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While the rest of Europe is still enjoying the frenzy of the summer transfer window, the window has closed in England ahead of the start of the 2018/19 Premier League season.
It was a bizarre transfer window to be very honest. Spurs became the first team in Premier League history to not add to their squad in the summer, Manchester United made only one major signing when they clearly needed more, Manchester City refused to pay over the top for Jorginho who was one of their major targets and, Liverpool and Arsenal spent extravagantly to bolster their squads.
Most of the Premier League clubs, especially two of the newly promoted teams, were very busy in the summer. In fact, as many as nine Premier League teams broke their club record this summer despite Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs not breaking theirs this summer.
#1. Bournemouth - Jefferson Lerma
The job Eddie Howe has done at Bournemouth with his limited funds is commendable. Since gaining promotion to the Premier League in 2015, they have broken their club record transfer every season.
In 2015/15, Benik Afobe became their record transfer, in 2016/17 Jordon Ibe took over the mantle and in 2017/18 the record became Nathan Ake’s.
Ahead of the 2018/19 season, the Cherries broke their transfer record to sign Colombian international Jefferson Lerma from Levante for £25 million.
The 23-year-old midfielder was Bournemouth’s third and final signing of the summer after signing David Brooks from Sheffield United and Diego Rico from Leganes.
#2. Brighton & Hove Albion - Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Brighton & Hove Albion were one of the busiest teams in the Premier League during the summer transfer window. They signed as many as 13 first team players including two on the deadline day.
Jürgen Locadia became the club’s record signing in January but that record was broken twice during the course of the summer.
Yves Bissouma, the 21-year-old central midfielder from Lille broke the record initially. However, just a few days later, Brighton broke their club record transfer again.
They acquired Iranian international Alireza Jahanbakhsh from Dutch club AZ for a fee in the range of £17 million.
Alireza was the Eredivisie top scorer last season with 21 goals. If he can replicate such form in the Premier League, then Brighton will have pulled off one of the steals of the summer.
#3. Burnley - Ben Gibson
Burnley didn’t have a major signing before the 5th of August. They signed a few prospects from the lower leagues on free transfers initially before making their first summer signing a record-breaking one.
Ben Gibson arrived from Middlesbrough for £15 million and his arrival was followed by the signing of Joe Hart from Manchester City and Matej Vydra from Derby County.
Gibson played every league game for Middlesbrough in 2016/17 when they were relegated. However, despite Boro going down, Gibson was one of their better players and it was only a matter of time before he was picked up by a Premier League club.
The 25-year-old Englishman is not the only Boro player to make a switch to the Premier League this summer in a club record transfer.
#4. Chelsea - Kepa Arrizabalaga
Before last summer, Chelsea’s record transfer was Fernando Torres following his £50 million move in January 2011. That record was broken by Alvaro Morata when Chelsea spent £58 million for his services.
Both Spanish strikers failed at Chelsea but Morata still has time to turn things around. This summer, Chelsea broke their transfer record again and coincidentally the record-breaking transfer belongs to another Spaniard. However, this one will play at the opposite end of the pitch.
Chelsea were exploring their goalkeeping options all summer as they were braced for Thibaut Courtois’ departure. In the end, they managed to get Mateo Kovacic on loan as a part of the Courtois deal and this enabled them to invest heavily in a new goalkeeper.
The Blues paid the £71.6 million release clause of Athletic Bilbao’s 23-year-old shot stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga. This also made him the most expensive goalkeeper ever by breaking the previous record held by Alisson Becker when he joined Liverpool this summer.
#5. Fulham - Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa
On paper, Fulham had one of the best transfer windows in the league and quickly went from a Championship side to a side capable of finishing in a Europa League spot.
Fulham signed 12 players this summer of which five players have joined the club on a loan deal. The Cottagers were very busy towards the end of the window as seven players joined in August. In fact, Fulham made five of those signings on deadline day.
They broke their transfer record for the first time this summer following the arrival of Jean Michael Seri from Nice for a fee around £25 million. Seri’s record was broken by another midfielder from Ligue 1 on deadline day.
Fulham pulled off a deal to sign the highly rated Marseille defensive midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa for £30 million.
Interestingly, when Fulham earned promotion to the Premier League last season, they had eight players on loan. So it won’t be a surprise if they do well this season despite having to integrate so many new players into the squad.
#6. Huddersfield Town - Terence Kongolo
Huddersfield did brilliantly to stay in the Premier League last season despite clearly having one of the weakest squads in the league. This summer, they’ve put in efforts to bolster their squad with ten new players.
One of their summer signings includes Dutch international Terence Kongolo who spent the second half of last season on loan at Huddersfield from Monaco.
The 24-year-old defender was excess to needs at the Ligue 1 club and signed for Huddersfield for a fee believed to be in the range of £17.5 million plus bonuses.
#7. Manchester City - Riyad Mahrez
Manchester City only made one major signing in the summer and that signing broke their previous club record transfer held by Aymeric Laporte following his £57 million move in January.
Riyad Mahrez was keen on joining the runaway Premier League winners in January but Leicester’s refusal to sell him meant that Man City had to wait till the summer to get the Algerian.
The 2015/16 PFA Players’ and Fans’ Player of the Year cost the Premier League champions £60 million. This also made him the most expensive African player.
Interestingly, the record for the most expensive African player has been broken four times since the start of the 2017 summer transfer window. The five most expensive African players all play for the Premier League’s big 6 and they are Riyad Mahrez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Naby Keita, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in that order.
#8. West Ham - Felipe Anderson
Who would have thought that West Ham would be one of Europe’s biggest spenders this summer?
The Hammers are entering a new era under Manuel Pellegrini and the Premier League winning manager was given ample funds to improve the squad.
West Ham also broke their record transfer twice in the same window. Their first summer signing, Issa Diop, cost them £22 million and became their most expensive signing at that time.
Two weeks later, West Ham signed Brazilian international Felipe Anderson from Lazio for £36 million.
Anderson was one of ten players the club signed in the summer. It remains to be seen how well they can be integrated over the course of the season.
#9. Wolverhampton Wanderers - Adama Traore
Like Fulham, newly promoted side Wolverhampton Wanderers also had a busy summer.
Wolves signed 11 first team players this summer of which three players are on loan. However, five of the eight players Wolves signed this summer were on loan at the club last season and their moves were only made permanent.
Wolves broke their record transfer last summer when they signed Ruben Neves from Porto for £15.8 million. This year, they broke that record by signing former Barcelona player, Adama Traore, from Middlesbrough for £20 million.
Wolves are Traore’s third club in England after Aston Villa and Boro. He was relegated from the Premier League in his first season with both Villa and Boro. The 22-year-old will be hoping to avoid a hat-trick of relegation with Wolves.
