Demand for strikers has never been as hot as it was among the Premier League teams during the recently concluded summer transfer window.
Spending on football’s premier frontmen reached new heights even as Liverpool smashed the British transfer record again to sign Alexander Isak for €144 million late on deadline day.
At the end of the transfer window, Premier League clubs splashed a staggering €860.5m on strikers alone – the most in one window – for 21 players. The previous highest was in 2022-23, when the clubs spent €474.1m, nearly half the amount, on 15 players.
Of the 21 strikers, seven players (Isak, Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike, Yoanne Wissa, Viktor Gyokeres, Joao Pedro, Nick Woltemade) have each commanded a fee of over fifty million euros.
The teams’ needs to invest in strikers have also skewed the market in their favour despite their relatively unproven pedigree. Bundesliga has been the favoured hunting ground for leading Premier League clubs with four big-money signings coming from there.
Clubs like Manchester United, which is out of European competition for the first time in 11 seasons, spent €76.50m for 22-year-old Sesko from RB Leipzig. While he is a striker with immense potential but has only 39 goals in 87 matches in his two seasons at Leipzig.
Most expensive strikers in 2025-26 summer window
1. Alexander Isak to Liverpool – €144 million
2. Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool – €95 million
3. Nick Woltemade to Newcastle – €85 million
4. Benjamin Sesko to Manchester United – €76.50 million
5. Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal – €65.80 million
6. Joao Pedro to Chelsea – €63.70 million
7. Yoanne Wissa to Newcastle – €57.70 million
Similarly, Newcastle’s desperation to find a replacement for the want-away Isak, forced it to splurge a club record fee of €85m for 23-year-old Woltemade, who has just 19 Bundesliga goals in 47 matches for Eintracht Frankfurt.
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In an era where teams are increasingly looking to move the ball into good goal-scoring positions inside the box, they want to find the best marksman to make the most of those chances.
The value of a good frontman was emphasised by Erling Haaland’s transfer to Manchester City for what now seems to be a bargain fee of €60m in 2022. The Norwegian has racked up 88 goals in 100 league appearances while averaging a goal per 7.31 touches inside the opposition box.
The trend in goal-scoring has also been on an upward curve in the Premier League. Last season’s tally of 1091 goals – the second-highest ever in a 38-game season – was only behind 2023-24’s total of 1246 goals.
The pace in the Premier League is faster with the conversion rate for counter-attacks at an all-time high. Last season’s shots from fast breaks (513) and goals scored (112) from those transitions have been the best in the league since 2018. The xG of 111.9 to the number of goals scored from the turnovers further underscores a need for goal-scorers.
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While the likes of Sesko, Gyokeres, Ekitike and Tel do not have the track record in England, their pace and running behind the defensive lines will be key to breaking down oppositions.
Among the Premier League teams, Liverpool appears to have the cutting edge in attack heading into the season and possibly beyond it after its combined outlay of €239m for Isak and Ekitike.
Isak, who scored 23 goals last campaign, was only behind his new teammate Mohamed Salah (29). While Ekitike has had a successful start to his life in Merseyside, he might have to take a backseat after the arrival of the experienced Isak.
But the problem of plenty is something, the Reds boss Arne Slot will be happy to contend with.
Published on Sep 02, 2025