Premier League clubs smash summer transfer spending record

LONDON, Sept 1 : The Premier League has smashed its summer spending record for the second successive season as once again England's top-flight clubs flex their financial muscles.

Manchester City's signing of Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye for a reported £65 million pushed the total gross spend in the window to an eye-watering £3.198 billion.

With more late deals still in the pipeline, the total already eclipses last summer when the combined spend of the 20 clubs breached the £3 billion barrier for the first time.

Five years ago the total was £1.13 billion.

Three players alone cost a combined £333 million with Manchester City signing midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116 million, Morgan Rogers switching from Aston Villa to Chelsea for £117 million and Tottenham Hotspur breaking their club record to sign Sandro Tonali for a fee that could reach £100 million from Newcastle United.

On Monday Liverpool agreed to pay an initial £107 million to Paris St Germain for France forward Bradley Barcola with that deal likely to rise to £123m.

Of the 11 most expensive signings ever, three of them - Anderson, Rogers and Barcola - have happened this summer.

To highlight the complete domination of Premier League clubs' purchasing power over their European rivals, only Yan Diomande's move to Real Madrid from Leipzig and Anthony Gordon's switch from Newcastle to Barcelona involved fees in excess of £60 million while newly-promoted Ipswich Town spent more on squad-strengthening than Barcelona, AC Milan and Juventus.

The spending spree continued right up to the final hours of the window with several more big-money transfers.

Aston Villa announced their 11th signing of the window with the £47 million purchase of Senegal winger