Did Any Premier League Club Actually Win The ‘Summer Of Strikers’ Transfer Battle? – Recruitment Analysis

It may be tough to cast your mind back to the chaotic summer transfer window, but the moves that Premier League clubs desperately pushed for now look very different in the context of the season.

It was the summer of hotly tipped and hotly chased strikers.

If you take a closer look, players with potential scouted by the elite clubs are usually wanted by more than one club.

There are countless examples of teams wrestling for players before one decides where to go.

This is because players who explode in the Premier League or the top five leagues are already scouted; teams want the next big thing or the player with potential to grow and emerge.

This is precisely why so much money was splurged on strikers this summer, with saga after saga and clubs playing games with each other.

The chess game between Newcastle United and Liverpool for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike springs to mind. 

It may be, though, that after pursuing strikers like Benjamin Šeško, Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Yoane Wissa, and others, the results were more negative than positive or, at the very least, may require some time.

It was an incredibly boring end to the 2024/2025 Premier League season, with 10 or so game weeks when there was nothing to play for.

We knew who had been relegated and who would win the title earlier than usual, which left the race for the Champions League.

But compare that to seasons gone by, where everything was to play for late into the season, and the product became almost unwatchable. 

So, where did that leave everyone?

Well, the Premier League’s ‘big six’ were sick of losing matches to the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton, and Fulham, so they began to buy big.

After a merry-go-round and tumultuous, unpredictable summer transfer market, this Premier League recruitment analysis article focuses on analysing where each striker is at, and which teams, if any, ‘won’ the Premier League summer transfer window.

Alexander Isak Transfer Analysis

The Alexander Isak transfer was hailed as a needle-mover signing, but ultimately, Arne Slot was handed an expensive new attacker and is still figuring out how to make the most of it.

It’s tough to call Isak’s signing anything but a disaster at this point.

The Swede seems to lack the cutting-edge pace, dribbling ability, and confidence that made him one of the world’s most feared strikers.

Isak was meant to usher in Liverpool’s ‘Galacticos’ era; the plan in the summer was simple: sign some of the best attackers in the world, assert your dominance, and build on an excellent first season from Slot.

However, it has completely backfired, making it more difficult for Liverpool to quickly rebuild their attack.

It has raised the question of whether there was any need to tear it down and let someone as fantastic as Luis Díaz go.

The problem can be outlined with the images above.

The reason Liverpool were so dangerous in the Premier League last season wasn’t that they rode on the back of Mohamed Salah’s terrific form and relied on him for goals; it was the excellent connection in the middle of the pitch the Reds created with a dropping attacker.

Compare that to the image above, where there is 40 yards of space in the middle of the pitch, and it’s been a frequent sight to see the centre circle completely empty.

The problem is, the defence looks up and wants to find a link in midfield, but there are no players there.

This is even more baffling when you think of Isak’s ability to receive with his back to goal.

With Newcastle, he would receive, drag a defender with him, turn, and drive at defenders.

He was hailed as a mix of Thierry Henry and Erling Haaland, but he is suffering from injuries, a lack of sharpness, and a Liverpool attack that has lost its bite.

Isak is also a by-product of Florian Wirtz being on the team and Slot playing him often.

The trifecta of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ryan Gravenberch last season won many duels.

Shoe-horning Wirtz into the team has led to situations like the one below, where three midfielders are stuck in the same spot, clueless about how to progress the ball.

Isak’s signing was jaw-dropping and audacious.

However, 16 games into the season, he’s representative of Liverpool’s dramatic regression.

Benjamin Šeško Transfer Analysis

Though it may be a tad early to judge Šeško, we have seen some bright sparks, and most of his appearances have come in short spurts.

Šeško has completed more than 80 minutes on only five occasions.

Still, it’s clear that when he plays with the other two illustrious United signings of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, United’s attack is bright and dangerous.

United struggled for goals last season, but at the time of writing, they have scored the same number as Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Šeško has been key to Amorim’s embrace of the Premier League’s ‘new’ tactics.

United play a lot more long balls and have scored the joint-most goals from set-pieces in the league. 

When Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha drop deep in the half-spaces, Šeško can either join them or pin back defences, so there is always a striker occupying the centre-backs.

Whilst it may be odd that there are so many players for United when they have the ball dropping deep and wanting the ball straight to their feet, the point is to drag players out of position.

Whilst Šeško pins defences back, United need to support him with runners in behind, and the wide full-backs may be the best option for this.

In the above image, it’s Joshua Zirkzee in that position, but this was when Šeško wasn’t playing, and it’s basically the same scenario.

In two of United’s most mature and complete performances this season, with the victories against Sunderland and Brighton, their attacking trifecta played and was effective, with Šeško scoring against Sunderland and looking sharp against Brighton.

With AFCON on the horizon and the Slovenian fit again, you get the feeling we’ll see more of him.

There are also reports that United may switch to a 4-3-3 with Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo out.

It would be unfair to call Šeško a flop, though he has been underwhelming; there isn’t enough evidence yet to decide how good he has been in the Premier League.

We have seen flashes of what he can add, but as he recovers from another injury, we will learn more in the second half of the season. 

Viktor Gyökeres Transfer Analysis

The consensus from an Arsenal point of view before this season was that they needed a striker to solve their inability to break down low blocks. 

It felt as though, during the 2024/2025 season, once the set-piece goals dried up, so did the overall goals the Gunners scored.

It was either going to be Šeško or Gyökeres, and the former Sporting CP striker ended up being the choice.

Thus far, Gyökeres has scored against Leeds United, Burnley, and Nottingham Forest despite playing a lot of minutes.

There is an argument to be made that Swede offers Arsenal alternative options against attacking teams, but they suit a false-nine striker.

When Mikel Merino plays, Arsenal can stretch defences wider and get more players into the centre of the pitch.

It means that Merino’s presence elevates other attackers and allows for more rotations. 

From the image above, Merino’s past as a midfielder means he knows how to drop off away from the attacking line, whilst still being a good link-up player in midfield spaces. 

Not only that, but Merino drags defenders with him, whereas with Gyökeres, because he’s more of a forward-thinking, fox-in-the-box poacher, his movement is more stagnant.

It may have been forgotten, but there was a reason Arsenal paid so much money for Kai Havertz.

He’s a false nine, which means he can be a striker but also link up in build-up, then, when he has done this, look to venture into the box, something Merino can do too.

Gyökeres is more of a traditional striker.

It doesn’t feel as though, at the moment, he is good enough or mobile enough for Arsenal to change their play style, and why would they want to when you take a look at how dynamic they are with a false nine? 

In the matches Merino played as a striker: Brentford, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, and Bayern Munich, even in matches where Arsenal weren’t comfortable, they found solutions to open teams up or blow them away because of how Merino elevates other attackers.

Gyökeres lacks the same flexibility as the Spaniard because, with Merino, different attackers can go into the centre of the pitch whilst other players can simultaneously stretch defences wide.

Another issue Gyökeres has is the fact that what he has been primarily signed for or what he is good at in terms of gambling and getting into the box, we haven’t seen enough of yet.

Gyökeres is meant to be the goal-poacher, the striker on the end of crosses, but there have been too many occasions where the cross evades him as he fails to get on the end of it.

The Wolves game is a pertinent example of this.

Gyökeres was explicitly bought for Arteta to have an alternative option to the deep, compact blocks of the Premier League, yet against the worst team in the league by far, Gyökeres managed one shot and had 15 touches in 81 minutes.

The difference between Gyökeres and the ‘false nine’ options that Arsenal has is night and day because of how little he is involved in Arsenal’s overall play. 

The tactical evolution of Arteta’s Arsenal has been extraordinary; it has allowed players and signings, such as Declan Rice and Kai Havertz, to come into the team, making the team better.

At the moment, Gyökeres is struggling.

Conclusion

Whilst there is still much football to be played in the Premier League, it goes to show that whilst clubs aren’t afraid to spend big in the summer, it isn’t straightforward to integrate your star signing and get them firing right off the bat, no matter how good your team is.

In some cases, it may be easier for a Premier League club to sign a star striker while in transition than for a team trying to maintain success, as they have to change the way they play or adapt a successful style of play.

There is still half a season left and plenty of football to be played.

But the Premier League summer of strikers and spending big isn’t going as well as the big clubs have hoped.