September 1 – English Premier League clubs spent over £1 billion in the summer transfer window that closed on Tuesday – but overall spending dropped for the second year in a row.
In total, Premier League clubs spent £1.1 billion on transfers during the summer window, which was open from 9 June until 31 August. That outlay was 11% lower than the previous summer’s total of £1.3 billion, which itself was a 9% fall from 2019.
According to financial services firm Deloitte, this is the lowest collective gross spend by Premier League clubs since 2015, and the first time there has been a consecutive decline since the global financial crisis between 2008 and 2010
Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo’s high-profile move back to Manchester United, the biggest deal was Croatian midfielder Nikola Vlasic’s £26.8 million switch from CSKA Moscow to West Ham, while Chelsea left it late to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham Hotspur spent £25.8 million on Barcelona full-back Emerson Royal, while winger Daniel James joined Leeds from Manchester United for £25 million.
On the Continent, there was no late move for Kylian Mbappe as Paris St-Germain rejected two eye-watering bids from Real Madrid for the French superstar.
Deadline day activity itself totalled £150 million, meaning Premier League clubs have spent in excess of £1 billion for the sixth summer in a row.
Barcelona, seeking to move out players in order to ease their financial crisis, sold Ilaix Moriba to RB Leipzig before leaving it late to loan Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid.
With the exception of Germany’s Bundesliga, gross transfer spend is down for all of Europe’s other ‘big five’ leagues – in England, Italy, Spain and France – for the second consecutive year.
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