Transfer deadline day moves for David Luiz and Moussa Sissoko helped take the total amount spent in the summer transfer window by Premier League clubs beyond £1.175m in what proved to be a new record by over £200m.
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With Arsenal, the full-back was capped 107 times by England, won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and was a key member of “The Invincibles” team that went the entire 2003/04 season undefeated.
Chelsea agreed to pay the highest reported fee, said to be in excess of 30 million pounds, for the return of Brazilian worldwide defender David Luiz, who left to join Paris Saint-Germain two years ago for 50 million pounds.
Manchester City’s out-of-favour England goalkeeper Joe Hart was set to complete a move to Torino in Italy.
There are very few clubs in Europe who have been involved in as much transfer activity as Premier League giants, Manchester City in the last few years.
“I think that more points will be needed to win the competition because numerous top teams underperformed previous year, which was unbelievable for the beauty of the competition”, Mourinho told his pre-match media conference at Carrington on Friday afternoon.
Reports in Spain claim that Barcelona forward Munir El Haddadi could make the switch to Spurs if the Camp Nou club can broker a deal for Valencia’s Paco Alcacer.
Manchester City were among those clubs trimming their squad under a new manager, Pep Guardiola allowing four players to leave on season-long loans.
Analysts believe European spending over the two-month window has easily been the highest yet.
Champions Leicester City’s 30 million euros swoop for striker Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon was one of the biggest moves on a hectic deadline day on Wednesday.
Algerian global Islam Slimani is believed to be in negotiations with Premier League champions Leicester City.
Promoted Burnley broke their record for the second time in this window when they signed Republic of Ireland worldwide Jeff Hendrick from Derby County for a fee of £10.5m.
Big spenders in the transfer window have been Manchester United and new manager Jose Mourinho.
Arsenal’s England global Jack Wilshere moved to Bournemouth on loan in search of regular first-team football, while tempestuous attacker Mario Balotelli left Liverpool on a free transfer to French side Nice.
WAYWARD: Mario Balotelli could sign for Nice.
“Jack is a player that needs no introduction and one that, quite rightly, our supporters will be excited to see”, said Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake.
In addition to Mangala, Spanish side Valencia signed Argentina global centre-back Ezequiel Garay from Zenit St Petersburg for a reported fee of €20 million.
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In Germany, Werder Bremen signed German winger Serge Gnabry from Arsenal and Hamburg made a €10 million move to bring Brazilian defender Douglas to the club from Atletico Mineiro. The 24-year-old midfielder had also been considering an offer from Crystal Palace after agreeing with Arsenal that he would benefit from playing regular first-team football.
