Premier League summer transfer: 1.41 billion pounds, some laugh, some worry

Yesterday (August 8), the Premier League closed the transfer window, during the summer, English teams made a total of 101 shopping contracts. On the last day alone, 17 contracts were completed to "close" the summer transfer window.

Tottenham and Arsenal spend big

First of all, it must be mentioned that even though the window for buying is closed after August 8, English football teams still have the right to sell their players because Serie A (Italy) and La Liga (Spain) will still be buying and selling until August 23 and September 2 respectively.

After the triumph of English football last season, it seems that the owners are more generous. Accordingly, Premier League teams have participated in the transfer market with a total of 1.41 billion pounds, the second highest spending in history, only behind the 2017 season (1.43 billion pounds).

Most notably Spurs, whose notoriously stingy chairman Daniel Levy has finally opened his wallet after 18 months without signing a player, with a new 62,000-capacity stadium and a run to the Champions League final all but necessitating new stars.

Arsenal FC broke the bank to buy Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille (France) for 72 million pounds. Club photo.

After signing French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele for a record fee, the signings of Lo Celso and Sessegnon are expected to add depth to Tottenham's squad. Argentine midfielder Lo Celso joins Tottenham on a season-long loan from Real Betis with an option to leave next summer. 19-year-old midfielder Sessegnon, an England U21 international, joins Spurs from Fulham on a six-year deal worth £25m, which could rise by a further £5m depending on his form.

To patch up a defense that has conceded 51 goals in the Premier League, preventing them from qualifying for the Champions League for the third consecutive year, Arsenal brought in left-back Tierney for £25 million from Celtic. Arsenal then continued to “steal” star center-back Luiz from Chelsea for just £8 million. Thus, Arsenal has owned 6 new players in all 3 lines. Most notably Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos.

Arsenal have officially confirmed that they bought Pepe from Lillie for £72 million. With this price, the Ivorian player became the most expensive contract in the history of the Emirates Stadium team. Previously, the Gunners sold striker Iwobi to Everton for 30.4 million euros.

Liverpool, Man City indifferent

The reigning English champions, Man City, did not add any significant players. Notably, among the new players they brought in were midfielder Rodri and defender Joao Cancelo. Coach Pep Guardiola said he was satisfied with the players he had and that the reality was that Man City's squad was too different from the rest of England.

European champions Liverpool are also a team that has been quite quiet in the summer transfer window this year. New recruits include Sepp van den Berg (PEC Zwolle) - 1.3 million pounds, Harvey Elliott (Fulham) - undisclosed transfer fee, Adrian (free). It seems that Liverpool believes in the depth of their squad so they are indifferent to the transfer market this year.

MU and Chelsea fans worried

The Premier League has been involved in transfers with a total amount of up to 1.41 billion pounds. Photo Marca

MU fans are worried because after MU sold striker Lukaku to Inter Milan for 65 million euros, coach Solskjaer could not bring any name to Old Trafford in the attack. Before that, they let Ander Herrera leave for PSG for free. MU spent 180 million pounds on shopping but executive vice president Ed Woodward, who is responsible for buying and selling players for MU, has received a lot of criticism on forums and social networks because of that.

Legendary Frank Lampard took over the hot seat of coach Sarri when Chelsea sold star Eden Hazard, the soul of this team since 2012. Their defense also said goodbye to veteran center-back David Luiz and captain Gary Cahill. Of course, Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid) for 50 million pounds is not a bad player, but finding a place at Chelsea in coach Frank Lampard's rebuilding process is not easy.