Stoke had a relatively modest summer of spending after breaking its transfer record in the January window when it paid Portuguese club Porto 18.3 million pounds (then $26 million) for defensive midfielder Giannelli Imbula. They have to keep up.
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Hart was out of favour at the Premier League leaders because his footwork and passing wasn’t up to the level demanded by Guardiola, who likes goalkeepers to help start attacks and be involved in play. Italy’s Serie A, the next biggest spender, parted with £595 million (700 million euros), according to industry website transfermarkt.com.
Luiz, who was part of Chelsea’s Champions League winning side in 2012, returns to the club for a fee that’s believed to be just £18m shy of what the club received for him two years ago.
Luiz was tipped to lose his place to compatriot Marquinhos at PSG, and has returned to Stamford Bridge for a reported fee of around £34 million.
Reports emerged early on Wednesday that Brazil global David Luiz was a target for Antonio Conte, and the 29-year-old finally completed personal terms for his switch back to London.
Marcos Alonso also joined the Blues from Fiorentina on the same day and the left-back has selected the No.3 shirt.
He is joined at the club by Younes Belhanda, while their Ligue 1 rivals Marseille snapped up Clinton N’Jie and William Vainqueur on loan deals from Tottenham and Roma respectively.
Of the free agents, former Real Madrid and Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa secured a deal at West Ham and ex-Reading forward Hal Robson-Kanu joined West Bromwich Albion after impressing with Wales at the European Championship.
Having won the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League in his first spell at Stamford Bridge, Luiz will be hungry for more success.
The champions broke their transfer record to sign striker Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon.
While the signing of Luiz will no doubt be at the forefront of fans’ thoughts, the news that Diego Costa is staying at Stamford Bridge is also a massive boost for the club.
Burnley were another club to make the biggest purchase in their history, buying Irish midfielder Jeff Hendrick from Derby County for a reported £10 million.
Liverpool also got troubled striker Mario Balotelli off its books, with the Italian joining Nice in France.
Jack Wilshere has left Arsenal for a season-long loan at Bournemouth in a bid to revive an injury-stalled career, it was announced on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016.
While there was a flurry of activity among English clubs, Europe’s other major leagues saw a relatively quiet deadline day.
In addition to Mangala, Spanish side Valencia signed Argentina global centre-back Ezequiel Garay from Zenit St Petersburg for a reported fee of 20 mn euros (B727mn).
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Arsenal has signed German worldwide central defender Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia, the London club said on Tuesday.
