English Premier League clubs have spent a record £1.95bn on players in this summer’s transfer window – with a week to go before deadline day.
According to a new analysis by financial analysis company, Deloitte, the previous record of £1.92bn set last summer has already been overtaken as of Friday, August 25.
No Premier League transfers hit the £100m mark last summer, but this year Chelsea have added Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo to their ranks for a £100m fee that could rise to a British club record of £115m, while Arsenal signed England midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham for £100m plus £5m in add-ons.
Premier League Champions, Manchester City have bought £77m defender Josko Gvardiol,, £55.4m winger Jeremy Doku and midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who arrived for £25m from Chelsea.
Rivals Manchester United have a new striker in £72m Rasmus Hojlund, while fellow Champions League side Newcastle United brought in Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali for £55m and Leicester forward Harvey Barnes for £38m.
Newly promoted Burnley have spent an estimated £95m, including a club record £19m deal for England Under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford.
Last year’s Premier League runners-up Arsenal added to the Rice deal by buying Kai Havertz for £65m and Ajax defender Jurrien Timber for £34m.
Premier League clubs are set to break the £2bn barrier in the coming days, the report adds.
“This sensational level of spending appears to be the new norm for Premier League clubs,” said Deloitte’s Calum Ross.
“For the second year in a row, the summer transfer spending by Premier League clubs has surpassed the previous record and looks set to rise above £2bn for the first time before the window closes on 1 September,” added Ross, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.
Also, Chelsea have spent an estimated £340m on nine players so far in this transfer window, more than any other side in Europe. The highest summer spend by any club in the world before now had been Real Madrid’s £292m spree in 2019.
The outlay means Chelsea have spent almost £900m since Todd Boehly’s takeover of the club last summer.
Ross says “the receipt of significant investment from new ownership” is one of the factors driving the high spending, along with clubs “generating unprecedented levels of revenue”.
Analysis also shows the average value of fee-paying transfers-in to Premier League clubs is £25m – higher than last summer’s £20m.
While spending has risen to record-breaking levels, net spending is down 25% on last summer, from £1.1bn to £825m.
Deloitte says this is due to Premier League clubs receiving significant fees for players from other global leagues – most notably, Saudi Arabia.