Firstly, lets start with the biggest spenders. It won’t come as a shock to many that Chelsea spent the most amount of money this transfer window, using around £220 million of their available funds on new players such as Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. However, they also managed to accumulate the highest value of outgoings at about £147 million, so all in all, Todd Boehly will probably be quite happy with the business he managed to complete for the new manager Enzo Maresca. But question marks will still be raised on whether the squad is too large.
Surprisingly, reigning champions Manchester City spent the least amount of money in the Premier League, signing Savinho from Troyes for £21 million whilst also signing previous fan favourite Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer. The reason for this low expenditure has been speculated to be due to the 115 charges of financial foul play that have been constantly looming over the club, which has also led to their fantastic backup striker Julian Alvarez leaving the club to Atletico Madrid without being replaced. Although Savinho has looked like a steal of a signing and Gundogan is sure to bring back his magic, the lack of backup striker will be a source of contention over the season and could see a false nine having to be implemented if Erling Haaland gets injured.
Surprisingly, reigning champions Manchester City spent the least amount of money in the Premier League
The biggest signings of the window include Ugarte and Yoro to Manchester United, Onana to villa, Solanke to Spurs and Neto to Chelsea. These players are all tipped to add a vast amount of quality and it can be said that each of the aforementioned signings were urgently needed by the respective clubs who bought them. Nonetheless each of these signings also pose potential caveats, for example Neto’s injury problems, Yoro’s inexperience, Ugarte being left out of PSG’s squad before signing for United, and Solanke only having one real high scoring premier league season.
Signings that may have gone under the radar but could have huge impacts for their club are arguably more impressive than big blockbuster signings of players that are already known to have quality. The transfer of Crycencio Summerville to West Ham for around £25 million may prove to be a vital long-term decision for The Hammers as the 22-year-old winger ripped it up for Leeds last season. Bagging 19 goals and 9 assists in an impressive Championship campaign where he’ll hope to carry that output into the Premier League. Additionally, Chadi Riad is a 21-year-old ball playing centre back who has massive potential in the world of football, and was signed by Crystal Palace for just €15 million from Real Betis, this could turn out to be a great replacement for Joachim Andersen who had been a mainstay in Palace’s defence. Finally, James Ward Prowse’s loan transfer to Nottingham Forest will add an abundance of Premier League experience, and world class set pieces which may just push Forest out of fighting relegation.
The transfer of Cyrcencio Summerville to West Ham for around £25 million may prove to be a vital long-term decision for The Hammers
The top five most impressive windows by clubs relative of their stature are (arguably): West Ham, Brighton, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Tottenham; whilst the most disappointing are (arguably): Manchester City, Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Brentford.
Overall, it’s been another exciting transfer window which has seen many huge incomings and outgoings with a slight decrease from what has been spent in previous seasons. FFPs new rules have played a big factor in how teams have used their money, as teams like Everton, Manchester City, Leicester and Nottingham Forest are all being closely watched by the Premier Leagues committee which has seen them be slightly restricted in their movements during the window.
