprise to see both back at Old Trafford at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Still, all of the outgoings put United in a position to overhaul their attack, which they've done with the signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko – though they've managed just one Premier League goal between them so far and the latter looks worryingly short of fitness and confidence.
Furthermore, United did nothing to address their glaring issues in midfield (other than keep Kobbie Mainoo against his will) and they really need the inexperienced 23-year-old Belgian Senne Lammens to solve their costly goalkeeping problem.
Long story short, it could be another testing season for the Old Trafford faithful, whose patience is already being tested by Ruben Amorim and his tactical dogma.
