Shkodran Mustafi’s £35million transfer was significant on multiple fronts, as it not only ended Arsenal’s hunt for an able central defender, but it also saw Premier League clubs break the £1billion mark in a single transfer window for the first time in competition's 24-year-old history.
Arsenal’s £35m deal to sign Mustafi has now pushed Premier League’s summer spending to a whopping £1,021,430,000, which has easily beaten last year’s record of £870million. This figure is expected to soar even higher with Chelsea lining up a £32million for David Luiz while Everton are dreaming of a €40m capture of Porto’s Yacine Brahimi.
Elsewhere, Leicester City are confident of signing Islam Slimani on deadline day in a reported €35million deal. Tottenham are chasing Newcastle United’s Moussa Sissoko, who is valued at a staggering £35million.
The summer of 2016/17 is the fourth successive season where a new record has been made in terms of Premier League sides spending on transfers. We have already seen 12 teams break their previous transfer record this summer, latest of which are Hull City who agreed to sign Tottenham’s Ryan Mason late last night.
Perhaps we should have seen it coming with the new TV rights money kicking in earlier this summer, which is expected to be in the region of £5billion for all the Premier League clubs. Teams like Burnley, Hull and Middlesbrough are not afraid to go out and spend beyond £50-60million, which is nothing but a dream for some of the top European sides in other leagues.
Look at AC Milan and how, despite their mighty status, they have failed to attract big names to San Siro this season. Contrary to that, Premier League sides are growing more and more dominant in the transfer market which can only be a good sign for English football, as all the big name stars would soon be playing in the Premier League.
Having said that, there are strong reservations from the other leagues about Premier League’s spending powers, as it weakens their position in the transfer market.
While it is still out for debate whether this insane money in Premier League is good or bad for European football, we better keep an eye on today’s deadline day activities and track the best signings done in next 10-12 hours time.
Top five Premier League signings this summer:
Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United, £89m
John Stones – Everton to Manchester City, £47m
Leroy Sane – Schalke to Manchester City, £42m
Granit Xhaka – Borussia Monchengladbach to Arsenal, £35m
Shkodran Mustafi – Valencia to Arsenal, £35m
