We've done well on the whole, and strengthened the spine of the side without totally overshadowing the players already here - who, let's not forget, still need a chance to show what they can do under Frank.
The best business of the window was actually tying Romero down to a new deal. Next to that, to stumble from Gibbs-White to Eze, and then end up with Simons who has the potential to outshine both of them, was both lucky and also a well-executed move by the club. Kudus was a good add-on to bring some ball-retention to that attacking midfield third, and Palhinha and Kolo Muani are solid and experienced players who will bring a dose of depth and know-how to a young side that sometimes lacks it.
Is it perfect? No. But we were operating in a truly insane window where Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea essentially kept their spending going right to the end, and even supposedly cash-strapped clubs like United dropped 200m like it was nothing. Premier League spending in summer 2025 has hit (iirc) about
4 billion pounds, which is just insane and also a bit morally galling that so much money is being spent on bread and circuses over people. But, it is what it is.
In this sort of hyper-competitive environment, a club like ours will lose out on deals, it's just inevitable. But we did well to prevent being overwhelmed by it and ended up standing our ground relative to the rest of the big six.
If we're still in the CL by winter, I think a depth CB who can play LB, would not go amiss. Perhaps Goncalo Inacio from Sporting, or someone like that.
And come the summer, Frank will have a better idea of which players work and don't work for him, so our spending in summer 2026 will hopefully be more targeted, planned, and hopefully early in the window compared to this year. With Paratici returning in October (apparently), I think we'll have options to pursue.
Overall, a good window with optimism aplenty.
