Simulating the Premier League Transfer Window on Football Manager – Here’s what Every Prem Club Did

With the help of Football Manager content creator, FM Direktor, I have simulated the 2026 summer transfer window for every Premier League club. Here’s what happened.  

 

Arsenal

Arsenal kept things fairly tight, but still spent big on one statement addition. Fabian joined from Paris SG for €40m. The main sale was Jakub Kiwior to FC Porto for €29m, with Alexei Rojas Fedorushchenko, Josh Nichols and Daniel Oyetunde also leaving in lower-profile moves. If this happened in real life, you’d have to feel that Arsenal fans would be pretty disappointed. They need a statement attacker to capitalise on their Premier League win. 

 

Aston Villa

Villa’s window was more about trimming the squad than making headline signings. Modou Kéba Cissé came in from LASK for €5.5m and Jacob Wright arrived from Norwich for €4.9m, but the more notable business was outbound. Enzo Barrenechea joined Benfica for €12m, while a long list of players, including Lewis Dobbin, Josh Feeney and Kerr Smith, went out on loan.

 

Bournemouth

Bournemouth’s incoming business was modest, with Danilho Doekhi joining from Union Berlin for €0 and Emilio Lawrence arriving as a free agent. Hamed Traorè was the clear major departure, moving to Marseille for €11.5m, while Alex Tóth, Matai Akinmboni and Ben Winterburn all left on loan.

 

Brentford

Brentford had a busy and fairly interesting window. Mao Hosoya came in from Kashiwa for €5.5m, Alistair Johnston arrived from Celtic for €16m, Paulinho joined from SEP for €23m, and Fábio Vieira was picked up on a free. They also cashed in on Frank Onyeka, who went to Coventry for €8m, and Iwan Morgan, who joined Nottingham Forest for €1.1m.

 

Brighton

Brighton’s window had a classic Football Manager flavour. Romelu Lukaku and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both turning up on the south coast, alongside Anton Gaaei from Ajax for €8.75m. The big outgoing was Stefanos Tzimas, sold to RB Leipzig for €30.5m, while Joël Veltman returned to Ajax for €2.7m. Several younger players also left on loan, including James Beadle, Tommy Watson and Eiran Cashin.

 

Coventry

Coventry were one of the more aggressive promoted-side operators. Frank Onyeka, Merih Demiral, Giorgi Chakvetadze and Victor Boniface all arrived for fees, while Mika Mármol and Lorenzo Pellegrini joined as free agents. Ethan Laird also came in on loan from Birmingham. Their outgoings were all loans, with Miguel Ángel Brau, Norman Bassette, Liam Kitching and Kai Andrews sent out.

 

Chelsea

Chelsea sold big and bought lighter. João Pedro went to Manchester United for €98m, Trevoh Chalobah moved to Liverpool for €29m and Ishé Samuels-Smith joined Wolves for €3m. Coming in were Emanuel Emegha, Denner, Brahim Díaz and Dastan Sätpayev, with Brahim the most recognisable name at €23.5m from Real Madrid.

 

Crystal Palace

Palace had one of the stranger windows. John Stones and Bernardo Silva both arrived on free transfers, Anthony Caci joined from Mainz for €12m, Juanlu came in from Sevilla for €45m, and Ardon Jashari arrived on loan from an unclear club listed as Casciavit. Outgoings were limited, with Romain Esse and Rio Cardines leaving on loan and Victor Akinwale moving to FIX Wanderers FC for €0.

 

Everton

Everton made four additions: Merlin Röhl from Freiburg for €23m, Jordan Teze from Monaco for €15m, plus loan deals for Martin Terrier and Luca Langoni. There was very little movement the other way, with Kingsford Boakye leaving for Mestre on a free-style €0 deal and Francis Gomez going to Bromley on loan.

 

Fulham

Fulham kept things low-key compared to most of the division. Tom Atcheson arrived from Blackburn for €1.9m and Luke Skinner came in from Bristol City for €1.4m, while Adam Hložek and Michaël Cuisance joined on loan. The outgoings were minimal: Logan Cooke moved to Swansea for €61k and Luke Harris went to Mansfield on loan.

 

Leeds United

Leeds made two first-team-looking additions: Franck Kessié from Al-Ahli for €0 and Rômulo from RB Leipzig for €33.5m. Their outgoings were all loans, with Sebastiaan Bornauw, Lukas Nmecha, Jayden Lienou and Rhys Chadwick moving out temporarily.

 

Liverpool

Liverpool spent heavily and widely. Jérémy Jacquet arrived from Rennes for €64m, Kang-In Lee joined from Paris SG for €40m, Trevoh Chalobah came in from Chelsea for €29m and Bryan Zaragoza arrived from Bayern for €13.75m. They also added Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Martin Cedidla for smaller fees. The exits were mostly loans, although Trent Kone-Doherty did join Molde permanently for €750k.

 

Manchester City

City’s incoming business was simple but expensive: Georges Mikautadze for €52m from Villarreal and Désiré Doué for €85m from Paris SG. The exits were more dramatic. Omar Marmoush went to Barcelona for €78m, Nathan Aké joined Juventus for €19.75m and Manuel Akanji moved to the unclear “Blu-neri” for €15m.

 

Manchester United

Manchester United had the most Football Manager window imaginable. João Pedro arrived from Chelsea for €98m, Eric García from Barcelona for €71m, Francisco Conceição from Juventus for €58m, Hiroki Ito from Bayern for €28m, Samú from Mallorca for €25m, David Martínez from LAFC for €6.5m and Cristian Orozco from Fortaleza for €875k. The big exits were Rasmus Højlund to Parthenope for €44m and Marcus Rashford to Barcelona for €35m, with several loans below that.

 

Newcastle United

Newcastle went for established names. Francisco Trincão arrived from Sporting CP for €60m, Ferran Torres from Barcelona for €37m, Sergi Cardona from Villarreal for €35.5m, Stanislav Lobotka from Napoli for €25m and Luka Modrić from AC Milan for €6.75m. Their departures were quieter: António Cordero, Harrison Ashby and Rory Finneran went on loan, while Matthew Targett joined Hull for €0.

 

Nottingham Forest

Forest’s incoming business was surprisingly restrained: Iwan Morgan from Brentford for €1.1m and Sacha Boey from Bayern Munich for €4.6m. The notable outgoing was Jota Silva to Beşiktaş for €17m. Dan Ndoye, Kyle McAdam and Eric da Silva Moreira also left on loan.

 

Sunderland

Sunderland’s window was quietly fascinating. Jadon Sancho arrived as a free agent, Leke Drake came in from Manchester City for €500k, Gift Orban joined from Hoffenheim for €6.75m and Reda Belahyane arrived from the unclear “Celesti” for €14m. They also sold Eliezer Mayenda to Bayer Leverkusen for €15.25m, with Aji Alese and Harrison Jones leaving on loan.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs made three signings: Xaver Schlager from RB Leipzig for €0, Jakub Moder from Feyenoord for €22.5m and Vangelis Pavlidis from Benfica for €60m. Alejo Véliz was the only permanent sale, moving to an unclear club listed as BAH for €9m. Mikey Moore, Yang Min-Hyeok, Kota Takai, Tyrese Hall and George Abbott all went out on loan.

 

Hull City

Hull City had by far the wildest window. Jarrod Bowen returned from West Ham for €35.5m, Aaron Ramsdale arrived from Southampton for €15m, Darwin Núñez joined from Al-Hilal for €53m, Jota came in from Celtic for €24m, Óscar Mingueza arrived from Vigo for €25m and Pedro joined from Zenit for €27m. That was only part of it: Fabinho, James Milner, Elseid Hysaj and Justin de Haas came in on free transfers, while several others arrived on loan, including Adam Webster, Matt Doherty, Lukas Klostermann and Gianluca Prestianni.

Ipswich

Ipswich spread their business across several cheaper deals. Chuba Akpom came in from Ajax for €8m, Yannik Engelhardt from Como for €3.6m, Luca Fletcher from Manchester City for €800k and Maximiliano Caufriez from Clermont Foot for €0. Salih Özcan and Pedro also joined as free agents. Their outgoings were mostly loans, with Ash Boatswain leaving for Gateshead on a €0 deal.

 

Final verdict

Thewindow landed somewhere between believable squad churn and full Football Manager chaos. Arsenal, Villa and Everton looked fairly sensible. Manchester United, Liverpool and City spent like elite clubs trying to refresh fast. Hull, though, were the clear outlier. A promoted-club super-window packed with big names, loans, freebies and one of the strangest rebuilds you could imagine.

 

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