The cost of living is soaring… but the Premier League is apparently recession-proof.
This summer, all 20 of England's top flight teams have been busy in the transfer market, whether that's accepting astronomical bids for their stars or shelling out for shiny new toys of their own. The impact of COVID-19 may have been felt over the past couple of years but the elite sides have all bounced back to record spend levels.
Only some sides have spent more than others. And it may surprise you to find out the figures that some clubs actually have signed off cheques for…
20. Leicester City: £15m
For Leicester City fans, this summer has felt a little like sitting in the driver's seat, concentrating on the Sat Nav, while your friends are all choosing what to have when you get to a McDonald's drive-thru.
£15 million Reims defender Wout Faes is the only face through the door, as the Foxes' endless buy-low-sell-high wheel spins another revolution with the exit of Wesley Fofana to Chelsea. All in all, the East Midlanders have made a £57m-odd profit for this summer, with Brendan Rodgers last night admitting he hasn't been helped. It could well be a long three months until the window opens again for Leicester.
19. Bournemouth: £23m
Scott Parker claimed he wasn't being given enough help by his board in the transfer market, which led to his demise at Bournemouth. Looking purely at the numbers, he may have had a case.
Feyenoord centre-back Marcos Senesi and Middlesbrough midfielder Marcus Tavernier were the only headline acquisitions for under £15m each, with Neto, Ryan Fredericks, Joe Rothwell and later Jack Stephens on a loan all arriving without a fee. The Cherries failed to raise capital from any sales, either. Do they have enough to stay up this season?
18. Crystal Palace: £30m
Crystal Palace were never expected to be big summer spenders. Last year, they razed and reworked their squad: this year was about filling in the gaps. Namely, bringing in a midfielder who could compensate for the losses of Cheikhou Kouyate and Conor Gallagher.
Gallagher couldn't be brought in again, in the end: neither could Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Ronnie Edwards, both of whom were enquired about. £20m defensive midfielder Cheick Doucoure gives Ebere Eze a platform to step up in Gallagher's absence, while £10m Bayern defender Chris Richards provides a little extra cover at the back. Sam Johnstone and Malcolm Ebiowei were both shrewd free signings.
17. Brighton & Hove Albion: £42m
Brighton's biggest acquisition this summer was a player they probably would never have signed, had Marc Cucurella stayed. Pervis Estupinan was the £16m left-back replacement at left-back, with Julio Enciso, Simon Adingra and the potential bargain Billy Gilmour arriving for £10m or less. Standard Brighton, really.
The Seagulls ended up bringing in around £100m in sales, in the end, shipping the aforementioned Cucurella for an eye-watering £60m, along with £26m Yves Bissouma to Tottenham and £10m Neal Maupay to Everton. Leo Ostigard went to Napoli and Matt Clarke to Middlesbrough to bring in another £6m.
16. Brentford: £45m
Brentford's model of selling players at their peak is well-touted – but just Marcus Forss managed to collect a modest £3m transfer fee this summer. It was the Bees' only income.
The west Londoners have instead invested heavily in youth. Mikkel Damsgaard, Keane Lewis-Potter, Aaron Hickey – 22, 21 and 20, respectively – have all arrived for an average of £15m each and each with huge sell-on potential. Ben Mee and Thomas Strakosha both came in for free. You get the feeling Brentford could well collect double for any of those three youngsters in seasons to come.
15. Fulham: £55m
Famously, Fulham blew around £100m on signings when owner Shahid Khan first got promoted to the Premier League, signing the likes of Jean Michel Seri, Alfie Mawson and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa for megabucks in a bid to not only survive but challenge. This summer has been a lot more sensible.
Joao Palhinha was the most expensive signing, bought for £18m from Sporting. Issa Diop cost £16m from West Ham, Andreas Perreira half of that from Manchester United, while a mad deadline day dash has seen Dan James, Willian and Carlos Vinicius drafted in for cover. Fulham have been cleverer in the window this time around.
14. Southampton: £60m
Southampton are never known as big spenders. In fact, their reputation is as big sellers – and mainly to Liverpool. You have to go back to the summer of 2018 for a window that the Saints spent over £50m, when they landed Mohamed Elyounoussi, Jannik Vestergaard, Angus Gunn and Stuart Armstrong.
The club have new owners now and with that perhaps comes more spending power. Still, the next Virgil van Dijk sale could well be one of their Class of 2022. No one has cost more than £12m but goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu is 20, fellow Manchester City academy graduate Romeo Lavia 18, forward Sekou Mara is 19 and impressive defender Armel Bella-Kotchap 20. This has been a calculated rebuild, despite the outlay.
13. Aston Villa: £63m
It started off as a promising transfer window and then went turned sour at times for Aston Villa. Diego Carlos arrived for £28m and has been ruled out for months; £18m Philippe Coutinho hasn't quite yet captured the lightning that he came with in January. Free agent Boubacar Kamara has looked like a solid signing, while a £25m Arsenal bid for Douglas Luiz was rejected, with the Brazilian yet to agree a new deal. Leander Dendoncker signed regardless on Deadline Day.
The Villans splashed the Grealish millions last year to mixed results and perhaps haven't had the capital to repeat the feat. Selling Carney Chukwuemeka and Matt Targett for decent fees, plus recouping a few million from Trezeguet and Anwar El Ghazi leaving puts the net spend at around £25m.
12. Everton: £85m
When they sold Richarlison to Tottenham for around £60m, seemingly without a replacement in the pipeline, things looked bleak for an Everton side that felt in desperate need of (yet another) rebuild. Andre Gomes has gone on loan, Fabian Delph, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Cenk Tosun have been released, while Dele Alli has been shifted out on loan. It's felt more of a clearance at times.
Yet Everton have Evertonned once more: Amadou Onana came in for £32m, Dwight McNeil for £21m and Neal Maupay for £10m, before a Garner/Gana double on Deadline Day of Idrissa Gueye and James Garner. Somehow, the Toffees have turned a quieter window in which the statements were originally Ruben Vinagre, Conor Coady and James Tarkowski on loans or freebies into a net outlay of £25m once more. Even with that Richarlison sale.
11. Liverpool: £80m
Liverpool have managed to almost break even during this transfer window. £30m came in for Sadio Mane – a good fee, considering his age of 30 – while Neco Williams was sold for around £18m and Takumi Minamino for £13.5m. Marko Grujic and Ben Davies brought in a combined £12.5m. That's almost £75m.
The Reds practically splashed that much on Darwin Nunez. The upfront fee was thought to be £67.5m, with add-ons coming later, while teenage duo Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay have cost a combined £10m (Liverpool paid a settlement to Fulham to secure Carvalho at the end of his deal). With Arthur Melo arriving on loan in the twilight of the window, fans would have maybe appreciated more investment – despite the hefty acquisition of Nunez.
10. Leeds United: £100m
Leeds United have had to restructure from the ground up. Losing Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips for a combined £100m has left them with nine figures to spend improving a squad that looked threadbare at times last season, while upgrading the likes of Jamie Shackleton, Ian Poveda and Tyler Roberts who just haven't secured first-team spots for the Whites.
Red Bull teams have been PayPal'd £30m for Brendan Aaron, £12m for Rasmus Kristensen (both Salzburg) and £15m for Tyler Adams (Leipzig), while Luis Sinisterra and Marc Roca have both added quality for a combined £32m. Jesse Marsch hasn't been afraid to part with cash – and they could have spent more, had PSV star Cody Gakpo or Marseille forward Bamba Dieng decided to move to Yorkshire.
9. Arsenal: £118m
Arsenal led the window early on for money spent, wasting no time in bringing Manchester City pair Alex Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus for a combined £75m. Fabio Vieira felt like an opportunity too good to pass up for £30m, while Matt Turner and Marquinhos were more modest buys under £5m.
The Gunners bringing in another big-money winger or £25m-odd midfielder were dependant on outgoings in the end. Mikel Arteta raised just £21m in funds from getting rid of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin and Dino Mavropanos, with Nicolas Pepe waiving some of his wages to make space for another recruit. It wasn't enough, with the Gunners' £25m Douglas Costa bid being rejected in the final hours of the window.
8. Newcastle United: £120m
It was all looking pretty quiet for Newcastle United this summer: just £60m spent on the likes of Sven Botman, Matt Targett and Nick Pope, after the mad January of bringing in Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Dan Burn.
Then Alexander Isak happened. The super Swedish scorer doubles the Magpies' spend for the window – and as if anyone needed any more proof of their financial muscle, the Toon haven't raised a single penny of money coming in, with the likes of Dwight Gayle and Federico Fernandez let go for free. We somehow doubt this is the last Tyneside spree.
7. Wolverhampton Wanderers: £122m
Wolves spent around £30m last summer in total, with Jose Sa, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Yerson Mosquera joining for modest fees. Goncalo Guedes joined for that alone this year – and wasn't even the most expensive signing.
That title goes to Matheus Nunes, who cost £40m, while Nathan Collins was £21m himself. Sasa Kalajdzic and Hwang Hee-chan both joined for around £15m, too (it was announced in January that Hwang's loan move was to be made permanent from July 1, so it counts as a summer signing). Morgan Gibbs-White and Leander Dendoncker headlined the sales, with the Molineux outfit managing to bring in £51m – but they've still invested heavily into the squad.
The pressure is on for Bruno Lage to dig out some results, now…
6. Manchester City: £125m
Manchester City made a £50m profit in the transfer window and signed Erling Haaland. It's simply ludicrous.
Kalvin Phillips was the only other big signing for around £44m, with Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gomez both £15m or under; Julian Alvarez was a January signing who was loaned back to River Plate until the summer. In the 'money in' column, City received £50m from Chelsea for Raheem Sterling, £75m for Jesus and Zinchenko from Arsenal and a whopping £30m from Southampton for four under-21s. It's astonishing business, really.
5. Nottingham Forest: £145m
Who had a bet on Nottingham Forest spending more money than Newcastle United this summer?
Only Brice Samba and Nuno Da Costa brought in fees for Forest this summer, reducing their net spend by around £5m. Morgan Gibbs-White cost £25m, Taiwo Awoniyi and Neco Williams £18m, with Emmanuel Dennis and Orel Mangala around £12m each. The rest? Giulian Biancone, Moussa Niakhate (both £9m), Lewis O'Brien, Remo Freuler (both £8m), Omar Richards (£7m), Renan Lodi (£4.5m loan fee), Ui-jo Hwang (£3m but sent on loan to Olympiacos), Willy Boly, Harry Toffolo and Josh Bowler (all £2m), Brandon Aguilera (under £1m), Wayne Hennessey, Cheikhou Kouyate, Jesse Lingard (all free), Dean Henderson and Loic Bade (both on loan).
And breathe.
4. Tottenham Hotspur: £150m
In May, Tottenham announced a capital increase of £150m. Guess how much they spent in the transfer window…
Richarlison cost around £50m of that with his fee set to rise with add-ons, while Cristian Romero was a £45m buy that got triggered following his loan last year. Yves Bissouma cost £26m, Djed Spence £13m and both Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster were free. Udinese full-back Destiny Udogie cost £16m and was loaned immediately back.
Spurs managed to collect £28m from Steven Bergwijn's Ajax exit, while Cameron Carter-Vickers joined Celtic permanently for £6m. It's been a summer of raising the floor of Antonio Conte's squad more than raising the ceiling.
3. West Ham United: £164m
West Ham United spent around £100m on three players this summer. Lucas Paqueta (£38m) and Gianluca Scamacca (£32m) were both linked with Champions League sides, too, while Nayef Aguerd was a £31m replacement for Fulham-bound Issa Diop. That was just the start of the spree.
Maxwel Cornet (£18m), Emerson (£13m) and Thilo Kehrer (£10m) have all bolstered the squad, too, while Flynn Downes and Alphonse Areola have signed for over £15m combined. The Irons desperately needed to stack up with another European campaign on the horizon, with that £16m they collected for Diop the only cash sale they made.
This could go one of two ways. Either West Ham are here to stay in and around the top six with quality to threaten the establishment… or they've signed a few more Felipe Andersons and Andriy Yarmolenkos. Time will tell.
2. Manchester United: £214m
Manchester United have cleared a lot of space on the wage bill. Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba have all left Old Trafford in the summer… but actually the biggest sale has come from £8m Andreas Pereira to Fulham.
So how have United reacted? By splashing out on more huge names. Anthony was £85m, all told. Casemiro was £63m, Lisandro Martinez £51m and Tyrell Malacia a snip compared to that at £13.5m. Christian Eriksen might prove to be a bargain, too, signed for free after his Brentford stint. Ralf Rangnick warned that this squad needed 10 signings and that the only position with adequate cover was in goal. Yet the Red Devils spent deadline day securing Martin Dubravka on loan.
Have they got everything they needed? Probably not. Will £214m worth of expenditure be enough to satisfy those waving green and gold scarves? See above. Spending big is expected, it's spending smart that fans worry about.
1. Chelsea: £253m
Chelsea had work to do during this transfer window. While there were significant departures in the shape of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, there was an argument too that Thomas Tuchel hadn't really got to shape his own team yet. The German arrived midseason in 2020, won a Champions League title and only really signed Romelu Lukaku the summer after.
Well, Lukaku's gone now: as has Timo Werner, back to Leipzig for £20m, with Emerson and Billy Gilmour also leaving for a combined amount to double player sales to about £40m. The Blues dwarfed that figure with a £50m acquisition of Raheem Sterling early in the window – a statement of intent from new club-runner Todd Boehly – and they've steamrollered their way to their biggest-ever window, since.
Yes, Chelsea's biggest window. That's a big deal. Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella cost a combined £130m. Add the £34m of Kalidou Koulibaly to that and the defence has been rebuilt at a premium. Carney Chukwuemeka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were very different opportunities that presented themselves: they cost around £15m each, while goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina and loanee Denis Zakaria both have fees, too.
Meet the new boss: same as the old boss. That's how Chelsea fans will see their free-spending new owner. It seems some things never do change in the market.
