English clubs spend big again
It has been another summer of transfer records in the Premier League
Let's explore a rather eventful few months
Author | Josh T
Three of the 10 most expensive transfers in football history have taken place this summer, with all three involving Premier League clubs. The window also produced four of the top flight's five biggest deals on record.
Fernandez was the headline signing, eclipsing the £116m Manchester City paid earlier in the window for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson.
Chelsea, meanwhile, spent £117m to bring Morgan Rogers to Stamford Bridge from Aston Villa.
Liverpool paid an initial £106m, potentially rising to £123m, for Paris St-Germain and France forward Bradley Barcola.
Yan Diomande's move to Real Madrid and Anthony Gordon's switch from Newcastle to Barcelona are the only deals completed so far this summer by clubs outside the Premier League to exceed £60m.
Tottenham's signing of Sandro Tonali represented a club-record fee that could eventually reach £100m. The north London club have also spent heavily on Mateus Fernandes, who arrived from West Ham for £85m, and Savio, signed from Manchester City for £75m with the fee potentially rising to £85m.
Other transfers in a similar bracket include the £85.6m City paid for Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, Bruno Guimaraes' £75m move from Newcastle to Arsenal, and Manchester United's £70m deal for Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba from Brighton.
A comparison to the big signings on the continent
It is perhaps little surprise, then, that only six of the 20 most expensive transfers completed this summer have involved clubs outside the English top flight.
Indeed, newly promoted Ipswich Town have spent more on new signings than Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and reigning European champions Paris St-Germain.
