From Azeez to Andrés: the seven smartest Premier League deadline-day deals

The 2026 summer window slammed shut on 1 September with its usual final-hour frenzy — headlined, as BBC Sport reported, by Manchester City's stunning reported £125m capture of Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea, in a frantic deadline day that also brought major Premier League moves involving Jack Grealish, Ben Chilwell and Mykhailo Mudryk. But beyond the record fees, a clutch of deals completed as the clock ticked down look capable of delivering far more than they cost.

The Guardian's Opta Analyst team has run the rule over the late business and picked out seven moves that look particularly smart, spanning five clubs from Brighton to Newcastle. From a Championship cross-machine to an 18-year-old with World Cup minutes behind him, here are the deals the data suggests could prove the bargains of the window.

Femi Azeez: Millwall to Brighton, £15m

A "tricky, exciting, quick and versatile midfielder", as the analysis puts it, Azeez has proven himself in the Championship with Millwall over the past two seasons and now gets his chance to test himself in the top flight. Brighton had been chasing him for a while and struck a deal on deadline day for a reported initial £12.5m, rising to £15m. "If he can make the step up and produce anything like his second-tier form, he'll be a steal," the Opta Analyst concluded.

The numbers back the optimism. In the 2025-26 Championship season, Azeez topped the division for open-play crosses (227) and expected assists from crosses (6.71 xA), ranked fourth for dribble attempts (131), ninth for shots (95) and sixth for chances created from open play (58). Only two players created more big chances than his 18, and he ranked fourth for expected assists. Perhaps most tellingly, his 9.12 xA alongside just seven assists suggests he may benefit from playing alongside better finishers at the Amex.

Ibrahim Mbaye: PSG to Aston Villa, £47m

A "hugely exciting prospect" is how the Opta Analyst piece describes the 18-year-old, who arrives at Villa Park with experience far beyond his years. Last year Mbaye made six appearances for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, including the final, and this summer he made four more at the World Cup. He has also featured in two Ligue 1 title-winning campaigns with Paris Saint-Germain — in 2024-25 he became the youngest player in the club's history to start a game — and won the Champions League in both of those seasons.

A dribbling and ball-carrying menace who "always looks as if he's about to do something special", Mbaye ranked 11th for carries per 90 (20.0) and 12th for progressive carries per 90 (10.3) among players with at least 900 minutes in Ligue 1 in 2025-26 — with most of the players above him defenders, who naturally have more space to move into. He was third for take-on-ending carries (2.9 per 90), running with the ball for at least five metres before attempting to beat an opponent. And he has end product to boot: he scored at the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup despite limited minutes, and his 0.45 goals or assists per 90 for PSG last season is not to be sniffed at.

Kevin Danso: Tottenham to Sunderland, loan with buy obligation

Danso had a pretty impossible task across his two years at Tottenham, deputising for the first-choice centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, playing intermittently on both sides of central defence in dysfunctional teams jumping between styles of play. He was "unfairly compared with the players he was replacing" for much of his time there, but "the truth is he was always reliable enough" — and he excelled when Romero got injured during the run-in last season and he was called upon in Spurs' time of need as they scraped clear of relegation.

He may not be the best on the ball — though he is hardly terrible — but he is an excellent deep defender. Among players with at least 1,000 Premier League minutes in 2025-26, Danso ranked first for clearances (8.2 per 90) and headed clearances (6.3), and fifth for aerial duels won (4.8 per 90). The fit at Sunderland looks ideal: the Black Cats spent more of their out-of-possession game time in a low block than any other Premier League team last season (25%), and Danso could slot in alongside Dan Ballard — the player he beat into second place for both clearances and headed clearances.

Iliman Ndiaye: Everton to Manchester City, £65m

It was always said during Pep Guardiola's time at Manchester City that attackers had their wings clipped in terms of individual freedom, limited to playing within the parameters of the manager's meticulous gameplan. But dribbling ability became increasingly important in the final years of his reign, with Jérémy Doku and Antoine Semenyo on the wings and Rayan Cherki in between: Doku (162) and Semenyo (144) ranked first and second for dribbles attempted in the Premier League in 2025-26, with Cherki ninth (111), and they ranked first (84), fourth (59) and eighth (51) respectively for dribbles completed.

With the deadline-day addition of Ndiaye, City have gone in even harder on dribbling ability under Enzo Maresca. The Senegal international ranked second for dribbles attempted (136) and dribbles completed (73) in the 2025-26 Premier League season, and his £65m arrival from Everton came on a deadline day that also delivered Enzo Fernandez to the Etihad — underlining the scale of City's late spending.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo: Lille to Newcastle, £51m

Versatility is the major attraction. The Belgium international is comfortable playing off the left and cutting in on to his right foot, or operating as a No 9. Although not the bulkiest, he has explosive pace and promises to be a threat in behind — and he is arguably at his most threatening when running with the ball, because he does so with such purpose.

The numbers underline it: his 122 carries progressing the ball at least 10 metres upfield in Ligue 1 in 2025-26 were bettered by only seven players, several of whom were defenders. On top of that, he ranked top for carries into the penalty area (69) and seventh for carries ending with a shot or chance created (39).

Malick Fofana: Lyon to Sunderland, £30m

Fofana appeared to be enjoying a swift rise in 2024-25, only for a serious ankle injury to massively disrupt his development in 2025-26. Sunderland will be hoping they can get him back to the levels shown the season before last, when he was a real livewire on Lyon's left flank: nine goal involvements (five goals, four assists) in 1,586 Ligue 1 minutes in 2024-25, averaging one every 176 minutes, with only eight forwards (900+ minutes) averaging more expected assists per 90 than his 0.25.

The most eye-catching aspects of his game, however, are his dynamism and pace. Among Ligue 1 forwards with 900+ minutes in 2024-25, his 16.6 carries per 90 ranked sixth, and he moved up to third for progressive carries per 90 (11.5). Direct, exciting and with significant potential, he is a player Sunderland could make a profit on if he reaches the levels previously expected.

Chema Andrés: Stuttgart to Brighton, £20m

Andrés arrived to bolster Brighton's midfield options after Carlos Baleba's exit to Manchester United. Although a different type of midfielder to the Cameroonian, Chema is another with vast potential. A product of Real Madrid's academy, he joined Stuttgart last summer, and during his sole campaign in the Bundesliga he was in and out of the team but caught the eye at the base of their midfield.

Comparisons have been made to Rodri because of his physical attributes and nominal role as a holding midfielder. He does not have anything like the same influence in possession, but Chema is tidy on the ball — and it is what he offers defensively that is most notable. Broadly praised for his anticipation and reading of the game, he ranked second among Bundesliga midfielders (900+ minutes) since the start of last season for interceptions per 90 (2.3).

The common thread: carrying, dribbling and data-driven gambles

From Azeez's relentless crossing to Mbaye's ball-carrying, Ndiaye's dribbling and Fernandez-Pardo's progressive runs, the common thread running through the seven deals is a clear one: clubs betting on players who move the ball forward and make things happen in the final third. Whether all seven prove smart will only be decided on the pitch, but on the underlying numbers, Brighton, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle all approached deadline day with a plan — and came out of it with deals that look set to pay off.