Executive Summary
38%
Clubs' average hit rate
In total we identified 182 real signings by the clubs of Premier League in the 2025/26 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 157 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 25 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.
League Analysis
Champions Arsenal posted a hit rate of 56% on signings (8 evaluated), holding 5th place in the accuracy ranking. The bottom four in the table had an average hit rate of 35% on signings — below the league average (38%), highlighting the link between recruitment quality and sporting performance.
Manchester United leads the accuracy ranking with 70% and Crystal Palace closes the list with 0%. p. over the clubs' decisions).
Club Ranking
| Club | League position | Signings | Evaluated | Successful | Fair | Unsuccessful | Hit rate % | SigningLab* |
|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 3º | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 70% | 100% |
| 2 | Tottenham | 17º | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 70% | 80% |
| 3 | Manchester City | 2º | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 62% | 88% |
| 4 | Brentford | 9º | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 62% | 100% |
| 5 | Arsenal | 1º | 8 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 56% | 88% |
| 6 | Chelsea | 10º | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 50% | 50% |
| 7 | Liverpool | 5º | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 50% | 67% |
| 8 | Brighton | 8º | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50% | 50% |
| 9 | Leeds | 14º | 11 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 45% | 90% |
| 10 | Bournemouth | 6º | 12 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 39% | 78% |
| 11 | Sunderland | 7º | 17 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 33% | 67% |
| 12 | West Ham | 18º | 13 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 33% | 92% |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 4º | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 30% | 60% |
| 14 | Burnley | 19º | 11 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 25% | 90% |
| 15 | Everton | 13º | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 25% | 88% |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest | 16º | 15 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 17% | 73% |
| 17 | Newcastle | 12º | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14% | 29% |
| 18 | Fulham | 11º | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12% | 50% |
| 19 | Wolves | 20º | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11% | 67% |
| 20 | Crystal Palace | 15º | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0% | 43% |
* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.
The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).
Season Highlights
The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).
| Player | Club | Pos | Min | G+A | Avg rating | Rating | SigningLab |
|---|
| Rayan Cherki | Manchester City | M | 1794 | 4+12 | 6.99 | Excellent |
| Viktor Gyökeres | Arsenal | F | 2254 | 14+1 | 6.62 | Excellent |
| Maxim De Cuyper | Brighton | D | 1443 | 2+3 | 5.52 | Excellent |
| João Pedro | Chelsea | F | 2674 | 15+5 | 7.07 | Excellent |
| Jack Grealish | Everton | M | 1631 | 2+6 | 7.20 | Excellent |
| Granit Xhaka | Sunderland | M | 2903 | 1+6 | 7.33 | Excellent |
| Marc Guéhi | Manchester City | D | 1350 | 1+1 | 7.50 | Excellent |
| Senne Lammens | Manchester United | G | 2880 | 0+0 | 6.41 | Excellent |
| Đorđe Petrović | Bournemouth | G | 3420 | 0+0 | 6.88 | Excellent |
| Nordi Mukiele | Sunderland | D | 2787 | 3+3 | 6.74 | Excellent |
Methodology
Club assessment — the universe of signings
The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.
Player Impact Score (PIS)
Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.
Outcome classification
The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.
A note on scope
This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.
Appendix — Signings by club
* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.
Arsenal (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Martín Zubimendi | 38 | 3001 | 5 | 1 | Good |
| Viktor Gyökeres | 36 | 2254 | 14 | 1 | Excellent |
| Eberechi Eze | 36 | 1816 | 7 | 2 | Good |
| Piero Hincapié | 30 | 1792 | 1 | 2 | Good |
| Noni Madueke | 32 | 1226 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Cristhian Mosquera | 31 | 1003 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Christian Nørgaard | 28 | 108 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | 38 | 90 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Aston Villa (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Victor Lindelöf | 34 | 985 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Jadon Sancho | 29 | 891 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Evann Guessand | 18 | 597 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Marco Bizot | 37 | 585 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Tammy Abraham | 14 | 294 | 2 | 0 | Fair |
| Harvey Elliott * | 8 | 109 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Alysson Edward * | 3 | 56 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Bournemouth (12 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Đorđe Petrović | 38 | 3420 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Adrien Truffert | 38 | 3380 | 1 | 5 | Fair |
| Álex Jiménez | 32 | 2330 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Eli Junior Kroupi | 38 | 1690 | 13 | 0 | Fair |
| Bafodé Diakité | 37 | 1286 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Rayan Rocha | 15 | 1119 | 5 | 2 | Excellent |
| Amine Adli | 37 | 1106 | 3 | 1 | Fair |
| Alex Tóth * | 16 | 185 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Ben Doak * | 19 | 122 | 0 | 1 | Investment |
| Fraser Forster | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Christos Mandas | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Matai Akinmboni * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Brentford (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Caoimhin Kelleher | 37 | 3330 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Dango Ouattara | 32 | 2279 | 7 | 3 | Fair |
| Jordan Henderson | 33 | 1929 | 1 | 3 | Good |
| Reiss Nelson | 24 | 152 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Antoni Milambo * | 4 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Romelle Donovan * | 23 | 38 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Brighton (5 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Maxim De Cuyper | 36 | 1443 | 2 | 3 | Excellent |
| Olivier Boscagli | 38 | 819 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Charalampos Kostoulas | 29 | 386 | 2 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Diego Coppola | 22 | 201 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tom Watson * | 11 | 73 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Burnley (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Martin Dúbravka | 38 | 3150 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Kyle Walker | 37 | 3097 | 0 | 2 | Good |
| Lesley Ugochukwu | 37 | 2359 | 3 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Florentino Luís | 35 | 2118 | 0 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Quilindschy Hartman | 30 | 1830 | 0 | 5 | Fair |
| Loum Tchaouna | 38 | 1316 | 2 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Axel Tuanzebe | 14 | 1202 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Armando Broja | 29 | 874 | 1 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| James Ward-Prowse | 14 | 694 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Max Weiss | 38 | 270 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jaydon Banel * | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Chelsea (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| João Pedro | 35 | 2674 | 15 | 5 | Excellent |
| Alejandro Garnacho | 33 | 1283 | 1 | 4 | Fair |
| Jorrel Hato | 35 | 1159 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Liam Delap | 29 | 1139 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Estevão | 25 | 852 | 2 | 2 | Good |
| Jamie Gittens | 22 | 495 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Mamadou Sarr * | 10 | 107 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Facundo Buonanotte * | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Dário Essugo * | 10 | 34 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Crystal Palace (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Yéremy Pino | 36 | 2100 | 2 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Jaydee Canvot | 34 | 1347 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Brennan Johnson | 19 | 1124 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Jørgen Strand Larsen | 14 | 911 | 3 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Evann Guessand | 8 | 336 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Christantus Uche * | 25 | 193 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Borna Sosa | 30 | 99 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Walter Benítez | 36 | 90 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Daniel Imray * | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Everton (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 31 | 2635 | 8 | 4 | Good |
| Thierno Barry | 38 | 1932 | 8 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Jack Grealish | 20 | 1631 | 2 | 6 | Excellent |
| Merlin Röhl | 27 | 694 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tyler Dibling | 36 | 371 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tyrique George | 13 | 219 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Mark Travers | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tom King | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Adam Aznou * | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Fulham (4 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Samuel Chukwueze | 24 | 1075 | 3 | 4 | Fair |
| Kevin Macedo | 27 | 1037 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Oscar Bobb | 14 | 578 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Benjamin Lecomte | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Leeds (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin | 35 | 2726 | 14 | 1 | Fair |
| Gabriel Gudmundsson | 32 | 2642 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Anton Stach | 30 | 2378 | 5 | 3 | Good |
| James Justin | 36 | 1916 | 2 | 1 | Good |
| Jaka Bijol | 34 | 1913 | 1 | 2 | Good |
| Noah Okafor | 29 | 1573 | 8 | 1 | Fair |
| Lucas Perri | 34 | 1440 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Lukas Nmecha | 34 | 1092 | 6 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Sean Longstaff | 29 | 1046 | 2 | 2 | Fair |
| Sebastiaan Bornauw | 30 | 439 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Facundo Buonanotte * | 8 | 41 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Liverpool (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Florian Wirtz | 33 | 2388 | 5 | 3 | Good |
| Miloš Kerkez | 38 | 2301 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Hugo Ekitiké | 29 | 1810 | 11 | 4 | Good |
| Jeremie Frimpong | 23 | 1068 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Alexander Isak | 16 | 714 | 3 | 1 | Fair |
| Freddie Woodman | 19 | 212 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Giovanni Leoni * | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Manchester City (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | 34 | 3060 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Rayan Cherki | 34 | 1794 | 4 | 12 | Excellent |
| Tijjani Reijnders | 38 | 1640 | 5 | 2 | Good |
| Antoine Semenyo | 17 | 1402 | 7 | 1 | Good |
| Marc Guéhi | 15 | 1350 | 1 | 1 | Excellent |
| Rayan Aït Nouri | 26 | 976 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| James Trafford | 38 | 360 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Marcus Bettinelli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Christian McFarlane * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Manchester United (5 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Senne Lammens | 35 | 2880 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 33 | 2621 | 11 | 3 | Excellent |
| Matheus Cunha | 34 | 2503 | 10 | 2 | Excellent |
| Benjamin Šeško | 31 | 1636 | 11 | 1 | Fair |
| Tom Heaton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Newcastle (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Malick Thiaw | 38 | 2964 | 4 | 0 | Good |
| Nick Woltemade | 34 | 1939 | 8 | 3 | Below expectations |
| Jacob Ramsey | 33 | 1465 | 2 | 3 | Below expectations |
| Anthony Elanga | 34 | 1338 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Aaron Ramsdale | 38 | 1003 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yoane Wissa | 23 | 539 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| John Ruddy | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Nottingham Forest (15 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Igor Jesus | 37 | 2320 | 6 | 4 | Good |
| Omari Giraud-Hutchinson | 36 | 1695 | 1 | 5 | Fair |
| Dan Ndoye | 29 | 1176 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Nicolò Savona | 18 | 1026 | 2 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Dilane Bakwa | 21 | 552 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Jair Paula | 23 | 525 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| John | 18 | 438 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Luca Netz | 13 | 355 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Oleksandr Zinchenko | 8 | 353 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Douglas Luiz | 14 | 331 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| James McAtee | 35 | 322 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Stefan Ortega | 11 | 270 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Lorenzo Lucca | 6 | 135 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Arnaud Kalimuendo | 18 | 107 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Angus Gunn | 14 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Sunderland (17 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Robin Roefs | 35 | 3150 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Granit Xhaka | 34 | 2903 | 1 | 6 | Excellent |
| Noah Sadiki | 33 | 2894 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Omar Alderete | 35 | 2802 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Nordi Mukiele | 33 | 2787 | 3 | 3 | Excellent |
| Reinildo Mandava | 25 | 1969 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Brian Brobbey | 33 | 1944 | 7 | 1 | Fair |
| Lutsharel Geertruida | 35 | 1702 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Chemsdine Talbi | 31 | 1561 | 4 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Habib Diarra | 21 | 1407 | 2 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Simon Adingra | 22 | 665 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Bertrand Traoré | 16 | 638 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Nilson Angulo | 8 | 413 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Melker Ellborg | 14 | 270 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Arthur Masuaku | 11 | 127 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Marc Guiu * | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Jayden Danns * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Tottenham (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| João Palhinha | 35 | 2198 | 5 | 2 | Good |
| Xavi Simons | 28 | 1769 | 2 | 5 | Excellent |
| Randal Kolo Muani | 32 | 1670 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Mohammed Kudus | 19 | 1545 | 2 | 5 | Good |
| Conor Gallagher | 16 | 1196 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Souza * | 12 | 144 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Luka Vušković * | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| James Wilson * | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Kota Takai * | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
West Ham (13 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Mateus Fernandes | 36 | 3024 | 3 | 4 | Good |
| El Hadji Malick Diouf | 32 | 2711 | 0 | 5 | Fair |
| Mads Hermansen | 38 | 1620 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Kyle Walker-Peters | 38 | 1396 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Valentín Castellanos | 18 | 1395 | 6 | 0 | Good |
| Callum Wilson | 37 | 1262 | 7 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Axel Disasi | 14 | 1255 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Soungoutou Magassa | 34 | 998 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Pablo Felipe | 15 | 826 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Adama Traoré | 12 | 132 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Igor Júlio | 13 | 122 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Keiber Lamadrid * | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Daniel Cummings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Wolves (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Ladislav Krejčí | 30 | 2361 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Jackson Tchatchoua | 37 | 1855 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Tolu Arokodare | 35 | 1438 | 3 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Adam Armstrong | 14 | 1146 | 2 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Jhon Arias | 24 | 1121 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| David Möller Wolfe | 37 | 1061 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Angel Gomes | 14 | 488 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Fer López | 20 | 236 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Marvin Kaleta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |