The summer transfer window closes for major European soccer leagues Friday, and—unless there’s a massive shake-up at the 11th hour—the Premier League is set to once again be the top international spender for soccer talent.
Across England’s top flight, Premier League clubs have shelled out nearly €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) to bring in new talent this summer, as of Aug. 26, which is the start of the final week of the transfer window. Chelsea and well-funded clubs are looking to add to that figure in the window’s final hours. If they don’t, they’ll have to wait until the January transfer window in midseason to target players on contract at other clubs.
Among the biggest EPL transfers this summer have been Leny Yoro’s move from Ligue 1’s Lille to Manchester United for £52 million ($68 million) and Dominic Solanke’s £55 million ($72 million) ticket from Bournemouth to Tottenham.
Although several billion dollars is nothing to sneeze at, overall Premier League transfer spending is actually down about 11% from this same point last summer. It ended that window with a record £2.36 billion ($2.6 billion) in signings.
But wallets are open in Italy’s top division, where spending by Serie A clubs has increased more than 16%, topping $1 billion. Napoli’s late moves for Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku and Manchester United star Scott McTominay will drive its total outlay upward.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Pro League finds itself behind Europe’s Big Five in spending, which is down 75% from last year’s levels to just less than €217 million ($240 million). They’re certainly not skittish to lay out cash: Saudi clubs’ 2023 shopping spree saw them spend nearly $1 billion luring the likes of Neymar and Rúben Neves to play against Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Al Nassr after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. (Two of the biggest names, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté, don’t even count toward this figure; they went on free deals but took massive salaries with them.)
There’s still time, however. Saudi Arabia’s transfer window doesn’t close until Monday.
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