So that was the window that was.
A whopping £3.46billion was spent by Premier League clubs in total during the summer transfer window. That mind-blowing figure is a new record and exceeds the £3.14bn spent by top flight clubs this time 12 months ago. As for deadline day, a staggering £475m was shelled out on the day itself across the 20 PL clubs.
Here, we look at some of the window’s biggest deals either by price tag or in terms of the eye-raising nature of the move:
Enzo Fernandez
The biggest deal of the lot was only completed on deadline day itself, with Manchester City finally getting their man. It cost them a pretty penny, mind. City shelled out £125m in a deal that equals the British transfer record, set by Liverpool 12 months ago when they prised Alexander Isak away from Newcastle United.
Fernandez, the panto villain in the summer’s World Cup after his exploits for Argentina against England, now reunites with his old Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca as they bid to take City back to the top of English football.
Morgan Rogers
Rogers swapped Aston Villa for Chelsea and in doing so became the most expensive English player in history after a £117m switch. He’s already begun paying back that mammoth price tag with a goal and an assist in his first two Premier League games for the Blues.
Elliot Anderson
The midfielder was another, like Rogers, to complete a whopping, post-World Cup transfer across the Premier League. Anderson swapped Nottingham Forest for Manchester City on a five-year deal for a fee that amounts to £116m and is now part of a revamped City engine room that is looking to challenge for the title once more.
Rodri
Anderson will be attempting to fill a huge, Rodri-sized hole in the City engine room after they sanctioned the exit of the hugely popular Spain international. He’s gone back to Spain to join Barcelona and it will be fascinating to see how Enzo Maresca’s new-look City cope without his huge presence in the middle of the park – he was named best player at the World Cup, thanks to his starring role in helping his country to the title.
Bradley Barcola
Liverpool shelled out an eye-watering fee of £123m for Barcola from PSG. The winger has signed a five-year contract and the Reds will be hoping he can sprinkle some stardust across the Premier League and Champions League this season as they get settled under the tutelage of Andoni Iraola. Having lost Mo Salah over the summer, Liverpool are hoping Barcola can complement their expensively-assembled front line and lead them to glory in his first taste of football outside his native France.
Sandro Tonali
Speaking of eye-watering fees, Tottenham Hotspur have made a habit of forking out astronomical fees in this window. The biggest of those was to tempt Italian Tonali away from Newcastle United.
So far it’s not gone to plan, with Spurs pointless after two matches and Tonali the subject of the Toon boo boys as his old club beat his new employers just last weekend.
Anthony Gordon
One of the more eye-raising moves this summer saw Gordon swap Newcastle for Barcelona for a fee of just short of £70m. His stellar form for the Magpies last term saw Barca move early, with a deal done before the World Cup started. Gordon is the latest England player to try his luck abroad….
Ollie Watkins
Speaking of which, Watkins has joined Gordon in swapping the Premier League for a new adventure. There was, however, slightly more controversy surrounding his move from Aston Villa as he completed a £51m switch to Saudi side Al-Hilal.
It was reported that the England international made himself unavailable for Villa’s Premier League opener before apologising. That undoubtedly helped push the move to Saudi through and it will be intriguing to see how he adapts there, and also how or if it affects his chances of representing his country in the future.
James Trafford
Trafford’s £45m switch from Manchester City to Leeds might have gone slightly under the radar amid a window full of blockbuster deals. But it feels like a significant bit of business and another steady signing from a Leeds team that is upwardly mobile. With eyes on the future England number one spot, regular top flight football will do Trafford – still only 23 – the world of good.
