Which Premier League could still do with signings?

Did every Premier League club get what they needed before deadline


We look at the data on every Premier League club, assessing whether each got what they needed before the transfer deadline.

  • Article published before midweek Premier League fixtures and updated with deadline business.

Arsenal

It's been a busy summer for Arsenal already with Gabriel Jesus, who's been a revelation, and Oleksandr Zinchenko strengthening the first-team immediately. Fabio Vieira is still to come in to the side at some point too.

The fact centre-half Ben White has been used out of position instead of natural full-back Cedric Soares suggests right-back could be an area worth strengthening before the window closes. Takehiro Tomiyasu was impressive in his debut campaign but does seem to struggle with injuries.

Pedro Neto v Yeremy Pino

But it's wingers the Gunners are being linked with, presumably to back-up and compete with the impressive Gabriel Martinelli.

  • No deadline day signings

Aston Villa

Central defence is clearly an issue for Steven Gerrard's side given Tyrone Mings' form, Diego Carlos being ruled out by Achilles surgery and the decision to allow Kortney Hause to join Sky Bet Championship side Watford on loan.

Conceding twice at set pieces in defeat by Bournemouth before allowing 2.01 xG and 2.93 xG and against Everton and Crystal Palace respectively does not bode well.

Southampton's Jan Bednarek has been mooted as a potential short-term solution on loan, with Villa also linked to veteran West Ham centre-back Craig Dawson.

  • Deadline day signings: Jan Bednarek, Leander Dendoncker

Bournemouth

Scott Parker spoke openly about the need for newly-promoted Bournemouth to seriously invest before the window closes to give themselves a chance of survival - and that was before a record-equalling 9-0 defeat at Liverpool.

It was fair to assume that defensive additions ought to be a priority after such an embarrassing loss but the meagre 0.28 xG created in that game was a continuation of a worrying trend.

Bournemouth shot map

They created 0.57 xG against Aston Villa, 0.17 at Manchester City and just 0.28 at home to Arsenal; creativity could be a serious issue for the Cherries.

In fairness it has been a very tough start to the season, but Parker's concession after their Anfield collapse that he wasn't too surprised by the result and that he felt sorry for his players because they aren't getting more help in terms of recruitment tells you the story of their window so far.

  • Deadline day signings: Jack Stephens

Brentford

Plenty was said and written about Brentford struggling without Christian Eriksen, who made a huge impact in west London and also allowed the Bees the option to play a more expansive 4-3-3 rather than 3-5-2.

But the return to full fitness of Josh Dasilva has been timely, as has the arrival of Eriksen's international team-mate Mikkel Damsgaard.

No incomings needed. Keeping Ivan Toney is most important.

PL xg/95 leaders w/o big six
  • No deadline day signings

Brighton

Brighton have continued where they left off last season and are now on a run of eight wins and four draws from their last 13 Premier League games, with their only defeat in that time coming against Manchester City.

They have scored 21 goals from chances equating to 23.13 xG in that time, but their lack of a potent finisher is well-documented. Other than the three relegated clubs, only Wolves scored fewer than Albion's 42 league goals last season.

This has especially been a problem at home over the past two seasons. Across Brighton's last 40 home games, they have created chances equating to 67.4 xGF - an average of 1.69 per game - but have scored only 42 times, an underperformance of more than 25 goals.

brighton chance scoring

Based on calculations, there was just a 0.02% chance that Potter's side would score 42 from the chances they created, with them having a greater probability of scoring exactly 94 times (0.04%).

  • Deadline day signings: Billy Gilmour

Chelsea

The lack of a striker has been put forward as a problem for Chelsea but the same was said before the expensive, well-publicised failure that was the signing of Romelu Lukaku.

Thomas Tuchel's recent listing of the number of attacking midfielders available to him should the squad have no injury problems highlighted the fact that it is this area of the pitch his team holds enormous strength.

They should be fine and do not need Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. That might not stop them signing him though.

The Blues also remain active in their pursuit for Leicester's Wesley Fofana and the Frenchman is now highly likely to join.

Anthony Gordon's 21/22 stats

A move for Everton's Anthony Gordon has been another major focus in recent weeks and with Callum Hudson-Odoi's impending loan move to Bayer Leverkusen expected to complete soon, Gordon will provide useful depth and brings exciting potential for the present and future.

  • Deadline day signings: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Denis Zakaria, Wesley Fofana

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace look superbly balanced under Patrick Vieira, they really do not need to do any business.

The one area they potentially could is at right-back where they lack depth, hence the speculation that Aaron Wan-Bissaka may return to Selhurst on loan from Manchester United, where he is seemingly out of favour.

  • No deadline day signings

Everton

Frank Lampard and Everton's search for a striker has led to them bringing Neal Maupay to Goodison Park which will be a welcome addition to their depth in the forward ranks.

Neal Maupay's 21/22 stats

Maupay will certainly go some way in making up for their complete lack of threat without the seemingly perennially injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin - Anthony Gordon and Salomon Rondon have been the centre-forwards of choice so far this season, and the former might not be at the club for much longer.

Armando Broja has been mooted but it's unclear whether Chelsea are willing to let the Albanian, who spent last season on loan at Southampton, leave the club either permanently or on loan.

DCL v Broja

Recent reports have indicated that Chelsea might be willing to include him and Gallagher in a move for Gordon, but the ball is in Lampard's court now.

  • Deadline day signings: Idrissa Gana-Gueye, James Garner

Fulham

It was clear from their opening game against Liverpool, when making 153 pressing actions and narrowly missing out on victory, that this is a different Fulham to the one we have previously seen in the top flight.

They carried that strong opening in to their next three matches, collecting four further points away at Wolves and at home to Brentford before narrowly losing at Arsenal.

Despite losing their creative spark Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool in the summer their average of 1.71 xGF per game shows they have been causing teams problems. Marco Silva will hope the addition of Justin Kluivert adds to those problems for opposition defences should a deal be done with Roma.

They are still shipping too many chances themselves. Centre-back should be a priority with Tim Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo not solid enough to be a commanding Premier League centre-half partnership.

  • Deadline day signings: Dan James, Carlos Vinicius, Willian, Layvin Kurzawa

Leeds

Leeds have now fully adopted the intricacies of Jesse Marsch's system following on from his abrupt arrival last season.

With a full pre-season under their belts and a few new faces at Elland Road it has allowed Marsch to use his preferred 4-2-2-2 focusing on swarming over their opponents in the press - completely different to the man-for-man approach favoured by Marcelo Bielsa.

Leeds striker Patrick Bamford
Leeds striker Patrick Bamford continues to struggle with injuries

They look well-set for the season but could perhaps do with a back-up striker as Patrick Bamford seems unable to shake off persistent injury problems.

  • Deadline day signings: Wilfried Gnonto

Leicester

This is a short one, but not because Leicester are not in need of players.

Brendan Rodgers' team has been trending downwards on underlying metrics for close to 18 months now and there is little sign of that turning around, especially when the only transfer talk coming out of the King Power revolves around potential outgoings.

Leicester

Their first-choice starting XI is full of quality but you can't hide from the data - especially not if any of Wesley Fofana, Youri Tielemans or James Maddison leave before 23:00 BST on September 1.

  • Deadline day signings: Wout Faes

Liverpool

It is no secret that Liverpool require midfield reinforcements. They were torn apart by Manchester United while fielding a midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Harvey Elliot.

Fabinho's return against Bournemouth provided some respite as the Reds thumped the Cherries 9-0 but Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he was wrong in thinking that additions in midfield were not necessary.

Liverpool LCM

The team's slow start to the season coupled with injuries to key profiles like Thiago and Naby Keita have affected the team's balance greatly. If the right player becomes available, expect the Reds to make one final splash in the market before the window closes.

  • Deadline day signings: Arthur Melo

Man City

Not much to say. They'll take some stopping.

  • Deadline day signings: Manuel Akanji

Man Utd

Too much to say. They'll take some fixing.

Though the signing of Antony is one step in the right direction. The Brazilian leaves Ajax for a record transfer fee paid for any Eredivisie player. The expectations will no doubt be huge for a tremendously talented player.

Antony's Eredivisie statistics

Ajax exited the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16 but Antony dazzled defences and audiences throughout. Averaging an impressive 0.60 xGI (xG+xA) in the Champions League last season, Antony managed to bag two goals and four assists in total.

In the 21/22 Eredivisie season, he notched eight goals from an xG of of 6.14 as per Infogol's model. Further grabbing four assists from an xA figure of 4.41.

The Brazilian will slot straight into the starting XI on the right, forming a formidable front three alongside Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford.

With a reported £85m fee, it is unlikely United will make any more high-profile moves but that could change if Cristiano Ronaldo finds a suitor.

  • Deadline day signings: Antony, Martin Dubravka

Newcastle

Eddie Howe will be delighted with the business Newcastle have done this summer but if we were to highlight one position they could strengthen it would be left-back.

Dan Burn is not really suited for the role for Newcastle's aspirations and the solid yet unspectacular Matt Targett seems to be injured a lot.

  • No deadline day signings

Nottingham Forest

After making 16 signings over the course of the summer, one would think Steve Cooper has done about enough business to compete in the Premier League - but they just keep going.

Atletico Madrid full-back Renan Lodi became their 17th acquisition of the summer so who knows what may still happen at the City Ground.

  • Deadline day signings: Willy Boly, Loic Bade

Southampton

Only three teams conceded more goals in the Premier League than Southampton last season and only four allowed more expected goals against (xGA).

Conceding eight times in their opening four league games this season is an indication little has changed on that front, which suggests a central defender and defensive midfielder could be required.

  • Deadline day signings: Duje Caleta-Car, Samuel Edozie, Juan Larios, Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Tottenham

Tottenham look to have one of the most balanced squads in the Premier League following a summer in which Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet and Fraser Forster have arrived at the club.

  • No deadline day signings

West Ham

Lucas Paqueta

Central midfield is the obvious area West Ham needed to strengthen with Tomas Soucek looking a little off the pace now and Declan Rice expected to do too much as a result.

They appear to be looking to do so by targeting Lucas Paqueta, whose potential arrival should give them more threat from midfield.

Should that deal go through, alongside the impressive signings of Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca it should help David Moyes turn around what has been a worrying dip in performance levels stretching back to just after the midpoint of last season.

West Ham
  • No deadline day signings

Wolves

There doesn't seem to me be too much wrong with Wolves, and their summer business has been pretty good, but creativity has been a problem early in the season.

Wolves attacking shot map

They'll hope Matheus Nunes' can help knit things together from an attacking perspective, but Bruno Lage may be asking for more attacking reinforcements before the deadline.

Sasa Kalajdzic's 21/22 stats

Stuttgart's Sasa Kalajdzic seems to be the target before the window closes. The Austrian striker is of a slightly different profile than main striker Raul Jimenez but will most definitely serve as a quality depth addition as Wolves look to add goals to the side.

  • Deadline day signings: Boubacar Traore

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