Ten biggest European spenders to splash over £850m on players in current transfer window
1. CHELSEA - £222.88m
In: Kai Havertz, Bayer Leverkusen (£72m), Timo Werner, RB Leipzig (£47.7m), Ben Chilwell, Leicester City (£45. 18m), Hakim Ziyech, Ajax (£36m), Eduard Mendy (£22m)
Chelsea have truly blown everybody out of the water this summer, spending over double what next-placed Barcelona have.
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2. BARCELONA - £92.7m
In: Miralem Pjanic, Juventus (£54m), Trincao, Braga (£27.9m), Matheus Fernandes, Palmeiras (£6.3m), Pedri, Las Palmas (£4.5m)
We keep hearing about how Barcelona are skint and have no money, but they seem to have gone and spent £92.7m anyway.
In fairness, the £54m spent on Miralem Pjanic was wedded to receiving more than that for Arthur - although flogging the Brazilian to sign the older Pjanic. seems a strange call regardless.
Meanwhile, Trincao’s formal unveiling last month was somewhat overshadowed by the riot sparked by Lionel Messi’s declaration the night before that he intended to leave the club.
3. JUVENTUS - £92m
In: Arthur, Barcelona (£64.8m), Weston McKennie, Schalke (£4.05m loan), Alvaro Morata (£23m) Andrea Pirlo has taken the reins at Juventus, and he has begun his tenure by recruiting two fellow midfielders.
Juve chiefs are desperate to win the Champions League while in possession of Cristiano Ronaldo, and have splashed out on acquiring impressive Brazilian Arthur from Barcelona.
The £64.8m fee is largely offset by the money received for Miralem Pjanic (more on him later), but they have also recruited US national team star Weston McKennie from Schalke.
4. LIVERPOOL-£87m
In: Thiago (£28m) from Bayern Munich, Diogo Jota (£45m) from Wolves and Kostas Tsimikas – (£14m) from Olympiacos
Liverpool are one of those clubs who will always be in the heat of things. Last season they won the Champions League and so the expectation was big that this summer they will spend a lot.
They ended up not doing that but they have splashed a remarkable amount on three key players.
5. WOLVES - £84m
In: Fabio Silva 35m, Fernando Marcal 4.5m, Ki-Jana Hoever 13.5m, Nelson Semedo 37m
Wolves last week completed the signing of Barcelona right-back Nelson Semedo for a club-record fee that could rise to £37million.
He brings the number of Portuguese stars in Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad back up to 10. The takes Wolves’ summer spending to the £84m mark.
, after the arrivals of Fabio Silva, Fernando Marcal and Ki-Jana Hoever. The 20-year-old midfielder Vitinha has also joined on a season-long loan.
6. INTER MILAN - £82.35m
In: Achraf Hakimi, Real Madrid (£36m), Nicolo Barella, Cagliari (£22.5m), Stefano Sensi, Sassuolo (£18m), Darian Males, FC Luzern (£3.6m), Aleksandar Kolarov, AS Roma (£1.35m), Artuto Vidal (£900,000).
If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that Antonio Conte absolutely loves a dip into the transfer market.
Including loans, the ex-Chelsea boss made 15 signings in total last season. And he has swiftly decided that they weren’t enough by spending another £81.45m so far this summer - although around half of this figure was spent on making Nicolo Barella and Stefano Sensi’s loans.
permanent - while Alexis Sanchez has also joined for good - albeit on a free.
7. ASTON VILLA - £75m
In: Ollie Watkins, Brentford (£27.72m), Emi Martinez, Arsenal (£15.7m), Matty Cash, Nottingham Forest (£14.18m), Bertrand Traore (£17) It’s not quite last year’s £143m haul that got sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch sacked - but Villa are throwing money at it again this season in order to try and avoid the final day drama needed to survive in the Premier League last time out.
Brentford’s Ollie Watkins simultaneously became Aston Villa’s and indeed the Championship’s most expensive player ever - while Arsenal’s FA Cup hero Emi Martinez has arrived for guaranteed first-team football.
Nottingham Forest’s Matty Cash completes the haul and should fill the right-back position for Dean Smith.
8. BENFICA - £72m
In: Darwin Nunez, Almeria (£21.6m), Everton, Gremio (£18m), Pedrinho, Corinthians (£16.2m), Luca Waldschmidt, Freiburg (£13.5m), Gilberto, Fluminense (£2.7m).
Benfica have smashed the Portuguese top flight’s all-time transfer record... to sign little known Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez from Almeria.
The 21-year-old scored 16 goals in Spain’s second-tier last season, but only appeared from the bench as Benfica were booted out of the Champions League by PAOK this week.
9. MAN CITY - £71m
In: Nathan Ake, AFC Bournemouth (£40.77m), Ferran Torres, Valencia (£20.7m), Yan Couto, Coritiba (£5.4m), Issa Kabore, KV Mechelen (£4.05m).It’s felt a relatively low-key window so far from City, although they are the sixth highest-spenders in Europe. Nathan Ake has arrived from Bournemouth to provide left-footed competition for Aymeric Laporte, while Ferran Torres has joined from crisis-club Valencia.
10. NAPOLI - £63m
In: Victor Osimhen, Lille (£63m)
Gennaro Gattuso’s men have made just one signing this summer... but it’s a big one.
Napoli shelled out an eyewatering £63m to land Victor Osimhen from Lille, smashing their transfer record in the process.
But having lost midfield general Allan to Everton, Gattuso may feel that his side need to spend even more to compete.
