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As the summer transfer window finally closed, it seems like the perfect time to look at clubs which have spent the most in this window. With Financial Fair Play almost upon us, a lot of clubs have shown complete disregard for it, by signing players left, right and centre. This list of clubs includes four clubs who spent over £100 million in reinforcements, with the Premier League leading the way yet again with over £650 million spent on transfers this summer. So, let us look at who has splashed the cash, showing complete disregard for FFP.
Back in Ligue 1, and bankrolled by a Russian billionaire, AS Monaco were expected to spend big and didn’t disappoint. With Real Madrid, perennial big spenders, once again flexing their financial muscle, the top two spenders were fairly straight forward, but the team occupying the other three positions weren’t who you’d usually expect.
Before moving onto the top five spenders, let us look at those who almost made the cut. Napoli, having sold Edinson Cavani, spent all of that money and a little bit more, to bring their summer spending spree to £75 m. For close to £5o million, they added the Madrid trio of Gonzalo Higuain, Raul Albiol and J Callejon to their ranks, alongside some shrewd signings in Brazilian goal keeping sensation Rafael and Belgian winger D Mertens from Santos and PSV respectively. And now, without further ado, let us move onto the five biggest spenders.
Paris Saint-Germain (£98 million)
Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint-Germain celebrates his goal during the French League 1 between Paris Saint-Germain FC and AC Ajaccio, at Parc des Princes on August 18, 2013 in Paris, France.
In fifth place, but only just, are reigning French champions Paris Saint-Germain, having spent close to £98 million on just three players. Whilst they made headlines with their high-profile acquisition of Edinson Cavani from Napoli for £57 million, it is the other two signings that will probably make the difference at the end of the day. 19-year-old Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos and highly promising left back Lucas Digne were both snapped up from Roma and Lille respectively. And the two of them look like they will be the bed rock of the PSG defence in seasons to come.
Manchester City (£100 million)
Alvaro Negredo of Manchester City during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Hull City at the Etihad Stadium on August 31, 2013 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
In fourth place, a whisker ahead of PSG is Manchester City, who have spent £100 million under new manager Manuel Pellegrini. They bought five players in this window, and four are attacking reinforcements. With close to £22 million each spent on bringing Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo from Fiorentina and Sevilla respectively, another £17 million was dished out to Sevilla for Negredo’s teammate Jesus Navas. With Kompany injured, they also managed to snap up Martin Demichelis from Atletico Madrid as cover. But their biggest summer signing was, in fact, a backup for Yaya Toure. Fernandinho was signed from Shakhtar to reduce the Ivorian’s workload.
Tottenham (£107 million)
Roberto Soldado of Tottenham celebrates scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hospur and Swansea City at White Hart Lane on August 25, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
In third place, and perhaps the surprise team of the lot, is Tottenham Hotspurs, who smashed their transfer record thrice this summer. With the departure of Bale to Madrid, they have spent wisely to ensure that they don’t miss the Welshman’s services.
They have snapped up two wingers, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela from Twente and Roma respectively, along with two central midfielders in Paulinho and Etienne Capoue arriving from Sao Paolo and Toulouse. Spurs have also signed a centre back in V Chiriches, and an attacking midfielder in Christian Eriksen from Ajax. More than anything else, they have also signed Spanish striker Roberto Soldado and bolstered their strike force.
AS Monaco (£147 million)
Radamel Falcao of AS Monaco celebrates his goal during the french Ligue 1 match between FC Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Monaco FC at the Stade Chaban-Delmas stadium on August 10, 2013 in Bordeaux, France. (Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)
Enjoying their first stint in Ligue 1 after a while, AS Monaco were expected to spend big. But nobody could have foreseen what happened. Whilst all of Europe was fighting for the signature of Radamel Falcao, including the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, Monaco pipped all of them to land the Colombian and signal their intent to all of Europe.
Alongside the Colombian are his international teammates James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho from Porto, and a few other soon to be influential Frenchmen in Jeremy Toulalan, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Eric Abidal. They spent close to £150 million on new players this window, and have certainly created quite a stir.
Real Madrid (over £150 million)
Gareth Bale shows his new Real Madrid shirt as he stands alongside president Florentino Perez during his presentation as a new Real Madrid player at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on September 2, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
After a summer long courtship, the biggest news for Real Madrid came when Spurs admitted that they have accepted a world record bid for Bale. And depending on which report you believe, the deal is worth as much as £86 million. But until then, it had been a relatively quiet window by Madrid standards, as only Isco and Illarramendi were the major signings, with the likes of Carvajal and Casemiro nothing more than mere additions to the squad. But now that their major signing has come through, they have once again spent the most of any club this transfer window, showing that FFP or no FFP, the Galacticos will always be there.
