Premier League sets all-time record with £3.46bn summer transfer spending – Report

Premier League clubs have broken the all-time summer transfer spending record after spending reached £3.46 billion during the transfer window.

English top-flight clubs had already passed the £3 billion mark before deadline day, exceeding the previous record of £3.14 billion set 12 months earlier.

A further £475 million was spent on deadline day alone, compared with £391 million during the same period last year.

According to BBC Sport on Wednesday, the latest figures show how much spending has increased in the Premier League in recent years. Clubs spent just £1.13 billion five years ago, meaning the latest total represents a major rise.

Premier League clubs also dominated the list of the most expensive transfers during the window. Three of the 10 most expensive signings in football history were completed by English top-flight clubs.

The spending highlights the financial strength of the Premier League and its ability to attract some of the world’s best players. Even newly promoted clubs have been able to spend heavily in the transfer market.

With billions of pounds being invested in new players, the latest figures underline the Premier League’s position as the biggest spending force in world football.

The biggest spenders

Manchester City’s late confirmation of the signing of Fernandez took their summer spending to £458m as new boss Enzo Maresca was well backed as he looks to build his own team after replacing Pep Guardiola.

That is a new Premier League record for a single transfer window, passing Liverpool’s £415m from last summer. While City did spend big, they also made £304m in player sales.

Chelsea were the next biggest spenders as they paid out a total of £349m, although the Blues also sold £382m worth of players to end up with a net profit of £33m.

Tottenham spent the third-highest amount in the summer window with £302m as they hope to avoid another season of struggle and get back to battling at the top end of the table.

Newly-promoted Ipswich spent big in their bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship with an overall outlay of £171m, outspending Manchester United, who paid out £148m on new signings.

Meanwhile, Hull – also back in the Premier League this season – had a very busy window with a total of 18 new additions, six of them arriving on deadline day.