LONDON: Alexander Isak’s British record £125 million ($169 million) move from Newcastle United to Liverpool on Monday completed an eye-watering summer of English Premier League spending.
The Swedish striker’s move, along with several other big-money deadline day deals such as Newcastle’s £55 million swoop for Brentford striker Yoane Wissa meant the cumulative spend for the world’s richest football league during the transfer window reached three billion pounds for the first time.
Gross spending for the Premier League this season is already the highest ever, exceeding the 2.7 billion pounds spent in the 2022-23 season, and the January window is still to come.
The 20 clubs have spent 650 million pounds more in this window than the previous highest summer spend in 2023.
“This summer we have seen the Premier League’s financial dominance over world football,” Dan Plumley, a football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, told Reuters. “Boosted by international broadcast money, they continue to operate on another level to other leagues.”
It has not all been one-way traffic with clubs also recouping some of their outlay in sales but the 1.2 billion pounds net spend is also the highest ever — a 114% increase on the previous summer and 13% higher than the previous record in 2022, according to Deloitte.
The English top division has long enjoyed a competitive economic advantage over rival European leagues thanks to far more lucrative television contracts for both domestic and international rights.
The expansion of UEFA’s European competitions has supercharged spending, with a record nine English teams involved in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League this season.
“I think it just demonstrates once again the competitive nature of the league — more teams in Europe than ever before and big clubs that are trying to get back in Europe,” Tim Lunn, director in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, told the Press Association.
“I think that the competitive nature of getting into Europe has never really been more evident. I think that’s reflected also in the amount of business that’s being done. Not necessarily just the the the total spend, but the amount of business in and out of those clubs indicates that significant desire for them to improve and get into those coveted European spots.”
Last season’s top two sides, Liverpool and Arsenal, have spent big as they gear up for another title battle.
Liverpool broke their own club record twice, paying an initial £100 million for Florian Wirtz before breaking the British transfer record to land Isak on deadline day as the biggest saga of Europe’s summer transfer window ended.
“I feel amazing. It’s been a long journey to get here,” said Isak, who effectively went on strike at Saudi-controlled Newcastle over the summer as he agitated for a move to Anfield.
The Reds, though, have also brought in more than 200 million in sales to bolster their transfer kitty, with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz among a list of big names to leave.
One transfer Liverpool failed to get over the line, however, was for England defender Marc Guehi, who will stay at Crystal Palace for the final year of his contract because the London team couldn’t secure a replacement.
Arsenal have backed Mikel Arteta to finally win the Gunners’ first title since 2004 with a £250 million spend on players such as Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi to add attacking strength and depth to their squad.
The club’s eighth and likely final signing of the window was a loan deal for Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie from beleaguered Bayer Leverkusen on Monday.
Chelsea have again been busy after winning the Conference League and Club World Cup. Joao Pedro has spearheaded the arrival of an array of attacking talent, including Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao and Jamie Gittens.
Manchester City did the bulk of their business before the Club World Cup, signing Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri, as Pep Guardiola’s men hope to get back in title contention.
They confirmed the signing of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris St Germain on Tuesday after selling the long-serving Ederson to Fenerbahce.
Other highlights on Monday included Tottenham Hotspur signing France striker Randal Kolo Muani on loan from PSG, while Aston Villa were very active in signing midfielder Harvey Elliot on loan from Liverpool, winger Jadon Sancho on loan from Manchester United and former United center back Victor Lindelof on a free transfer.
United continued trimming their squad by offloading Antony to Real Betis on a permanent deal and Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli on loan, while signing Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp in a bid to fix their issues in that department.
PROMOTED TRIO STRIVE TO SURVIVE
But another consequence of the Premier League’s financial power is the growing gulf between clubs in the top division and those in the second-tier Championship.
For the past two seasons all three promoted sides have gone straight back down, provoking a more proactive approach from Leeds United, Sunderland and Burnley, with all three spending around £100 million or more.
Sunderland’s recruitment has been particularly eye-catching. The club have landed former Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen captain Granit Xhaka and highly rated Senegal international midfielder Habib Diarra for a club-record 30 million.
The Black Cats’ gamble has paid off so far, with two wins from their opening three games. Last season it took until mid-October for one of the promoted sides to win two matches.
Leeds have also taken four points from two home games against Everton and Newcastle, while Burnley beat Sunderland at Turf Moor and were only defeated at Manchester United on Saturday by a 97th-minute penalty.
One of the key changes that has driven up the gross spend by the Premier League is a surge in club-to-club business.
Nearly 40 percent of transfers were between English clubs, at a combined cost of around £1 billion, caused in part by the need to meet financial sustainability rules.
For accounting purposes, transfer fees paid out by clubs are spread over the course of a player’s contract. By contrast, the entire fee received when players are sold goes straight on the books.
By selling to each other at the inflated prices paid by Premier League clubs, English sides are managing to keep themselves on the right side of the rules despite their huge outlays.
The downside is that players who have come through local academies are sold on to balance the books, which risks stripping clubs of their identities.
Jacob Ramsey’s move from Aston Villa to Newcastle was one such case for two clubs that have struggled to balance their ambition to compete at the top of the Premier League with staying within the financial rules.
“A sad day losing a top player and person and one of our own but it seems to be the way football is set up these days,” said Villa captain John McGinn after Ramsey’s departure.
Villa manager Unai Emery has called for reform of the financial rules otherwise clubs like his “will never be allowed to dream”.
Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2025
