5 PL Signings to Keep an Eye on in 26/27
Silly Season is over, and it’s been another hectic one across Europe. PL clubs rarely need encouragement to spend money, but the summer of 2026 has taken things to another level. Let’s take a closer look at 5 signings you might want to keep an extra eye on ahead of the 2026/27 PL season.
Following an international tournament that inevitably influenced the market, England’s leading clubs have invested enormous sums in players they hope can immediately change their fortunes. Morgan Rogers has become the most expensive British player in history, Manchester City have spent £116m on Elliot Anderson and Tottenham have made Sandro Tonali one of the centrepieces of a huge rebuild.
The interesting transfers are not necessarily just the most expensive ones, though. Arsenal have added Bruno Guimarães to a team already capable of winning the PL, while Manchester United’s latest attempt to rebuild their midfield has brought Carlos Baleba to Old Trafford.
Some of these players are being asked to transform teams. Others have been signed to ensure already successful sides remain at the top.
Here are five PL signings we will be watching particularly closely during the 2026/27 season.
Morgan Rogers – Aston Villa to Chelsea
Transfer fee: £117m
There is no avoiding the number. Chelsea paid Aston Villa £117m for Morgan Rogers, making the England international the most expensive British player in football history.
That alone guarantees scrutiny. Rogers arrives at Stamford Bridge after developing into one of the league’s outstanding young attacking players at Villa. He contributed to 40 goals across 85 PL appearances for the club and helped them secure a top-four finish before winning the EL last season. His development at international level has been equally impressive, with Rogers becoming a regular member of the England squad and featuring for them at this summer’s big tournament.
Chelsea are therefore not paying £117m for potential alone. They have bought a player who has already demonstrated that he can influence matches consistently in the PL, but the scale of the transfer means simply being good will not be enough. Rogers will inevitably be judged against some of the world’s best attacking players because that is the company his transfer fee puts him in.
The first interesting question is where Xabi Alonso intends to play him. Rogers’ versatility was one of his greatest strengths at Aston Villa. He can operate centrally as an attacking midfielder, begin from the left and drive inside or play as one of the attacking players behind a striker.
That flexibility should appeal to Alonso. The Chelsea manager has previously used both three and four-man defensive structures, meaning Rogers could operate as the left-sided attacking midfielder in a 3-4-3 or begin wider if Chelsea use a 4-2-3-1.
There is nevertheless a tactical question to answer. Some of Rogers’ best football has come when he can carry the ball forward aggressively and attack space. Alonso’s most successful Bayer Leverkusen team was much more patient, regularly dominating possession and forcing opponents into deep defensive positions. Rogers may therefore need to become even more effective when receiving the ball in crowded areas rather than attacking an exposed defence.
The talent is certainly there. At 23, Rogers should also have several years of improvement ahead of him, which partly explains Chelsea’s willingness to commit such an extraordinary sum and give him a contract running until 2033.
What makes Rogers particularly interesting this season is that he has effectively skipped the normal transitional stage associated with a young English player. He is no longer an emerging talent who will be praised for occasional flashes of brilliance.
At £117m, he is expected to become one of Chelsea’s defining players. Whether he can handle that transition will be fascinating to watch.
Elliot Anderson – Nottingham Forest to Manchester City
Transfer fee: £116m
For a few weeks this summer, Elliot Anderson was the most expensive British footballer in history. Manchester City paid Nottingham Forest £116m for the midfielder before Rogers’ Chelsea transfer pushed him into second place.
It remains an extraordinary fee for a player Newcastle sold to Forest only two years earlier. Anderson’s development at the City Ground explains why his value increased so dramatically. He became one of Forest’s most important players, missed only one PL match across his final two seasons and established himself in the England squad. His reputation grew further during the summer’s international tournament, where he featured in all eight of England’s matches and started seven.
Manchester City have not bought him simply because he is young and English. Their midfield needed rebuilding. Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders have all departed, creating an enormous amount of responsibility and technical quality to replace. City have responded aggressively, with Anderson forming part of a new-look midfield that also includes the highly rated Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernández, who arrived on deadline day from Chelsea.
Anderson offers something particularly useful because he does a little bit of everything. He can tackle, carry the ball, progress possession through midfield and contribute creatively. Manchester City describe him as a box-to-box midfielder, and that versatility gives Enzo Maresca several possibilities when constructing his new midfield.
The challenge will be adapting to what City require when they dominate possession. Playing central midfield for Nottingham Forest and playing central midfield for Manchester City are very different jobs.
Forest regularly gave Anderson opportunities to cover large areas and use his athleticism. City will frequently face opponents defending with nine or 10 players behind the ball, leaving considerably less space in which to operate.
Every touch becomes important. Guardiola’s midfielders must understand where space will appear before it actually opens, receive the ball under pressure and circulate possession without slowing attacks down. Losing possession can also be particularly dangerous because City’s territorial dominance often leaves huge areas behind their midfield.
Anderson has the technical ability to make that transition, but £116m creates an expectation that he will do so quickly. There is also the unavoidable Rodri comparison.
Anderson is not a direct Rodri replacement and should not be judged as one, but anyone becoming a central figure in City’s post-Rodri midfield will inevitably be compared with the player who previously controlled that area.
At 23, Anderson has time on his side. City have signed him on a five-year contract and clearly believe they have acquired someone capable of dominating PL midfields for much of the next decade. If they are right, £116m may eventually look less extraordinary than it does today.
Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle United to Arsenal
Transfer fee: £75m
Not every major transfer needs an adaptation period. Bruno Guimarães already knows exactly what PL football requires. Arsenal paid Newcastle £75m for the Brazil international after an opening offer was rejected, with Guimarães signing a four-year contract plus the option of another season.
Unlike Rogers and Anderson, this is not primarily a bet on what the player might become. Arsenal have bought the finished product. Guimarães has spent several seasons establishing himself as one of the league’s strongest central midfielders. He combines aggression with technical quality, can dictate possession from deeper areas and has enough creativity to influence attacks further forward.
Most importantly, he has demonstrated those qualities consistently in English football. That substantially reduces the risk. Arsenal are also signing him from a position of strength.
This is no longer a team trying to make the final leap from contender to champion. Mikel Arteta’s side enter the season defending the PL title, meaning their transfer strategy is about ensuring competitors do not catch them.
Guimarães fits that objective perfectly. He provides another midfielder comfortable receiving possession under pressure and gives Arteta greater flexibility when selecting the balance of his midfield. Arsenal can use him deeper when greater control is required or allow him to operate further forward when they want more aggression around the opposition penalty area.
His personality should matter too. Guimarães became an influential figure at Newcastle and has never appeared uncomfortable with responsibility. Moving to the defending champions brings a different type of pressure, but he is considerably better prepared for it than a player arriving from another league.
There is also an interesting contrast with some of the summer’s other major moves. Chelsea have paid £117m for a 23-year-old they believe can become a superstar. City have paid £116m for Anderson partly because of what they believe he can become over the next several years.
Arsenal have spent considerably less on someone who should be ready immediately. At 28, Guimarães is in what should be the peak period of his career. That makes the expectations simple. He has not been signed to develop quietly over two or three seasons. Arsenal want him to help them win trophies now.
The £75m fee is still substantial, but among the summer’s biggest transfers, Guimarães may actually represent one of the safest investments.
If Arsenal retain the league title, there is every chance he will have played an important role in doing it.
Sandro Tonali – Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur
Transfer fee: £100m
Tottenham needed change after finishing 17th last season. They have certainly delivered it. Spurs have embarked on one of the biggest rebuilds in PL history, spending enormous sums as Roberto De Zerbi attempts to transform a team that came dangerously close to an unthinkable relegation.
Sandro Tonali is perhaps the clearest symbol of that transformation. The Italy international has joined from Newcastle in a £100m deal after establishing himself as one of the league’s outstanding central midfielders. Tottenham’s sporting director Johan Lange described him as one of Europe’s best midfielders when the transfer was completed, highlighting his technical ability, intelligence and experience.
Tonali arrives alongside a long list of expensive additions, but his role could be particularly important. De Zerbi’s football places enormous responsibility on central midfielders. They need to be comfortable receiving the ball in dangerous areas, resist pressure and understand when to accelerate possession rather than simply moving it sideways.
Tonali possesses those qualities. He can play deep, progress the ball and cover substantial ground without possession. He also brings the competitive edge required by a team attempting to recover from an embarrassing domestic campaign.
Tottenham have other new midfield options, including Mateus Fernandes, but Tonali should become the reference point. That brings pressure of its own. A £100m transfer would attract attention at any club. Joining a team coming off a 17th-place finish creates a different challenge because there is no established winning structure into which Tonali can simply slot.
He is being asked to help create one. That is what makes this move particularly interesting. At Arsenal, Guimarães is joining the champions. Anderson is entering a Manchester City squad accustomed to competing for every major trophy. Rogers joins a Chelsea side containing enormous individual quality.
Tonali is becoming one of the leaders of a reconstruction. Tottenham do not need a minor improvement. After last season, they need to look like an entirely different football team.
De Zerbi clearly believes Tonali can help make that happen. The midfielder himself revealed after completing the move that a lengthy conversation with his new coach played a major role in convincing him that Tottenham was the right destination.
Spurs’ season will involve far more than one player, particularly given the scale of their transfer activity. But if De Zerbi’s rebuild works, Tonali has the qualities to become its central figure.
Carlos Baleba – Brighton to Manchester United
Transfer fee: £65m plus £5m in potential add-ons
Manchester United have spent years searching for the right balance in midfield. This summer they have effectively started again. Casemiro has left, while Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba have arrived to form a completely new collection of central midfield options for Michael Carrick.
The roles appear relatively clear. Tielemans provides passing and experience. Santos can operate as the defensive screen. Baleba brings power. United paid Brighton an initial £65m for the 22-year-old Cameroon international, with another £5m potentially due in add-ons. He has signed a five-year contract with the option of another season.
Baleba’s athleticism immediately differentiates him from many of the midfielders United have used in recent years. He can cover ground quickly, carry possession through pressure and compete physically in transition. Those qualities should help a United side that has too often found itself exposed when matches become stretched.
That does not mean he is simply a runner. Brighton’s development of Baleba has helped turn him into a more complete midfielder, and at 22 there is still considerable scope for improvement. The transfer therefore sits somewhere between the Anderson and Guimarães deals.
United are buying a player who already has substantial PL experience, but they are also paying for what they believe he can become. There is one immediate frustration. Baleba suffered an ankle injury during pre-season and arrives at Old Trafford unavailable. Current expectations are that he could return around the middle of September, potentially close to the Manchester derby.
United should resist any temptation to accelerate that timetable simply because he is an expensive new signing. The more important question concerns what happens when he is fully fit.
Carrick’s midfield rebuild is one of the defining projects of United’s season. Replacing Casemiro with one player would have been difficult enough, but the club have instead chosen to redesign the entire unit. That gives Baleba an opportunity. He does not have to imitate the midfielder United previously had. He can become part of something different alongside Tielemans and Santos.
Of the five transfers on this list, Baleba carries the lowest fee and perhaps the lowest immediate expectation. He may also have the greatest room to increase his reputation.
Brighton have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to identify and develop elite talent before selling at a significant profit. Manchester United are betting that Baleba is another example. If he develops as expected, £70m may eventually look like the price United paid for one of their most important midfielders rather than another expensive attempt to fix the position.
Five big transfers, five very different expectations
The extraordinary fees involved in this summer’s PL transfer market make it tempting to judge every signing by the same standard. That would miss what makes these five transfers interesting.
Rogers must demonstrate that he can carry the expectation attached to becoming the most expensive British footballer ever. Anderson has been selected as one of the players to lead Manchester City into a new midfield era. Guimarães is expected to make an immediate difference for the defending champions.
Tonali has become one of the central figures in Tottenham’s attempt to rebuild after a disastrous league campaign. Baleba arrives at Manchester United as part of another complete midfield reconstruction, with the advantage of being only 22 and already understanding PL football. All five have the ability to succeed.
The interesting part begins now that the transfer fees stop mattering and the football starts.
Odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last Updated: 02.09.2026
