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LONDON: English Premier League spending was hurtling toward a staggering $3 billion in a record outlay during European soccer’s summer transfer window on Friday.
Manchester City and — of course — Chelsea were among those making moves on a typically frantic deadline day.
Chelsea were leading the unprecedented splurge, with the arrival of 21-year-old winger Cole Palmer from City for 40 million pounds ($50.7 million) taking the west London club’s spending in this window to around $500 million.
In the three transfer windows under their new American ownership fronted by Todd Boehly, Chelsea have spent about $1.15 billion on players mostly signed up on long contracts in an innovative way to spread “amortization” costs of transfer fees.
By comparison, the $260 million outlay by City, the English and European champion, look modest. The fourth and final arrival in the window came on deadline day and was Portugal international Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton, a ball-carrier costing $67 million and providing extra depth in central midfield.
Central midfielders were also priorities for Liverpool and Manchester United, who were attempting to tie up the signings of Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich and Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina, respectively, in the final hours of the window.
It was a busy day for United, which signed left back Sergio Reguilón on loan from Tottenham as cover for the injured Luke Shaw and goalkeeper Altay Bayindir on a transfer from Fenerbahce to back up Andre Onana. Center back Jonny Evans also returned for a second stint at the club on a one-year deal.
Brighton, meanwhile, completed one of the most exciting deals of the window to bring in 20-year-old Spain winger Ansu Fati on a season-long loan from Barcelona. Fati was once billed as Lionel Messi’s successor at Barca, even taking his No. 10 shirt, but struggled to make an impact since an injury in 2020 and hasn’t been used as a regular starter under coach Xavi Hernandez.
It’s a sign of Brighton’s progress that they could entice a player of Fati’s status. The south-coast team will play in Europe for the first time this season, in the Europa League.
Tottenham are looking to increase their options up front and have reached an agreement with Nottingham Forest on the signing of 22-year-old Wales international Brennan Johnson for a reported fee of 45 million pounds ($57 million).
Clubs are also eager to get rid of some fringe players to reduce the size of the squads, with Chelsea and Tottenham letting some go in a rare season when they won’t be playing in Europe.
Callum Hudson-Odoi left Chelsea after a 16-year association to join Forest, while Tottenham sent full backs Reguilon and Japhet Tanganga out on loan.
Forest were very busy, also bringing in left back Nuno Tavares from Arsenal and Nicolas Dominguez from Bologna. Aston Villa signed center back Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona, after he spent last season at Tottenham.
The window closes at 2200 GMT and expect more dealings in the final few hours.
Premier League clubs spent in excess of $2.2 billion in the 2022 transfer window in a show of financial strength fueled by income from huge global broadcasting deals worth about 10 billion pounds ($11.8 billion) over three seasons. This year’s spree has left rival leagues across the continent even further in the English top flight’s wake.