The transfer window slams shut and leaves behind a Premier League weekend that is as much about absences as action. Roughly £3.5 billion spent across the men's window, and yet the main feeling right now is one long, collective wince.
The Ghost XI Nobody Asked For
Start at the top. Arsenal host Chelsea on Sunday in what should be the fixture of the weekend, and Vinícius Júnior will not be anywhere near it. Neither will Gabriel Martinelli, who has followed the well-worn path [to Saudi Arabia](/uprise/football/gabriel-martinelli-leaves-arsenal-for-saudi-arabian-club-al-hilal-in), signing off with lengthy social media farewells that, notably, made no mention whatsoever of Mikel Arteta. Make of that what you will.
Chelsea are missing Enzo Fernández, off to Manchester City after he declared he was joining a "big club". In his stead, the Blues were linked with Lamine Camara, the 22-year-old Senegalese midfielder who, at the start of the week, most Chelsea fans couldn't have picked out of a lineup. By deadline day they were apparently heartbroken over him. That is the transfer window in a nutshell. A player you knew nothing about on Monday becomes the answer to all your problems by Friday, then vanishes. Camara will not be lining up in west London on Sunday.
If Arsenal do what they can do and grind Chelsea down, expect sporting director Andrea Betta to take the criticism. That is the modern game. When it goes wrong, the suits get named.
Strikers? What Strikers?
Liverpool travel to Ipswich on Friday with their own mess to stew over. Supporters have been loud about a lack of cover at full-back, and Richard Hughes, who has apparently departed for Saudi Arabia, will have his ears burning. He may find it hard to hear over the noise of Liverpool having the highest net spend in the league while their midfield resembles something moving at the pace of a coaches' minibus.
Manchester United, meanwhile, face Everton on Sunday without Newcastle's Lewis Hall. No Lewis Hall, and no obvious cover should Luke Shaw's hamstring go again. That is familiar territory for United.
Everton's situation, though, is something else entirely. [The summer window](/uprise/football/mens-transfer-window-summer-2026-all-deals-from-europes-top) has left David Moyes with Thierno Barry as his sole available striker. Iliman Ndiaye is gone. The supporters got Harrison Armstrong to stay, which is something, but passing to nobody is a limited skill. The club now owns more stadiums than strikers. That gag has already gone stale and it's barely been a week.
Then there is Richarlison, not playing for Tottenham at Nottingham Forest this weekend because he has been excluded entirely from Spurs' Premier League squad. His social media post declaring he would remain "at the club's disposal" was swiftly followed by Spurs attempting to dispose of him. Turkish Super Lig and the Saudi Pro League are reportedly circling. Similarly, Folarin Balogun, once linked with Everton, will be heading towards Turkey or Saudi after Monaco passed. He won't be at Hill Dickinson Stadium. He won't be at Monaco either.
Our Take
The window threw around £3.5 billion and produced a weekend of ghosts. Clubs with genuine squad holes, directors getting rinsed on social media, and supporters in love with players they'd never heard of seven days ago. The hangover is real, the football starts Friday, and most teams are going into it underprepared. Business as usual, really.