The summer transfer window shut on Tuesday, and the Premier League’s collective bill has once again cleared £2 billion, with Al Jazeera reporting the total at more than $2.7bn. Chelsea have led the spending at roughly £347m, followed by Tottenham on £306m and Manchester City on £236m.
The biggest single deal of the entire European summer arrived at Anfield in the days before the deadline, when Liverpool announced Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain on a five-year contract in a deal worth around £106m up front, rising with add-ons.
Three separate British transfer records fell over the course of the summer. Chelsea’s £117m capture of Morgan Rogers, Manchester City’s £116m signing of Elliot Anderson and Tottenham’s £100m deal for Sandro Tonali each reset the ceiling for a Premier League fee.
Chelsea: A-
Chelsea have spent more than any other Premier League club. The centrepiece is Rogers, signed from Aston Villa on a seven-year contract for £117m, a fee that made the England forward the most expensive British player in football history at the time of the deal.
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The concern is that the squad still looks top-heavy in attacking midfield and short of specialist cover in defence. On raw quality, though, this is the strongest business in the division.
Manchester City: B+
City opened the window with Anderson from Nottingham Forest, in a £116m deal that briefly made the midfielder the most expensive British player in history.
Rogers overtook him later in the summer. City then spent deadline day chasing Cody Gakpo, only for Liverpool to reject an £85m bid.
Losing that race leaves City short of wide cover for a long season on four fronts.
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Liverpool: A-
Barcola arrives from PSG and slots into an attack that also spent big earlier in the window. Liverpool then held firm on Gakpo despite the interest from City. Captain Virgil van Dijk had publicly urged the club not to sell.
“He’s a quality player. I think we should keep quality players… I want him to stay not only because he’s a quality player but also because he’s a friend of mine,” van Dijk said.
Arsenal: B
The champions have added midfield ballast rather than a headline goalscorer. Bruno Guimaraes joined from Newcastle for £75m, giving Mikel Arteta a Brazil international to sit alongside his existing midfield options.
The bigger question is Julian Alvarez. Arsenal have held talks with Atletico Madrid over the Argentine, and La Liga’s window remains open beyond the Premier League’s. If Alvarez does not move, Arteta will defend the title with essentially the attack that won it.
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Tottenham: B-
Spurs signed Tonali for a club-record £100m from Newcastle. That took gross spend to roughly £306m on a squad that finished mid-table last season. The ceiling has clearly been raised, but so has the pressure inside the building.
Manchester United: C+
United’s midfield rebuild is coherent, defensively sound business, but there is no headline forward to answer Chelsea’s Rogers or Liverpool’s Barcola.
La Liga’s window closes late on Tuesday, meaning Alvarez’s future, and any late Premier League departures to Spain, will be the last domino to fall.
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