The 2019/20 summer transfer window is over and next in line is the commencement of the football season proper.
With over a £1bn invested in signings, you can understand why there’s a whole lot of buzz ahead of the new season.
After a frantic few weeks of wheeling and dealing, top-flight teams are now unable to add to their squad until January – and as ever there’s been some huge spending from England’s top-20.
Just briefly before the league starts when Liverpool host Norwich; let’s take a look at just how well EPL clubs fared in the window and how their activity can well shape up a potentially entertaining season.
Numbers and Facts
Premier League clubs splashed around £1.4billion on 99 permanent signings during the summer transfer window.
The total expenditure edged last summer’s total by £158m – smashing the £1billion threshold for the fourth year running.
Harry Maguire was the most expensive acquisition during the window and became the world’s most expensive defender in the process after Manchester United shelled out £80m for his services.
Arsenal splashed £72m on Lille forward Nicolas Pepe, with other top deals including Tanguay Ndombele (£63m to Tottenham) and Manchester City drafting Rodri (£62.5m) and Joao Cancelo (£60m).
Biggest Spenders
Manchester United
The Red Devils topped the spending chart with £148m after Maguire’s record-breaking fee followed the signings of Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£50m from Crystal Palace) and Daniel James (£18m from Swansea).
Aston Villa (yes you’re not mistaken)
Much to the surprise of everyone, newly-promoted side Villa almost matched United to become the next biggest spenders with a £144.5m outlay on 12 players, topped by Tyrone Mings (£26.5m), Wesley (£22m), Matt Targett (£17m) and Douglas Luiz (£15m).
Arsenal
Arsenal bucked their spendthrift policy with a £138m spree, signing Pepe, William Saliba (£27m, loaned back to St Etienne for the season), Kieran Tierney (£25m), David Luiz (£8m), Gabriel Martinelli (£6m) and loaning Dani Ceballos.
Manchester City
The Citizens invested £134.8m, primarily on defensive midfielder Rodri (£62.5m) and full-back Joao Cancelo (£60m) – in addition to Zackary Steffen (£7m) and Angelino Jose Angel (£5.3m).
Everton
The Toffees expenditure hit £118.5m after drafting Alex Iwobi in a late Deadline Day deal, in addition to Moise Kean (£27.5m), Jean-Phillippe Gbamin (£25m), Andre Gomes (£22m) and Fabian Delph (£9m).
Tottenham
Pochettino’s side were the only other club to surpass £100m after prising Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham for £30m in the final hours of the window, having signed Ndombele and youngster Jack Clarke (£8.5m).
Lowest Spenders
At the other end of the scale, newly-promoted Norwich spent a league-low £1.1m, while Liverpool (£4.4m), Crystal Palace (£11m), Burnley (£15m), Chelsea (£40m) and Sheffield United (£43m) remained more frugal.
Summary
It’s been a record-breaking summer for spending in the richest league in the world, with £1.4billion spent on transfer fees ahead of the new season.
For a newly promoted side to have a financial power of up to £144m shows just how class apart the Premier League is and hence it’s strongly competitive nature.
We are set for yet another brilliant season and all eyes around the world will be on the most-watched league.
With three weeks remaining until the deadline elsewhere in Europe, Spain’s LaLiga has also broken the billion-pound barrier with Italy’s Serie A close to the milestone.
