This weekend, the Premier League will host its first round of games since the transfer market closed. What a wonderful summer it’s been! The Premier League spent more money than all the other major leagues combined. That alone proves that it is the world’s top league. The top athletes are interested in playing here. According to financial services firm Deloitte, Premier League clubs broke their record spending on transfers in one season during the summer window alone, spending PS1.9bn ($2.2bn) in the period. Several other records were broken during the window, including Premier League clubs spending more than the Spanish LaLiga, Italian Serie A, and German Bundesliga.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal received PS 1.1bn in revenue during the same timeframe, which indicates that Manchester City earned PS 600m more in commercial deals compared to these other clubs, which are both similarly sized and similarly situated. The English club’s top-flight net spending was $1.35 billion, while that of Italy ($8 million) and Spain ($64 million) was lower. At this stage of last year’s window, Premier League clubs had spent a total of PS 895m, which increased by more than PS 200m over the closing weeks of the window. If add-ons for specific players are satisfied, at least half of the teams in England’s top division will have spent more than £100 million on new additions.
New ownership has been a catalyst in increased spending this summer, with Chelsea outspending every other Premier League club; PS 157.8m more than last summer (2022 PS 255.3m; 2021 PS97.5m), and PS 53.3m more than the next highest spender (Manchester United’s PS 202m). Total spending on summer transfers across the top-flight stood at PS 1.5bn as early Thursday, surpassing the 2017s record of PS 1.43bn. The total expenditure is 67% higher than in the previous summer transfer window, which was PS 1.1bn, according to the Sports Business Groups Deloittes, and 34% higher than the previous record spend.
The Premier Leagues record spending for a single season – covering the summer and winter transfer windows alike – was previously PS 1.86billion ($2.18billion) in 2017-18. A record-breaking summer transfer market spending spree among Premier League clubs passed the $2.2 billion mark ahead of Thursday’s closing window, as Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and – latecomer – Chelsea all signed players to complete the overhaul of their teams. Not wanting to be surpassed by Manchester United’s title rivals, the Reds have further strengthened during the summer transfer window, too, though only on a pair of notable signings arriving. Manchester City had a squad which had spent a total transfer fee of EUR 1.063bn (PS 974m) before the start of the 2020-21 campaign, making it the most expensive in world football.