The summer transfer window has finally slammed shut, and with it the chances of Chelsea doing a fortieth deal of the summer, Manchester United lowballing another club before eventually signing a player on loan, or Liverpool signing yet another midfielder have all disappeared too.
£2.36bn was spent across the 20 clubs, which means that they are just £300m behind the all-time record for a single season with another transfer window still to come in January and spending showing no signs of slowing down.
Of the Premier League clubs, spending was led by Chelsea once more with Mauricio Pochettino’s side making 12 permanent signings rounded off by the £45m addition of Cole Palmer on deadline day, with the Blues taking their total summer spend to just short of £400m (£398m).
But despite their excessive spending across the last three transfer windows, it is not the west London side that lead the way in net-spending across the last decade.
That honour goes to Manchester United.
In the 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, they have spent almost £1.2 billion more than they have made through sales, with high profile flops including Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba and Angel di Maria leading the way.
That is according to BBC Sport, who claim that the Red Devils have shelled out over £200m more than the Blues across the last 10 years, largely in thanks to Chelsea’s ability to sell players more effectively than their Premier League rivals.
French giants Paris Saint Germain sit in third place, before another £100m gap to Arsenal in fourth and Manchester City just behind.
They are four of seven Premier League clubs in the top 10, with Tottenham, West Ham and Newcastle United all in the mix along with Barcelona and AC Milan.
The list in full
1. Manchester United – £1,196.6m
2. Chelsea – £885.5m
3. Paris St-Germain – £865.8m
4. Arsenal – £746.9m
5. Manchester City – £733.8m
6. Newcastle United – £575.2m
7. Barcelona – £568.4m
8. Tottenham Hotspur – £522.1m
9. AC Milan – £467.3m19. Real Madrid – £277.6m
10. West Ham United – £451.9m
