Deadline day 2026: Enzo Fernandez completes £125m Chelsea-to-Manchester City switch as Grealish joins Everton
Deadline day 2026 delivers a record-breaking finale as the window slams shut
The summer 2026 transfer window closed in chaotic fashion on 1 September as clubs across the Premier League, Scottish Premiership, English Football League and beyond rushed deals across the line. The headline move saw Enzo Fernandez complete a staggering £125m transfer from Chelsea to Manchester City, confirmed at 23:50 on deadline night, in a window that also saw Jack Grealish head the other way on loan and Everton and Manchester City swap Iliman Ndiaye for the Argentine.
Premier League: a night of blockbusters
Manchester City and Chelsea did the bulk of the heavy lifting at the top of the table. Alongside Fernandez's British-record fee, City signed Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for £65m (21:00), while Everton took Jack Grealish on loan from City (22:50) and added Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon on an undisclosed fee (00:00). Chelsea, meanwhile, sent Mykhailo Mudryk to Tottenham on loan (21:00) and Tosin Adarabioyo to the same club for an undisclosed sum (23:15).
Liverpool landed Belgian forward Lucca Brughmans from Genk for £30m (15:00), though they also agreed a £4.3m deal for Djylian N'Guessan from St-Etienne that will not become official until January. Newcastle spent £51.4m on Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille (13:20), while Aston Villa parted with £29m for Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton, 12:30) and £47m for Ibrahim Mbaye of Paris Saint-Germain (11:30).
Brighton signed Chema Andres from Stuttgart for £15.5m (23:41) and, a day later, confirmed Femi Azeez from Millwall for £15m. Fulham were busy too, adding David Affengruber (Elche, 00:15), Manuel Angel from Real Madrid for £3m (22:30) and Hugo Larsson on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt (22:15). Hull's overhaul continued with Tim Iroegbunam (£22m from Everton, 22:05), Brooke Norton-Cuffey (£12m from Genoa, 22:15), Sorba Thomas (Stoke, 23:30), Robinio Vaz (Roma, loan, 22:30), Ilyas Ansah (Union Berlin) and Christos Mouzakitis (Olympiakos, 23:45).
Crystal Palace were among the busiest, taking Ben Chilwell from Strasbourg (00:10), Quinten Timber from Marseille (00:45), Dario Osario on loan from FC Midtjylland (01:05), Honest Ahanor on loan from Atalanta (13:20) and Juan Riquelme Angulo from Independiente del Valle (01:01). Leeds added Jean-Matteo Bahoya (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan, 00:45) and Melvin Bard (Nice, loan, 22:45), while Sunderland took Kevin Danso on loan from Tottenham (20:00) and Zian Flemming joined Ipswich from Burnley for a reported £20m (23:15).
Scottish Premiership: late business north of the border
Rangers loaned Lyall Cameron to Dundee United (21:00) and sold Connor Barron to Middlesbrough on loan, while Celtic brought in Oliver Sorensen from Parma on loan (16:55) and let Reo Hatate and Johnny Kenny leave for Burnley and Preston respectively. Motherwell signed Dylan Levitt from Leyton Orient (09:00), and Rangers added Kevin Kelsy (Portland Timbers), Badredine Bouanani (Stuttgart, loan) and Zidane Iqbal (Utrecht). St Johnstone took Joel Cotterill (Swansea), Josh Campbell (Hibernian) and MJ Kamson Kamara joined Kilmarnock from Hearts, with Alex Williams moving from West Brom to Hibernian.
English Football League: a conveyor belt of loans and frees
The EFL saw a relentless stream of business. Tottenham alone loaned out Dane Scarlett (Leyton Orient), Damola Ajayi (Barnet), George Abbott (Mansfield) and David Ozoh (Derby, 00:17). Leicester's Oliver Skipp joined Charlton on loan, with the Foxes also adding Kamari Doyle (Brighton, loan), John Lundstram from Trabzonspor on a free and Stephy Mavididi heading to Watford on loan. Watford were especially active, recruiting free agents Myron Boadu and Michail Antonio, plus loans for Soumaila Coulibaly and Krepin Diatta.
Other notable EFL moves included Liam Kitching (Coventry to Sheffield United, loan), Igor Julio (Brighton to Burnley), Dujuan Richards (Chelsea to AFC Wimbledon, loan), Chieo Ogbene (Ipswich to Lincoln, loan), Morato (Nottingham Forest to West Ham, loan) and Eiran Cashin (Brighton to Derby, loan).
Women's Super League and international moves
In the WSL, Arsenal signed Elisa de Almeida from Paris Saint-Germain for an undisclosed fee, Manchester City took Anna Moorhouse on loan from Orlando Pride and Manchester United landed Rebeca Bernal from Washington Spirit. Birmingham's Shanade Hopcroft joined Crystal Palace.
Beyond these shores, Kanya Fujimoto returned to Japan with Tokyo Verdy on loan from Birmingham (17 September), Santiago Bueno joined Club America from Wolves on loan (12 September), Morgan Whittaker moved from Middlesbrough to Colorado Rapids and Zeidane Inoussa joined Gornik Zabrze from Swansea on loan.
The days after: September and October tidy-ups
The business did not end with the deadline. On 4 September, Liverpool agreed the N'Guessan deal, Yann Gboho joined Coventry from Toulouse and Nicholas Bilakopic joined Derby. The following weeks brought free-agent settlements including Danny Ings (Wycombe), Aden Flint (Rochdale), Jordan Ayew (Sheffield United) and Dai Cornell (Leicester). Wout Faes left Leicester for Shabab Al Ahli on 28 September, and on 1 October Krepin Diatta completed his move to Watford as an unattached player.