Premier League clubs spent record figures of £1.165billion in the transfer window, up 34 per cent on past year, and £155million on deadline day.
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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.
It is the first time Premier League sides have spent a combined total of more than £1bn during a transfer window, and, asked if top-flight English sides were getting charged more because of an increase in TV money, sports marketing expert Esteve Calzada said there were a number of factors. As well as Hart’s loan move, Juan Cuadrado returned to Juventus from Chelsea and Luis Alberto joined Lazio from Liverpool on permanent deals.
Luiz claimed two domestic trebles at PSG and will look to add to the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup trophies he won during his first spell with Chelsea from 2011-2014.
British media reports said Arsenal had paid Deportivo La Coruna around 17 million pounds to sign 27-year-old Perez.
Chelsea’s new manager Antonio Conte also signed full back Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina. Certain foreign clubs use an acronym to describe the ridiculous sums they can extract from English clubs: SEM – Stupid English Money.
Spain global Alcacer joined Barcelona from Valencia in a €30 million, five-year deal, the Catalan side announced.
“Hi fans. I’m happy to be here”, Sissoko told Spurs supporters in a video posted on the club’s Twitter page.
Manchester City were among those clubs trimming their squad under a new manager, Pep Guardiola allowing four players to leave on season-long loans.
City striker Wilfried Bony, who has also failed to win over Guardiola, was pictured at Stoke City’s training ground. Claudio Bravo’s £17m move from Barcelona to Manchester City took Premier League clubs’ overall spend past the previous record of £870m and it stood as of this morning at £945m.
Analysts believe European spending over the two-month window has easily been the highest yet.
A hamstring injury suffered in pre-season has delayed Sane’s introduction to the Premier League following his £25m (Dh12.7m) arrival, but the former Schalke winger is bound to impress once he gets going at Manchester City.
Burnley were another, 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. The Algeria ace netted 27 goals in 33 league appearances for Sporting last season and has an impressive record on the global stage with 23 strikes from his 43 caps.
Meanwhile, West Ham’s £12m forward Enner Valencia will ply his trade at Everton this season and Arsenal’s England midfielder Jack Wilshere, who has made more than 100 appearances for the Gunners, has relocated to Bournemouth.
Norwich City, who lost a year’s worth of parachute payments having stayed in the Premier League for only one season, spent about £15m.
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Chelsea, for example, have sent out 38 predominantly young players out on loan this summer while spending £90m on players from overseas.
