Summer 2026 Transfer Tracker (Preliminary Version)
Image Credit: Christopher Bill
The summer transfer window is a perfect opportunity for football clubs in most leagues across Europe and other continents to re-tool or completely re-build their squads. This transfer window takes place throughout the offseason, except for clubs based in leagues across the Nordic countries — for them, it marks the midway point. As a result, those leagues experience less transfer activity.
That said, while the summer for most people serves as a vacation period with friends and family, for footballers and management personnel it may be the final days living in a city or even in a particular country.
For the second time ever (though first time in summer), we are tracking all transfers that occurred within Europe’s top five leagues:
Bundesliga (Germany);
LaLiga (Spain);
Ligue 1 (France);*
Premier League/EPL (England);** and
Serie A.
This tracker identifies the number of transfers among the top five European leagues, by league, and the total amount of British pounds spent and earned by clubs within these leagues. That said, the tracker includes overlap in money spent due to intra-league transfers: players moving between clubs within a league.
The summer 2026 transfer window will close for clubs from Bundesliga and Ligue 1 on August 31, 2026 at 19:00 British Standard Time (BST), or 14:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The window for clubs in EPL, LaLiga and Serie A will close on September 1, 2026 at the following times:
EPL: 23:00 BST, or 18:00 EDT;
LaLiga: 22:59 BST, or 17:59 EDT; and
Serie A: 20:00 BST, or 15:00 EDT.
The data presented below account for transfers completed and registered within The Guardian’s database until July 26, 2026.
Transfer Spending and Revenue, by League
Since the start of the transfer window, the 20 clubs from the EPL were collectively the highest spenders among those from all five leagues. As of July 26, 2026, EPL clubs collectively spent £1.4 billion, while accumulating £818.2 million in revenue — also the highest among all five leagues — throughout the summer 2026 transfer window.
As well, during the same period, the 20 clubs from LaLiga have collectively generated the lowest revenue among the five leagues, totalling only £133.4 million. At the same time, the 20 LaLiga clubs spent £296.9 million.
Finally, the 18 clubs from Ligue 1 have collectively spent the least amount of money among all five leagues, totalling £156.8 million; these clubs also collectively generated £361.1 million in revenue.
It is worth noting, however, that these amounts solely include transfers with a disclosed fee; transfers containing undisclosed fees are not included. They also exclude loan deals that include purchase options.
The figure below shows the amount of money spent and earned in transfer income by clubs in each of Europe’s top five leagues, by league. Transfers indicated in this figure exclude permanent transfers containing an undisclosed fee, free transfers, loan transfers and loan terminations.
The figure was last updated on July 26, 2026.
Source: The Guardian
Notable Permanent Transfers
Since the start of the summer 2026 transfer window, several clubs across Europe’s top five leagues have spent significant amounts of money on talented players to bolster their squads. Throughout the transfer window, the 10 most expensive permanent transfers include the following:
Morgan Rogers (forward): From EPL club Aston Villa to league rivals Chelsea FC for £117.0 million;
Elliot Anderson (midfielder): From EPL club Nottingham Forest to league rivals Manchester City for £116.0 million;
Sandro Tonali (midfielder): From EPL club Newcastle United to league rivals Tottenham Hotspur for £92.5 million;
Mateus Fernandes (midfielder): From EFL Championship (and recently relegated) club West Ham United for £85.0 million;
Anthony Gordon (forward): From Newcastle to LaLiga club FC Barcelona for £69.3 million;
Gonçalo Ramos (forward): From Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain to Serie A club AC Milan for £60.2 million;
Crysencio Summerville (forward): From West Ham to Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal SFC for £60.0 million;
Jan Paul Van Hecke (defender): From EPL club Brighton & Hove Albion to Tottenham for £52.0 million;
Marc Cucurella (defender): From Chelsea to LaLiga club Real Madrid for £52.0 million; and
Johan Manzambi (midfielder): From Bundesliga club SC Freiburg to Aston Villa for £51.0 million.
Other permanent transfers involving notable players include defenders Nathaniel Brown, Tarik Muharemović, Marco Palestra and Luka Vusković; midfielders Morten Hjulmand, lee Kang-in, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, as well as forwards Germany Quenda, Ismael Saibari and Bazoumana Touré.
Other transfers, notably those of defender Jérémy Jacquet to EPL club Liverpool (£55.0 million from Stade Rennais), defender Piero Hincapié to EPL club Arsenal (£45.0 million from Bayer Leverkusen) and Howard Rasmus Højlund to Serie A club SSC Napoli (£43.2 million from Manchester United), are the result of loan transfers being converted to permanent transfers.
* Ligue 1 includes AS Monaco, which are based in the Principality of Monaco.
** The EPL may include a number of clubs from Wales. These clubs, which currently participate in one of the English Football League’s top four divisions, include EFL Championship clubs Swansea City and Wrexham AFC, EFL League One club Cardiff City and EFL League Two club Newport County. That said, there are no Welsh clubs competing in the EPL for the 2025-26 season.
