Summer Transfer Update – The Promoted

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Hooligan Soccer

·24. Juli 2025

Summer Transfer Update – The Promoted

The gap between Championship and Premier League is a wide one, and promoted teams usually must spend on new talent to bridge it. Savvy signings can mean the difference between the dreaded drop and living to fight another season.

Let’s check in on how our three promoted sides are faring so far. All transfers are confirmed and done deals, accurate as of publication.

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Burnley

Players In: 10Players Out: 7Total Spend: $60.4M

The Clarets are already very well-rounded and have kept the core of their squad intact. That said, they’re making some shrewd business to shore up some areas and add depth. Here are some highlights:

Loum Tchaouna (Lazio $17.5) The 21-year old winger didn’t see much pitch time with Lazio, but he impressed in his time on the France U21 side. He has lots of potential.
Quilindschy Hartman (Feyenoord $13.7M) The 23-year old left-back is returning from a long injury but managed 12 starts for Feyenoord last season.
Kyle Walker (Manchester City $6.8M) At 35 he’s not quite the speed demon he was. But still, $6.8M seems a low sum for a player of Walker’s experience.
Jacob Bruun Larsen (VfB Stuttgart $4.7M) We’ll see how the Danish winger adjusts to PL pace.

Leeds United

Players In: 7Players Out: 5Total Spend: $73.3M

Scoring goals wasn’t Leeds’ issue last season, they buried 95, an average of 2.1 per game. But they conceded 30. The club parted ways with left-backs Sam Byram (28) and Junior Firpo (31), but have since gone on a bit of a binge. They’ve picked up well-priced, seasoned defenders and defensive minded midfielders such as:

Sean Longstaff (Newcastle $23M) 27-year old has been a Magpie since he was nine, but struggles for playing time. He’ll see plenty of action at Elland Road!
Jaka Bijol (Udinese $20M) This here’s a BIG lad. Jaka is 26, Slovenian and occupies space as a center-back. Experience in the rough-and-tumble Serie A helps.
Anton Stach (TSG Hoffenheim $16M) With 39 starts and nearly 3,400 minutes last season with Hoffenheim, Anton can go the distance. Now we’ll see how he fares against the Premier League competition.
Sebastiaan Bornauw (VfL Wolfsburg $6.9M) The 6’3″ Belgian center-back should give Leeds some command on the high balls.
Gabriel Gudmundsson (Lille $13.5M) A left-back, the 26 year old Swede follows in his father’s footsteps over to the EFL (Niklas played for Blackburn and Ipswich).

Sunderland

Players In: 7Players Out: 4Total Spend: $93.2M

The Black Cats have two big holes to fill. Winger Tom Watson, whose playoff goal secured their promotion, moved to Brighton, and attacking midfielder Jobe Bellingham followed his brother Jude’s path to Borussia Dortmund (and got minutes at the Club World Cup). Their $50M sale goes to offset some significant investment the club is making on these five players.

Habib Diarra (R. Strasbourg $40.6M) This is a big money move and Diarra will have to deliver.
Simon Adingra (Brighton $28.4M) Great signing here. Adringa is only 23 and proven.
Enzo Le Fée (Roma $27M) The 25-year old French midfielder makes last year’s loan stint permanent.
Chemsdine Talbi (Club Brugge $26.5M) Similar thoughts on 20-year old Talbi as well. Neither player will have the luxury of easing into the season. They need to come out all cylinders firing.
Noah Sadiki (Union SG $20M) At 20, and coming from the Belgian league, my only question is does Noah have the chops? Or will he need time to grow?