How the World Cup Has Affected Your Premier League Team

Spain's victory over Argentina in New Jersey has crowned them world champions, and attention now shifts to the upcoming domestic season. The Premier League was well represented in North America, with all 20 top-flight teams for the 2026-27 season having at least one player involved. From injuries to transfers, here is how the World Cup has impacted each Premier League club.

Arsenal

Arsenal may be the Premier League team most affected by the World Cup. The Gunners face an anxious wait over the fitness of William Saliba, who had been managing a back issue before his tournament was ended by the same problem. The centre-back has not yet been assessed by the club's medical team, but if sidelined, it would be a significant loss—especially as his defensive partnership with Gabriel is crucial to the team's style of play.

Two other question marks surround the fitness of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, who helped England finish third while managing their own fitness issues. It does not appear they will need a longer lay-off once the tournament is over, but they will be monitored closely by Arsenal before the new season.

Leandro Trossard enjoyed a fine tournament with Belgium, starting all six games and scoring twice as they reached the quarter-finals, before the forward joined Turkish club Besiktas for £15m. Gabriel Martinelli, who showed flashes of his quality playing for Brazil, is another player the Gunners could be open to selling this summer. Carlo Ancelotti played the winger in a central role during the tournament, which may be an extra attraction for potential buyers.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa's transfer plans were thrown a curveball by an injury to Amadou Onana. The midfielder ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during Belgium's last-16 win over the USA, which will rule him out until next year. They were not planning significant changes in midfield, although an extra body would have been useful, so they moved for Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes—especially with Youri Tielemans joining Manchester United.

Manzambi, who completed a club-record move for more than £50m from Freiburg, excelled for Switzerland, scoring three goals, and will form part of Villa's new-look squad as Unai Emery tries to refresh it amid potential further sales. Chelsea have agreed a £117m deal to sign England midfielder Morgan Rogers, while France's Lucas Digne is due to join Paris St-Germain, but goalkeeper Emi Martinez, whose Argentina side lost to Spain in the final, is likely to stay.

Bournemouth

Bournemouth fans will have been encouraged by the performances of Ben Gannon-Doak at the World Cup, despite Scotland's brief stay in the tournament. The winger played in all three group matches and particularly impressed in their sole win over Haiti. The Cherries had six players at the World Cup, including New Zealand back-up goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who has joined Motherwell on loan for the coming season.

Starring among them, as well as Gannon-Doak, was winger Rayan. The 19-year-old started all Brazil's games bar their opener and claimed an assist in the 3-0 win over Scotland to seal their path to the knockout stage. It further raises Rayan's stock following his January move to Bournemouth and superb performances in the second half of last season. This could be bad news for Bournemouth, though, with Rayan heavily linked with Liverpool, managed by former Cherries boss Andoni Iraola.

Brentford

For a couple of Brentford players, the World Cup could not have gone much worse. Striker Igor Thiago came into the tournament on the back of a stellar scoring season for the Bees and was tipped as Brazil's lead attacker in North America. However, after a lacklustre performance in the opener against Morocco, he was dropped by manager Carlo Ancelotti and did not appear again.