How much have Premier League clubs spent on transfers during the summer window so far? We crunch the numbers…
This article was last updated on August 24 at 8.45am.
Record summer splurge
Speaking during the Covid crisis when teams played behind closed doors, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said: “At Premier League level, contracts will continue to go up for the top players but, for the next few years, clubs will be a lot more sensible around what would be squad players.
“The more average player will have to accept lesser contracts and lesser lengths of contracts to stay in the game. Clubs will be harsher in negotiations with players and agents because of Covid losses.”
However, fast forward two years and Premier League clubs have smashed the all-time record for summer transfer spending – with the busiest period of the window yet to come.
Top-flight teams have splashed a record-breaking £1.67bn on transfers to date – surpassing even the heights of 2017 when four clubs broke the £100m barrier on new recruits.
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Who leads the way in spending charts?
Despite a difficult start to the campaign and a raft of players still linked with moves to the club, Chelsea lead the way for total spent on new signings with £193.1m – which remains only £33m shy of the all-time record outlay in a summer window set by the Blues two years ago.
Incredibly, newly-promoted Nottingham Forest currently rank second with £143.5m spent on 16 acquisitions, followed by Manchester United and Tottenham.
Meanwhile, West Ham have shelled out £127.9m but remain pointless at the foot of the Premier League table and reigning champions Manchester City have reigned in the chequebook on £112.1m – less than current league leaders Arsenal (£121.5m).
At the other end of the scale, Leicester have not spent a penny. Indeed, the Foxes are yet to sign an outfield player in this window, while Brighton (£24.5m), Bournemouth (£26m), Crystal Palace (£32m) and Aston Villa (£43m) have remained frugal so far.
Who leads player sales chart?
Here lies the real evidence of a sea change: Manchester City top the table for incoming cash from player sales with a cool £162.8m recouped to date – considerably more than Leeds (£105m) and Brighton (£98m).
Everton (£60m) and Merseyside rivals Liverpool (£56m) have also notably replenished the club’s coffers, with Wolves (£42.5m), Chelsea (£40m) and Aston Villa (£35m) close behind. Meanwhile, Bournemouth, Palace, Fulham, Newcastle, Forest and Southampton are yet to claim any cash for disclosed fees.
Net spend
All that spending and selling equates to the final net spending table, which sees Chelsea (£153.1m) reign supreme – narrowly ahead of Steve Cooper’s spending mission to secure survival with Forest (£143.5m) and Erik ten Hag’s plan to reinvent Manchester United (£131.4m).
London clubs West Ham (£112.9m), Tottenham (£101.1m) and Arsenal (£98m) and are next up – all spending nearly twice as much as any other club lower in the table. Meanwhile, only five clubs have registered a profit to date with negative net spends: Brighton (-£73.5m), Manchester City (£50.7m), Leeds (£9.6m), Everton (-£6.5m) and Leicester (-£850,000).
All incomings
Darwin Nunez remains the most expensive signing of the window so far, with Liverpool splashing £85m to prise the 23-year-old from Benfica, followed by Manchester United‘s blockbuster deal to land Casemiro from Real Madrid for £70m.
Chelsea raised eyebrows coughing up £63m for Brighton full-back Marc Cucurella and Tottenham signed Richarlison from Everton for £50m, while Lisandro Martinez (£56.7m), Erling Haaland (£51.1m) and Kalvin Phillips (£50m) are the only other players to make moves for fees of £50m or more so far.
All outgoings
Many of the names above feature in the most expensive outgoings, with Cucurella and Richarlison leading the way, while Raphinha currently ranks third in the table following his £55m from Leeds to Barcelona.
Follow the summer transfer window with Sky Sports
Who will be on the move this summer before the transfer window closes at 11pm on September 1?
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