The 2026 World Cup controlled the soccer world this summer, as Spain upended Argentina to complete a dominant tournament and win a second title.
Yet even those teams saw players switching clubs this summer, as Marcos Senesi moved from Bournemouth to Spurs and Marc Cucurella made the jump from Chelsea to Real Madrid.
MORE — All completed Premier League transfers, summer 2026
It’s a reminder that the transfer market never sleeps and most Premier League teams were hard at work during the tournament, selling and buying in less-publicized manners than most years.
So as you settle back into Premier League mode, what have you missed? And who has the most work to do over the next month?
Aston Villa’s eye-popping midfield merry-go-round
Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers were huge parts of Aston VIlla’s return to the UEFA Champions League, but both have left the club for new PL homes. Rogers is off to Chelsea in a massive money move, while Tielemans has moved to Manchester United. Throw in Amadou Onana’s ACL tear against the USMNT in the World Cup and that’s a lot.
Attempting to fill their shoes are LASK Linz defensive midfielder Modou Keba Cisse, relegated Wolves star Joao Gomes, and one of Switzerland’s brightest lights at the World Cup in 20-year-old Johan Manzambi.
Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Ross Barkley, and Lamare Bogarde are still there, as is Emiliano Buendia, but this won’t be the same team as they compete on several fronts.
Chelsea somehow finding ways to get younger
Chelsea lost manager Enzo Maresca after he was denied experienced players, and now Xabi Alonso will be working with a somehow-younger team this season.
Sporting Lisbon star Geovany Quenda (19) and Atalanta’s Marco Palestra (21) join comparative retiree Morgan Rogers (23) as new Chelsea players, while the Blues have watched Marc Cucurella (28) move to Real Madrid (and win a World Cup.
Yes all of Chelsea’s players will be a year older this season because of time, but more leadership will be asked of a team that sometimes looked rudderless last season. Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Cole Palmer have a lot of work.
Brighton, Spurs ‘swap’ headline two summers of change
Maybe this is a nerdy numbers thing — raises hand — but the summers of Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion are very, very interesting and underlined by a pair of center backs going each way.
The Seagulls are a team whose transfer activity raises eyebrows — when they’re in the market for a player, the price tag and interest goes up. So their willingness to move World Cup Best XI candidate Jan Paul van Hecke to Spurs while taking back a younger defender in Luka Vuskovic is a headline occasion.
Van Hecke is a stud and outshone even Virgil van Dijk and new teammate Micky van de Ven at the World Cup. At 26, he’s just into his prime and worth the spend of a reported $70 million. Enter 19-year-old center back Vuskovic, who played 66 minutes for Croatia against England at the World Cup after impressing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga last season. Brighton bought the teenager for all but $9 million of Van Hecke’s price tag.
Spurs have added Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali to their midfield while also signing Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson to join Van Hecke, Van de Ven, and World Cup star Pedro Porro in the back line. That’s a lot of Premier League experience.
Brighton beat Newcastle to Zadok Yohanna and brought in Pascal Struijk from Leeds, also signing Costinha from Olympiacos, Michael Svoboda from Venezia, and Rodrigo Rega from Benfica.
Manchester United add midfield after last season’s attack spending spree
Michael Carrick worked with Man United’s re-worked attack last season and will be comfortable with his returning backs, but the midfield is going to look quite different this season as the Red Devils return to the Champions League.
Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos join a midfield that can give a lot more freedom to Bruno Fernandes while Mason Mount, Kobbie Mainoo, and Manuel Ugarte remain for the moment. They’ll have to replace Casemiro’s massive production from last season but the back line was not a problem and Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, and Matheus Cunha are back. Diallo and Cunha were brilliant at the World Cup and Sesko could make yet another big step.
Newcastle United in trouble
This isn’t a “What are you doing?” situation because the Magpies are abiding by their word and making handsome profits on Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, but Newcastle United do not have the scouting reputation of Brighton and Bournemouth and may also have to replace Bruno Guimaraes if Arsenal are successful in stirring up his emotions.
Newcastle so far are betting big on youth making a quick adjustment to the Premier League as Hoffenheim’s Bazoumana Toure, Ajax’s Sean Steur, and Reims Ewen Jaouen are a combined 58 years old.
That makes the idea of Guimaraes skipping town even more worrisome. Presumably, he’d tie together a decent back line with a young attacking trio. But if he’s gone? Jaouen could be playing behind a solid back four of Lewis Hall, Sven Botman, Malick Thiaw, and Tino Livramento and almost total uncertainty in front of them as Lewis Miley would have to make a big step while Joelinton and Jacob Ramsey hope Steur quickly clicks into place and one of Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, and William Osula take hold of 15-goal promise.
Could one of the richest teams in the world spend a season skipping about in the bottom half?
What more will come from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City?
City made a huge splash with the signing of Elliot Anderson, who could join Rodri in producing the most controlling midfield in the division. A full Man City offseason for Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki — well, mostly full for Cherki — plus a healthy Josko Gvardiol have the team among the title favorites, so what else do they need?
Liverpool have signed Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz and also did monumental business last year. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak should take their next steps and hopefully Giovanni Leoni is healthy and capable of contributing early enough. Yet with Ibrahima Konate gone, this is still a team who overworked their best (and oldest) center back Virgil van Dijk last season and then saw him play quite a bit in the Netherlands’ World Cup run.
Not much has changed at Arsenal, who added keeper Illan Meslier and made Piero Hincapie’s transfer permanent as expected. Leandro Trossard’s skipped town, but the Gunners bought plenty of attacking talent last summer. Rumored interest in Bruno Guimaraes would catapult their strength and versatility in the midfield to an even more elite tier (Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Guimaraes, and Maritn Odegaard is silly stuff). So who’s coming in to aid the title defense?
