Home of football statistics and historyThe summer transfer window created plenty of excitement for fans across the Premier League, with clubs splashing out eye-watering amounts of money once again.
Top flight clubs spent £1.26 billion this summer, slightly less than £1.4bn that was paid out during the corresponding window in 2017.
However, although the total spend wasn’t as high as last year there have been some major signings, with the record transfer fee for a goalkeeper being broken twice in the past two months.
Read on as we look at the ten Premier League clubs who spent the most this summer.
Liverpool
Liverpool fans perhaps had the most reason to be excited, with their club shelling out over £170 million during the transfer window.
Alisson’s arrival from Roma for £65 million broke the record fee for a goalkeeper, although Chelsea topped that figure later in the summer.
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Naby Keita (RB Leipzig, £52.8m), Fabinho (Monaco, £40m) and Xherdan Shaqiri were other notable arrivals, forcing online bookmakers, even the leading ones in the market, to slash Liverpool’s odds for the title.
The Reds finished 25 points adrift of champions Manchester City last term, but the significant summer investment should see them finish much closer this time around.
Chelsea
Chelsea were the second biggest spenders at £122m. Kepa Arrizabalaga was signed from Athletic Bilbao for £71.6 million as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois who signed for Real Madrid.
The fee pushed the record for a goalkeeper even higher, but whether the 23-year-old will prove to be value for money remains to be seen.
Jorginho (Napoli, £50.4m) and Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid, loan) were the other major additions to the Blues’ squad.
Fulham
Newly-promoted Fulham certainly got their fans talking, with 12 players arriving at Craven Cottage this summer for a combined total of £110m.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Marseille, £30m), Jean Michael Seri (Nice, £25m), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United, £22m) and Alfie Mawson (Swansea City, £15m) were their biggest outgoings, although manager Slavisa Jokanovic also exploited the loan market.
Andre Schurrle (two-season loan, Borussia Dortmund), Calum Chambers (Arsenal, loan) Sergio Rico (Sevilla, loan) and Luciano Vietto (Atletico Madrid, loan) were amongst the temporary signings made, sparking talk amongst fans that the club could push for the top half of the Premier League.
Leicester City
The 2015/16 champions splashed out over £101m on seven new signings.
James Maddison (Norwich City, £24m), Caglar Soyuncu (Freiburg, £19m) and Ricardo Pereira (Porto, £17.5m) were their most expensive purchases.
Riyad Mahrez’s departure to Manchester City for £60m offset over half of the Foxes’ outlay, and it will be interesting to see how his exit impacts their hopes of improving on last season’s ninth place finish.
West Ham United
The Hammers made ten new additions, spending over £90m. Felipe Anderson (Lazio, £35m) was their headline summer signing, but fans will be hoping that some of the other arrivals can also make their mark.
Issa Diop (Toulouse, £22m), Andriy Yarmolenko (Borussia Dortmund, £17.5m) and Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea, £7m) were other notable additions, while Jack Wilshere will be eager to reignite his career after signing on a free transfer.
The former Arsenal midfielder has struggled with injuries, but if West Ham can keep him fit his signing could prove to be a shrewd bit of business.
Everton
Everton left it late to finish their business, adding three more players on deadline day to take their summer spending to around £86m.
Much will be expected of Richarlison following his £40m move from Watford, while Yerry Mina (Barcelona, £28m) and Lucas Digne (Barcelona, £18m) are much-needed defensive additions.
Joao Virginia (Arsenal, undisclosed), Andre Gomes (Barcelona, loan) and Bernard (free transfer) complete an impressive line-up of signings and could help Everton break into the top six this term.
Arsenal
The Gunners are entering a new era this season, with Unai Emery replacing long-serving Arsene Wenger as the club’s manager.
Emery has added Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus, free), Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria, £26.5m), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen, £19.2m), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund, £17.7m) and Matteo Guendouzi (Lorient, £8m) to his squad, but he could find it difficult to take Arsenal back into the top four.
Manchester United
Manager Jose Mourinho was left frustrated with the club’s failure to deliver his chosen transfer targets, with United spending just £64m this summer.
Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk, £43.7m), Diogo Dalot (Porto, £19m) and Lee Grant (Stoke City, £1.5m) arrived at Old Trafford, but deals for other top targets didn’t materialise.
United are probably a top-class centre-half away from having a squad capable of challenging for the title and it may be an area they address in the January transfer window.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves spent over £60m on 13 new players following their promotion from the Championship.
Adama Traore (Middlesbrough, £18m), Diogo Jota (Atletico Madrid, £12.6m), Benik Afobe (Bournemouth, £10m) and Willy Boly (Porto, £10m) were their biggest signings in terms of value, although Joao Moutinho’s arrival from Monaco for just £5m was the signing that excited Wolves’ fans the most.
The Midlands club were a class apart in the Championship last season and they look well-equipped to enjoy a productive campaign at the higher level.
Manchester City
City only made one major signing this summer, with Mahrez arriving from Leicester for £60m.
Pep Guardiola’s side won the title by 19 points last season and the forward’s addition to the squad strengthens their attacking options even further.
Guardiola was frustrated in his efforts to sign Jorginho from Napoli, but City fans still have plenty to be excited about this season.
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