Sports
PREMIER League clubs have already spent a record amount of almost £1.7bn on players this summer going into Thursday’s deadline day – and that is set to rise even further.
The previous record for summer spending had been the £1.43bn spent in 2017.
The increase in spending comes after two consecutive summers shadowed by the Covid pandemic’s impact on clubs’ income, in which the total fees had dipped to £1.1bn last year.
Deloitte’s Sports Business Group’s Chris Wood said the level of spending was a sign that “the business models of Premier League clubs are rebounding post-Covid”.
In fact, more has been spent this summer than in the last season’s January and summer windows combined (£1.44bn).
Seventeen players have so far been signed by Premier League clubs – each of them for a reported fee of more than £30m, which compares to just eight during the 2021 summer transfer window.
The deadline for English Premier League and Football League teams is 23:00 BST on Thursday, 1 September. Scotland’s deadline is an hour later.
In Spain – where Barcelona’s spending spree has drawn most of the headlines – it is 23:00, in France it is 22:00, Italy’s window shuts at 19:00 and Germany’s deadline is 17:00 – all times BST.
Will it be a busy day?
Premier League clubs passed the record spending summer of 2017 with more than a week left of the window.
English top-flight clubs have made 141 signings this summer – already more than the total figures in the summer of 2019 (128) and 2020 (132). It will almost certainly pass last year’s 148.
There were just 14 Premier League deadline-day signings last year – one of the lowest totals in recent years – so will we see more deals completed this time?
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Ajax to sign Brazil winger Antony, 22.
That will be an initial fee of £81.3m – the fourth most expensive signing in Premier League history – when it goes through.
Chelsea added £70m defender Wesley Fofana to their ranks from Leicester City on the eve of deadline day and are interested in £60m Everton forward Anthony Gordon – although Toffees boss Frank Lampard said the deadline for the club selling the player has passed – plus Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo is still thought to be keen to find a club playing in this season’s Champions League – with a loan move most likely.
Manchester City are trying to sign Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji, who is likely to cost about £15m.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he would like his team to “risk more” in the transfer market as they consider midfielder reinforcements.
Will Leicester finally sign a first-team player? Alex Smithies is their only recruit so far, on a free transfer to be their third-choice goalkeeper.Match of the Day 2 – How to spend big to rebuild a squad
How can I follow across BBC Sport?
You won’t miss a minute of transfer deadline day on BBC Sport.
A running text commentary confirming all the transfers, discussing the rumours and analysing the best of the business will be live on the BBC Sport website throughout the day. There is a page dedicated to the done deals.
You will also find regular updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and breaking news across BBC Sport’s social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
There will be a live transfer show on the iPlayer from 23:00 for about 20 minutes.
You can get every deal done by your Premier League club sent directly to your device as they happen, right up until the window shuts.
Just download the BBC Sport app, choose a team from the list below and hit the bell icon to sign up for that club’s notifications, including news, goals and results
What deals have already been done this summer?
Once the Antony signing goes through, Manchester United will have spent more than £210m in this transfer window to back new boss Erik ten Hag – including Feyenoord defender Tyrell Malacia, Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro – plus free agent Christian Eriksen.
Respected football website Transfermarkt says Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Arsenal, Manchester City and Wolves have all spent over £100m this summer – nine of the top 11 spenders in Europe.
At least seven Premier League clubs have broken their transfer record – or could if certain clauses are met.
Liverpool signed Benfica striker Darwin Nunez for a £64m fee which could rise to £85m, while Newcastle brought in Real Sociedad forward Alexander Isak for £60m.
Tottenham Hotspur signed Brazil forward Richarlison from Everton for about £60m.
Wolves landed Sporting Lisbon midfielder Matheus Nunes for £38m.
Brentford and Nottingham Forest are reported to have broken their transfer fee record multiple times.
The Bees signed Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey for a fee which could rise to £17m, and then Hull forward Keane Lewis-Potter for up to £20m.
Forest brought in Union Berlin striker Taiwo Awoniyi for a reported £17m, then Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis for up to £20m – followed by Wolves winger Morgan Gibbs-White for a fee of between £25m and £42m. They have made a total of 18 summer signings.
West Ham signed Lyon and Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta for £36.5m – but that could rise to a record £50m.
Leeds United signed Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson for an undisclosed fee thought to be a similar amount to £26m record signing Rodrigo.
There were plenty of huge non-record fees too. Chelsea brought in Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella for £60m and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling for up to £50m.
Manchester City signed Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2m and Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips for £45m.
Arsenal signed Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City for £45m.
BBCsport.
A.I
Tags: Alex Smithies Anthony Gordon Brenden Aaronson Cristiano Ronaldo Darwin Nunez Emmanuel Dennis Gabriel Jesus Kalvin Phillips Lucas Paqueta Manchester United Manuel Akanji Marc Cucurella Wesley Fofana
