Manchester City spent a record £458m this summer, and Haaland is still their only striker
City broke their own transfer record twice and rebuilt an entire midfield. They came out of the window with one recognised centre-forward, and a net spend less than half the headline figure.
Sep 3, 2026
Manchester City spent £458 million this summer, more than any Premier League club has ever spent in one summer window. They rebuilt an entire midfield, broke their own transfer record twice, and finished the window with exactly one senior centre-forward on the books. Both of those things are true at the same time, which is the interesting part.
Where the money actually went
Three players account for £327 million of it. Enzo Fernandez cost £125 million from Chelsea, a joint-British record and a reunion with Enzo Maresca, who managed him at Stamford Bridge before taking the City job in June. Elliot Anderson came from Nottingham Forest for £116 million. Ayyoub Bouaddi, an 18-year-old Morocco international, cost £86 million. For scale, City’s record before this summer was the £100 million they paid for Jack Grealish in 2021, and they went past it twice in this one window.
They had to spend something. Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez all left, which is a Ballon d’Or winner, the club captain and two more midfielders gone in one window. Only three players are left from the eleven and the substitutes who beat Inter Milan in Istanbul to win the Champions League in 2023.
The headline number is not the real number
City have spent £542 million since January and recouped £334 million in the same period, which leaves a net figure of £208 million. Selling is the part of this City do quietly and do well. Savinho went for £75 million having scored two Premier League goals for the club. Rodri brought in £65 million, Reijnders £52 million. Tottenham are obliged to buy Omar Marmoush for £60 million when his loan ends next season, so the net figure will come down again.
Whether £208 million is restrained or still enormous depends on which club you support. It is not £458 million, though, and the gap between those two numbers is the difference between the headline and the accounts.
Nobody bought a second striker
Erling Haaland is now the only recognised first-team striker at the club. He is 26, he won the Golden Boot last season with 27 goals, and he has two in his first two league games this term, both in the 4-1 win at Crystal Palace. City are entirely fine as long as he is fit.
Marmoush wanted regular football and went to Tottenham. Divin Mubama, 21, had a good pre-season and went to Southampton on loan. Neither was replaced with a striker. City’s argument is that they have enough flexibility elsewhere: Antoine Semenyo has played at centre-forward in cup games, and Iliman Ndiaye, signed on deadline day, can operate there too.
The problem with that argument is the goal column. Of City’s forward and attacking midfield options, Semenyo is the only one to reach double figures in the Premier League in the last two seasons. Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Ndiaye never have. Phil Foden managed 19 in 2023-24 and has not been near that since. Cherki scoring twice at Selhurst Park is encouraging and it is also two games.
Two wins, and a question for October
None of this is urgent yet. City beat Bournemouth 2-1 through a Josko Gvardiol goal in stoppage time, then won 4-1 at Palace. Maresca has two credible players in almost every position and a selection problem rather than a squad problem, which is the good kind.
The question arrives the first week Haaland is rested, suspended or hurt. City have built a midfield deep enough to survive almost anything and left the one position where they have no cover at all. It might not matter. Clubs have got through seasons on one striker before. But of all the places to leave a gap after spending £458 million, the man who scored 27 of your league goals is a strange one.