English clubs spent £1.15BILLION on transfer fees – more than Spain, Germany and France combined

English clubs spent a huge £1.15billion on transfer fees this summer, more than teams in Spain, Germany and France combined.

The Premier League’s biggest clubs accounted for the bulk of the money spent, with Manchester City splashing out £100m on Jack Grealish alone, while Manchester United paid £73m for Jadon Sancho. 

Arsenal had the highest overall spend of any club in the Premier League, with Mikel Arteta’s side paying £145m in transfer fees.

Manchester United signed Jadon Sancho (left) for £73m while Arsenal brought in Ben White (right) for £50m

The most expensive of those signings was Ben White, who arrived from Brighton for £50m. Arteta also brought in Martin Odegaard for £30m and Aaron Ramsdale for £24m, though the deal could reach as much as £30m.

Chelsea brought in fewer players but spent big on Romelu Lukaku. The striker cost the Blues a huge £98m but could make the difference in their bid to win the title this season.

Liverpool’s only signing of the summer was defender Ibrahima Konate, who arrived from RB Leipzig for a fee of £36m.  

Chelsea brought in fewer players but spent big on Romelu Lukaku, who cost them £98m

Italian clubs were the second biggest spenders, with Tammy Abraham the most expensive signing

Italian clubs were the next biggest spenders with a total of £473.8m going on transfers, but this was a huge £672.8m behind England’s total. 

Tammy Abraham was the biggest signing in Serie A, with the striker joining Roma for a fee of £34m. 

Fikayo Tomori’s £25m move to AC Milan was the next biggest deal, with the defender also leaving Chelsea. 

French clubs were third on the list, with a total spend of £337.9m on transfers. Paris Saint-Germain signed Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan for a fee of £60m. 

But the club also brought in several high profile players on free transfers, including Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos and Georginio Wijnaldum.

German clubs were the fourth highest with £337.9m, marginally ahead of teams in Spain, who spent £325.4m.

Bayern Munich signed for £38.5m while Borussia Dortmund replaced Sancho with the £26m signing of Donyell Malen.

FIFA revealed that overall spending and the number of transfers had reduced from last year.

The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on club’s spending in the summer of 2020 and this continued the report says this downward trend was continued this year.

Spanish clubs have been heavily affected by the pandemic, with Barcelona’s debt at an incredible total of £1.15bn – which is the same number spent on transfers by English clubs this summer.

However, Real Madrid did try to make a big-money signing just before the end of the window with several bids for PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.

Real had an offer of £154m rejected by the French club, who were determined to keep hold of their star man. But Mbappe could join Real on a free transfer next summer if PSG cannot convince him to sign a new contract.

Paris Saint-Germain signed Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan for a fee of £60m, with French clubs third on the list

With a deal of Mbappe off the table, Real completed a move for Eduardo Camavinga from Rennes for a fee of £27m plus add-ons. 

German clubs had the higest receipt for transfer fees, with teams receiving a combined total of £462.7m.

French clubs received £457.3m while English sides were third with receipts of £409.8m. 

English clubs also saw the most incoming transfers with 380 players arriving. Spain were second on the list for arrivals, with 339 new players, followed by Germany (326) and Portugal (309). 

Spanish clubs were behind France and Germany but Real Madrid managed to bring in Eduardo Camavinga