Premier League clubs spent £2.1bn on 134 permanent signings for disclosed fees during the transfer window; Chelsea recorded league-topping £228.4m net spend, followed by Man Utd, West Ham and Nottingham Forest; Man City recouped a league-high £172.8m from sales
Friday 9 September 2022 13:05, UK
How much have Premier League clubs spent on transfers during the summer window so far? We crunch the numbers...
This article was first published prior to the football postponements following the death of The Queen.
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.
Top-flight teams have splashed a record-breaking £2.1bn on transfers to date - surpassing even the heights of 2017 when four clubs broke the £100m barrier on new recruits.
Chelsea lead the way for total spent this summer on new signings with £278.4m - which surpasses the all-time record outlay in a summer window set by the Blues two years ago.
Manchester United moved up to runners-up on Deadline Day with a £227.4m outlay, ahead of West Ham (£179.2m), Tottenham (£172m) and Nottingham Forest (£157.3m).
Meanwhile, reigning champions Manchester City reined in the chequebook on £128.8m - but still edged Newcastle (£123m) and Arsenal (£121.5m).
At the other end of the scale, Leicester splashed only £15m, while Bournemouth (£26m), Crystal Palace (£32m), Brighton (£34.5m) and Brentford (£54.7m) all remained relatively frugal.
Here lies the real evidence of a sea change: Manchester City top the table for incoming cash from player sales with £178.8m recouped - considerably more than Brighton (£115.3m) and Leeds (£105m).
Leicester (£75.9m), Wolves (£60.2m) and Merseyside rivals Everton (£60m) and Liverpool (£56m) have also notably replenished the club's coffers, with Chelsea (£50m) and Aston Villa (£35m) close behind. Meanwhile, Bournemouth, Palace, Fulham, Newcastle, Forest and Southampton failed to claim any cash for disclosed fees.
All that spending and selling equates to the final net spending table, which sees Chelsea (£228.4m) reign supreme - narrowly ahead of Erik ten Hag's spending splurge to reinvent Manchester United (£202.4m) and struggling West Ham (£164.2m)
Nottingham Forest (£157.3m), Tottenham (£143.1m), Newcastle (£123m) and Arsenal (£98m) are next up - all spending considerably more than the remaining clubs. Meanwhile, only four clubs registered a profit with negative net spends: Brighton (-£80.8m), Leicester (-£60.9m), Manchester City (£50m) and Leeds (£9.6m).
Antony was the most expensive signing of the window, with Manchester United splashing £86m to prise the 22-year-old from Ajax - pipping Liverpool's £85m acquisition of Darwin Nunez from Benfica and Wesley Fofana's £75m switch from Leicester to Chelsea.
Manchester United's blockbuster deal to land Casemiro from Real Madrid for £70m is next up, while Newcastle splashed £63m on Real Sociedad forward Alexander Isak, Chelsea raised eyebrows coughing up £63m for Brighton full-back Marc Cucurella and Tottenham signed Richarlison from Everton for £60m.
Many of the names above feature in the most expensive outgoings, with Fofana, Cucurella and Richarlison leading the way, while Raphinha currently ranks fourth in the table following his £55m from Leeds to Barcelona.
