Premier League clubs have splashed out more than ever before in a transfer window as spending this summer surpassed £3bn.
A total of £2.73bn had been spent by 31 August, but big-money deadline day deals – headlined by Alexander Isak’s move from Newcastle to Liverpool for a British record £125m – pushed the total to £3.087bn.
The spending was significantly more than last summer, when the outlay by top-flight teams was £1.96bn.
The total this year is more than was spent by Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A clubs combined.
What were the major deadline day deals?
Deadline day was quiet for the most part, with the major deals not announced until after the window shut at 19:00 BST, although moves could still be completed two hours after that if deal sheets were submitted in time.
Isak’s move was confirmed at 21:30 BST, although an expected move for England defender Marc Guehi failed to happen in the end as Crystal Palace would not sanction the transfer as they faced difficulties in bringing in a replacement for their captain.
Following confirmation of Swedish striker Isak’s departure, Newcastle then announced the £55m arrival of Yoane Wissa from Brentford.
Other notable deals included Fulham completing a club-record £34.6m deal to sign Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian winger Kevin.
Manchester United brought in Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for an initial £18.1m, while Red Devils forward Jadon Sancho completed a season-long loan move to Aston Villa, who also signed Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott on loan with a buy option.
Tottenham Hotspur took Paris St-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani on a season-long loan deal, while Arsenal brought in defender Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen on loan.
Newly promoted Sunderland continued their summer of spending as they brought in Ajax forwards Brian Brobbey and Bertrand Traore, as well as RB Leipzig defender Lutsharel Geertruida on a season-long loan.
Who were the biggest spenders?
Having barely dipped their toes in the transfer market in Arne Slot’s first summer in charge last year, Liverpool have gone in the completely opposite direction this time.
The swoop for Isak took their summer spending to £415m – setting a new record for the amount spent by a single club in a single window.
The previous record was set by Chelsea in the summer of 2023 (£400m).
Not only is this more than any other European club, but almost as much as the total spent in other European leagues.
“A humongous flex by Liverpool,” former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
“The moves and the money they have spent is phenomenal and they have brought in some brilliant players.”
Chelsea and Arsenal also made major moves as they looked to bolster their squad to help challenge more closely for the title, spending £285m and £255m respectively.
But the Blues were good at selling players too, as £288m of sales made for a net profit of £3m, whereas Arsenal were the opposite and managed just £9m in sales for a net spend of £246m.
