'This may come as a surprise' - Jeff Stelling picks winner of the transfer window, it's not Liverpool
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Credit: Manh Tung, Hasan Karim - Breaking Media, talkSPORT
Oliver Walton
Tue 2 September 2025 15:47, UK
Jeff Stelling has given his view on the team that he believes came out on top this summer, but he has not picked Liverpool despite their late capture of Alexander Isak.
Premier League clubs spent extravagantly once again throughout this summer window, with a total outlay of £3.087billion breaking the league’s record of £2.36bn in the summer of 2023.
Many teams will feel like they have come out of the summer with a seriously strong squad, not least Liverpool, who broke the British transfer record twice to sign both Florian Wirtz and then Alexander Isak, setting a new record for one window by spending £446million.
Arsenal also did some high-profile business by bringing in Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP, while Eberechi Eze was set to join Tottenham but instead made the move to the Emirates Stadium in a late hijack.
Man City did a lot of their business early in the window, but Gianluigi Donnarumma has now also joined the Citizens, while Chelsea’s biggest signing came as Joao Pedro joined from Brighton, alongside the likes of Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho.
Newcastle struggled to make things happen as Isak’s saga rumbled on, but while they will also feel pleased at their overall business after the arrivals of Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade, none of these clubs have been picked as Stelling’s winners of the window.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Tottenham experienced a lot of change throughout the summer window, with Thomas Frank appointed as their new head-coach alongside a host of new signings that were brought in to the North London outfit.
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Frank allowed club legend Son Heung-min to depart after ten years, while a number of fringe players left permanently and on loan, but their incomings were a lot more exciting as the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Mathys Tel, Kevin Danso, Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani all arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They also pulled off one of the shocks of the summer as Xavi Simons joined Tottenham from RB Leipzig, and their business has impressed talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling, who believes they have won the transfer window, with Newcastle in third place and Liverpool in second.
Credit: Imago
While live on air on Tuesday (2 September), he said: “Third in my list… they are a team who have been in the news constantly for many of the wrong reasons, and that is Newcastle United.
They brought in two strikers for less than what they sold Isak for in [Yoane] Wissa and [Nick] Woltemade.
“I think that Newcastle, after this transfer window, even without Isak, I think they are stronger than they were before the window… they’ve got a cracking squad now.”
He went on to say: “This may come as a surprise… my number two is Liverpool.
“But, if I mention the players that that that they’ve lost, you know, [Luis] Diaz and [Trent] Alexander Arnold, Harvey Elliot, Darwin Nunez, and they did not get [Marc] Guehi, and that’s why I make them number two, because I just think at centre back, as excellent as Joe Gomez was when he came on at the weekend, they have a vulnerability there.
Stelling then revealed Spurs as his winners of the window, saying: “It’s a North London side… Tottenham.
The signings that they’ve brought in… Mohammed Kudus from West Ham, they paid a lot of money for him but I do think he is a good player.
“PSG, on loan at Juventus, they’ve brought him in as well, and I just think numerically, they are maybe down on some other clubs, but I think they have brought in quality.
I see Spurs having a good season.”
Credit: Imago
Football Insider verdict
Tottenham have made a number of signings, as aforementioned, but none as high-profile as that of Simons, who cost them an initial £52m [BBC] from RB Leipzig and arrives with a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
Spurs were desperately trying to fill the void left by James Maddison in the transfer window, after he recently suffered a cruciate ligament rupture, and Simons has joined as a player who is expected to eclipse him straight away.
AppearancesGoalsAssists782224Simons’ career stats at RB Leipzig
He seems like a real coup, considering his credentials and quality seen on the international stage and over the last few years at Leipzig, but his arrival also means that his impact will be the barometer of whether the club have had a successful summer.
If he starts well and Frank’s side are near the top of the Premier League and impressing in the Champions League, then many will agree with Stelling’s sentiments, but if he struggles to make an impact and Spurs are not doing well as a club, then the exact opposite will be argued by many rival fans.