Premier League clubs smash transfer record with £1.9billion spend

Premier League clubs have broken their transfer spending record for a season in the summer window alone.

Estimates from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group show gross spending this summer of £1.9billion, surpassing the record by a margin of £487.8million in the summer and January windows combined in the 2017-18 season.

According to Deloitte, the gross spend is 67% higher than the previous summer transfer window of £1.1bn, and 34% higher than the previous record (Summer 2017’s £1.4bn).

“Gross spend was so high among Premier League clubs this summer that, before this season’s January transfer window had taken place, the 2022/23 season already has the highest transfer spend since the two-window season began, exceeding the previous record by 3% (2017/18’s £1.86bn),” the group said.

New ownership acted as a catalyst for increased spending this summer, with Chelsea spending more than any other Premier League club; £157.8m more than they did last summer (2022’s £255.3m; 2021’s £97.5m), and £53.3m more than the next biggest spenders (Manchester United’s £202m).

Liverpool and Manchester United’s respective moves for forwards Darwin Nunez and Antony are the most expensive of this summer, both worth around £85m, with Chelsea signing defender Wesley Fofana from Leicester for an initial £70m.

The Blues and United were two of the league’s biggest spenders, with Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly also funding moves for Marc Cucurella (£60m), Raheem Sterling (£47.5m) and Kalidou Koulibaly (£34m) while Casemiro (£60m) and Lisandro Martinez (£57m) join Antony in United’s top 10 most expensive signings of all time.

Zal Udwadia, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the PA news agency earlier in the window: “What you’ve