After record spending spree, Premier League clubs set new transfer record

Premier League clubs spent nearly 6 billion kronor on the final open day of the transfer window, according to the BBC. By midnight on Tuesday, the English top flight had set a record for money flowing in and out during a single transfer period.

The final bill reached £3.46 billion, equivalent to around 45 billion kronor. That was almost 5 billion kronor more than clubs spent during last summer’s transfer window. Agents, club executives, coaches and players remained active until the deadline, with some deals completed at the last moment and others collapsing after prolonged negotiations.

Manchester City topped the spending table, as expected, after a large turnover in the squad since Enzo Maresca replaced Pep Guardiola as manager. Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernández became, for now, the final piece of Maresca’s rebuild at a cost of £125 million. The fee matched Alexander Isak’s record move from Newcastle to Liverpool a year earlier.

Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Iliman Ndiaye were among City’s other expensive signings. Sales of Savio, Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez and James Trafford helped balance the books. Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham also bought and sold players for huge sums under recently appointed managers Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola and Robert De Zerbi. Each club paid at least £100 million for one player.

For Sweden coach Graham Potter, the window created a possible new reason to visit Fulham’s Craven Cottage. Hugo Larsson, who missed the World Cup squad, moved to Fulham from Frankfurt for £21 million, or nearly 280 million kronor. Potter can also follow 12 Swedish players in the Premier League and three World Cup players in the second tier.