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After a deadline day that saw both drama and inactivity in equal measure, the summer transfer window is now officially closed in the UK. With the Premier League 2015 summer transfer window deadline extended by 18 hours compared to the rest of Europe, a long summer of reports and rumours finally comes to an end. In doing so, clubs spent a total of £897.9m to make the 2015 summer transfer window the most expensive in EPL history, beating last season’s record expenditure by approximately £63m.
As clubs breathe a sigh of relief and ready their final squads for the Premier League and Champions League, we can now take a step back and look at how much each club has spent in the summer and also how much they have received in player sales.
With the new TV deal giving Premier League clubs the money and impetus to sign quality players to bolster their squad, the EPL has raised the bar in terms of competition for places in the table and the top four. While the season is only four weeks old, one look at the table tells you the Premier League is not the same as it was in previous seasons.
Top clubs spend big, but not all
Chelsea have had the second worst start as defending EPL champions and they have done what is necessary to try and address that. Pedro came in from Barcelona after the Blues activated his £21.4m release clause while Radamel Falcao was signed on a loan deal. But they were thwarted in their attempts to sign John Stones from Everton, Marquinhos from PSG and reportedly Paul Pogba from Juventus,
Current league leaders Manchester City have spent the most among EPL clubs, spending a whopping £154.2m this summer; the majority being spent on two players – Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne. Sterling came in for £49m while De Bruyne was signed for a club record fee of close to £55m.
Derby rivals Manchester United also spent big this summer with Louis van Gaal making wholesale changes to the squad. With the departure of a number of first-team players, including Angel Di Maria (sold to PSG), Robin van Persie and Nani (both Fenerbahce), Javier Hernandez (sold to Bayer Leverkusen), Adnan Januzaj (loaned to Borussia Dortmund) and Radamel Falcao (end of loan spell), the Dutch boss was quick to make a few signings early this summer.
Central midfielders Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger were signed and announced together for a combined fee of almost £31m while a £22m fee was agreed with PSV Eindhoven for Memphis Depay as early as May. Right-back Matteo Darmian was also signed from Torino for £12.9m while their most expensive player this summer was signed on deadline day with 19-year-old forward Anthony Martial was signed for £36m from AS Monaco.
Liverpool signed a number of new players this summer, the most notable being that of Christian Benteke from Aston Villa for £32.5m after they activated the release clause. Other big signings include Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim for close to £29m and English right-back Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton for £12.5m. Although they spent close to £90m this summer, they have balanced it out with a number of sales of Sterling (Man City), Fabio Borini (Sunderland) and Iago Aspas (Sevilla).
On the other hand, Arsenal were the least active in the transfer market. Their only signing in the first team was Petr Cech from Chelsea for £10m. Among all the teams from the top 5 leagues in Europe, the Gunners are the only team to not sign an outfield player – a huge sign of confidence from Arsene Wenger who seems to be happy with the current squad.
| # | CLUB | SPENT | RECEIVED | NET SPEND |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | £154.2m | £52.9m | £101.3m |
| 2 | Manchester United | £115.3m | £72m | £43.3m |
| 3 | Newcastle | £47.8m | £5.8m | £42m |
| 4 | Chelsea | £73.3m | £35.2m | £38.1m |
| 5 | Watford | £35.7m | £4.1m | £31.6m |
| 6 | West Ham | £34.6m | £5m | £29.6m |
| 7 | West Brom | £31.5m | £6.7m | £24.8m |
| 8 | Bournemouth | £24m | £1m | £23m |
| 9 | Liverpool | £88m | £66.3m | £21.7m |
| 10 | Leicester | £26.9m | £6.5m | £20.4m |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | £25.3m | £6.8m | £18.5m |
| 12 | Everton | £15.6m | £0.5m | £15.1m |
| 13 | Sunderland | £23m | £9.1m | £13.9m |
| 14 | Tottenham | £53.2m | £40.9m | £12.3m |
| 15 | Arsenal | £13m | £2.3m | £10.7m |
| 16 | Norwich | £10m | £0.1m | £9.9m |
| 17 | Swansea | £10.1m | £0.5m | £9.6m |
| 18 | Aston Villa | £53.4m | 44.5m | £8.9m |
| 19 | Stoke | £21.3m | £18m | £3.3m |
| 20 | Southampton | £41.7m | £38.5m | £3.2m |
| TOTAL | £897.9m | £416.7 | £481.2m |
Stats via Sporting Intelligence
