Before the 2026 summer transfer window opened in mid-June, we published a forward-looking preview asking one question: what should you watch? Now that the window has slammed shut on 1 September, we can finally deliver the answers. And what actually happened outstripped the predictions: four Premier League deals broke the £100m barrier, the reigning champions strengthened from a position of power, a legend left Anfield, a managerial carousel reshaped dugouts on two continents, and the Saudi Pro League proved its new doctrine is more than press-conference talk. This is the post-window review — the window that redrew the map.
1. The £100m wave that was supposed to be impossible
The summer’s biggest surprise is that the most common prediction — that PSR would kill the nine-figure signing — collapsed within the opening weeks. Yes, the rules squeezed clubs into selling before buying, and swap deals and structured instalment fees spread across the market. But the big money moved anyway, harder than ever:
- Enzo Fernández from Chelsea to Manchester City for £125m — the deal of the summer.
- Bradley Barcola from PSG to Liverpool for £123m.
- Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa to Chelsea for £117m — a club record for the London side, a signing built for Xabi Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 project.
- Sandro Tonali from Newcastle to Tottenham for £100m.
And the numbers didn’t stop there: Ayyoub Bouaddi joined Manchester City for £85.6m, Carlos Baleba moved from Brighton to Manchester United for £65m, and Elliot Anderson left Nottingham Forest for City as well. The lesson? PSR didn’t abolish the mega-market — it re-engineered it: sell first, then spend smart.
2. Champions Arsenal strengthen from a position of power
Perhaps the summer’s most ominous message came from north London. Arsenal, the reigning Premier League champions, treated the title not as a destination but as a launchpad: they brought in Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle for £75m to anchor the midfield of their title defence. In the opposite direction, they sold Gabriel Martinelli to Al Hilal for €70m — the most expensive sale in the club’s history — a textbook example of the “sell smart to buy strong” equation. Champions don’t evolve by accident; they evolve because they know everyone is coming for them.
3. Salah’s exit — the end of an era at Anfield
The hardest news for Liverpool fans wasn’t Barcola’s price tag — it was Mohamed Salah’s new destination: Trabzonspor. The Egyptian star’s departure after years of writing the club’s history closes an entire era at Anfield, and it explains much of the board’s decision to pour £123m into PSG’s winger. Liverpool’s attacking map has been completely redrawn in a single summer, and a team that used to revolve around Salah’s left foot will start the season with an entirely new offensive identity.
4. The managerial carousel outshines the players
In our preview we wrote that “a great manager today is worth two or three player signings” — and the summer proved it to the letter:
- Xabi Alonso to Chelsea, to lead the Rogers project and the record-breaking rebuild.
- Enzo Maresca to Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s successor — the summer’s biggest story of all: the end of a decade that brought 17 major trophies, and the return of the Treble-season assistant to lead the new project.
- Michael Carrick to Manchester United.
- Álvaro Arbeloa to Fulham.
- Ange Postecoglou to Al Nassr, the reigning Saudi champions, to lead Cristiano Ronaldo and company.
- Brendan Rodgers to Al Qadsiah.
- Simone Inzaghi to Al Hilal.
- Jens Wissing to Al Ittihad.
- Bruno Lage to Diriyah.
England and Saudi Arabia alone absorbed the bulk of this carousel — the two leagues that now share the market for elite managers just as they share the market for elite players.
5. Saudi Arabia — the new doctrine is not a slogan
In our pre-window piece we predicted Saudi clubs would stick to their selective approach: players in their prime rather than stars at dusk. The summer confirmed that prediction with indisputable numbers. Saudi Pro League clubs spent over €222m — eighth among the world’s leagues — below the 2023 frenzy, but sharper and far more precise:
- Gabriel Martinelli from Arsenal to Al Hilal for €70m.
- Crysencio Summerville from West Ham to Al Hilal for €64.5m.
- Tijjani Reijnders from Manchester City to Al Qadsiah for €61m.
- Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa to Al Hilal for €59.6m.
- Francisco Trincão from Sporting CP to Al Ahli for €39.35m — the chosen successor to Riyad Mahrez.
- Eduard Spertsyan from Krasnodar to Al Ahli for €25m.
- Samu Costa from Mallorca to Al Nassr for €22m — Marcelo Brozović’s replacement.
- Malang Sarr from Lens to NEOM for €20m.
Look at the ages: Summerville is 24, Trincão 26, Spertsyan 26. This is no longer a retirement market — it’s a long-term build with one eye on the 2034 World Cup the Kingdom will host: players who can raise the league’s level for years, not grab headlines for one season.
6. The end of the first-generation era
On the other side of the ledger, the historic 2023 generation quietly exited the stage: Riyad Mahrez and Franck Kessié left Al Ahli, Fabinho departed Al Ittihad, Marcelo Brozović left Al Nassr, Georginio Wijnaldum moved on from Al Ettifaq, and João Cancelo returned to Barcelona. The page that opened three years ago with astronomical figures closed this summer, replaced by a younger generation with a longer horizon. Al Nassr, the reigning champions, begin their new era under Postecoglou with Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mané, João Félix and Kingsley Coman — a blend of the first generation’s remnants and the new generation’s core.
What did we learn from summer 2026?
- We misread PSR: the rules reshaped the market but never killed it — the £100m deal came back stronger.
- We called Saudi Arabia right: selectivity and younger ages are now official doctrine, not a temporary trend.
- We called the managers right: their market mattered more than some positions on the pitch.
- Free agents were not the star of the summer as we expected — structured money and proactive selling were the real protagonists, though Bernardo Silva’s free move to Real Madrid stood out as the big exception.
The mercato is closed, but the new map has only just been drawn: England buys at record prices despite financial pressure, and Saudi Arabia buys with brains from a position of long-term planning. Between them, world football is rearranging its centres of power.