Money talks in all walks of life – so football is no exception. In the 2025 summer transfer window Premier League clubs spent more on players than the top flights of Spain, Germany, France and Italy put together.
According to Deloitte, the Premier League clubs shelled out more than £3bn on transfers – a record – and the division’s net spend ended up at £1.2bn, a 114% increase on the previous summer. As a comparison Serie A had a net spend of €90m (£78.7m) and La Liga’s was €40m. The Bundesliga recorded a net receipt of €180m and Ligue 1 €305m.
So it is no surprise that the Premier League has the most players on the Guardian’s 100 best male footballers in the world 2025, which was revealed this week. This year the league had 41% of the nominees, up from 33 the previous year. It is not the biggest share the Premier League has had; that came in 2022 (43). Will the self-proclaimed “best league in the world” get to having half or more than half of the entries on the list? Sadly it seems quite likely.
The Premier League’s financial clout has had an impact on the three European club competitions – the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League – although the English teams have not quite been as dominant as one would suspect.
Of the 24 teams that have played in the 12 finals since the Conference League was introduced in 2021-22 “only” six have been English. Last season Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter in the Champions League final, with Arsenal the Premier League’s only representative in the semis.
The Champions League winners often have a heavy presence in the Guardian’s top 100 and this year follows that pattern. PSG may have moved away from the era of signing galácticos but they are finally top of the list of the clubs with the most representatives after their 5-0 win against Inter in Munich at the end of May.
Four players are new entries: Nuno Mendes (11th), Désiré Doué (16th), João Neves (17th) and Willian Pacho (44th) – while the winner of our countdown, Ousmane Dembélé was a re-entry. He had not been on our list since 2022 (when he finished 69th). In between he had a messy end to his spell at Barcelona and a quiet start to life at PSG.
He may have won by a mere 128 points from Lamine Yamal but when it came to our judges putting him top of their lists he was the clear favourite. This year we had 219 members on the voting panel and 101 put the 28-year-old as their No 1. Thirty-three judges had Lamine Yamal top.
The Frenchman becomes our seventh winner after Lionel Messi (six times), Cristiano Ronaldo (twice), Robert Lewandowski (twice), Luka Modric, Erling Haaland and Rodri (once each).
Sixteen players were voted No 1 by our judges in 2025, from Dembélé to Michael Olise via Messi.
Spain, meanwhile, still lead the way when it comes to national teams. They are up one player from 2024 – when they had 13 in the top 100 after their Euros success – despite losing the Nations League final to Portugal on penalties.
There is good news too for Brazil and their head coach, Carlo Ancelotti, before next year’s World Cup as they move up to joint third with England on nine players. In fact, 26 Brazilian players received votes this year, from Raphinha in eighth to Alisson Santana in 290th. Their South American arch-rivals, Argentina, fall out of the top five with seven entries in the top 100 in 2025 (20 Argentinians received votes).
What will 2026 bring? A lot of football, that is for sure, with an expanded World Cup featuring 48 teams and 104 games, plus all the domestic and continental action around the globe. Will we have a new winner again in 12 months’ time or can Dembélé hold on to his crown? Messi and Lewandowski have managed that feat in the history of our countdown. The challenge has been set.
