The 2025-26 Premier League season delivered a string of expensive disappointments, from misfiring signings to short-lived managerial appointments that left clubs scrambling for stability.
Newcastle United spent the summer chasing Yoane Wissa before paying Brentford £55 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo forward in September, expecting goals and leadership.
Wissa had scored 19 goals for Brentford the previous season, making him an appealing target for Eddie Howe as Newcastle prepared for another European campaign alongside domestic ambitions.
The reality proved far less impressive. Wissa managed just one goal in 13 league appearances, starting only four times after struggling to adapt to Howe’s system without Bryan Mbeumo alongside him.
In April, Wissa sat on the bench alongside £65 million Nick Woltemade and £55 million Anthony Elanga as Newcastle lost away at Crystal Palace, with Howe preferring Jacob Murphy and Will Osula instead.
Newcastle finished 12th, dropping seven places from the previous season and ending their European involvement, with Anthony Gordon also expected to leave the club in the coming months.
Tottenham’s collapse proved even more dramatic. Thomas Frank steadied things initially, with the club losing just one of their first seven games, including a strong win away at Manchester City.
Form collapsed between November and mid-April, with Tottenham collecting only two victories during that stretch, which cost Frank his job in February as captain Cristian Romero voiced frustration at the hierarchy.
The search for Frank’s replacement produced Igor Tudor, who lasted just 44 days, one draw, and a Champions League humiliation against Atletico Madrid before Roberto De Zerbi took charge as the third manager of the season.
De Zerbi guided Tottenham back to 17th place, matching their previous season’s finish and keeping them up, but the club’s overall state remained deeply troubled heading into the off-season.
Ange Postecoglou’s stint at Nottingham Forest added another chapter to the season’s catalogue of failures. Forest hired him to replace the popular Nuno Espirito Santo, who had not been dismissed for on-pitch reasons.
Postecoglou managed two points across eight games before Forest dismissed him after just 40 days, one of the shortest managerial reigns in Premier League history, with the club pulled into an unexpected relegation battle.
The squad at the City Ground lacked the profile to execute Postecoglou’s style, and mid-season adaptation proved impossible, resulting in a run of poor performances that undermined Forest’s earlier positive work under Nuno.
At Manchester United, Ruben Amorim’s second season brought little improvement despite a full pre-season and significant investment in new players following his difficult first months at Old Trafford.
Amorim arrived initially with understandable mitigating circumstances, taking over a disjointed squad mid-season and rigidly implementing his 3-4-3 formation regardless of the English football schedule’s demands on training time.
A full pre-season was meant to change matters, but poor league form and public outbursts ultimately cost Amorim his job, with the Grimsby Carabao Cup defeat to a League Two side representing his lowest point.
Kobbie Mainoo received limited opportunities under Amorim, who consistently preferred Manuel Ugarte ahead of the young midfielder throughout his tenure at United before his departure from the club.
The quality of football across the division drew criticism throughout the campaign, with the standard described in some quarters as aesthetically poor and built around fitness and set-piece routines rather than attacking play.
European competition offered a contrasting picture of how the sport could be played, while the congested schedule continued to place enormous strain on elite players throughout the season.
The financial scale of underperformance across the division served as a stark reminder that heavy spending on transfers and wages carries no guarantee of results on the pitch.
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