The summer transfer window is finally over as clubs now know the finalised squads they will be working with until January at least.
In the Premier League, it was certainly a busy one.
The 20 clubs spent more than £1 billion between them despite them apparently being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic damage that caused.
In terms of net spend, it was actually Arsenal who spent the most on a number of young and fairly inexperienced players.
But let’s look at a bigger sample size.
Taking one summer in isolation doesn’t seem far so we’ve decided to look at the previous five seasons to determine every Premier League club’s net spend.
For those of you that don’t know, net spend is the amount spent when taking into account both the expenditure and income of transfers.
So, going back to the 2017/18 campaign, we’ve looked at all 28 clubs that have participated in England’s top-flight. Thanks to Transfermarkt, we can reveal all of their net spends in the last five campaigns.
Let’s take a look:
Quiz: The ultimate 2021/22 Premier League quiz - a question on each club
1. Manchester United
Spent: £665.73m
Received: £184.80m
Net spend: £480.93m
2. Manchester City
Spent: £760.42m
Received: £288.36m
Net spend: £472.06m
3. Arsenal
Spent: £580.50m
Received: £243.72m
Net spend: £336.78m
4. Chelsea
Spent: £793.35m
Received: £554.64m
Net spend: £238.71m
5. Everton
Spent: £450.78m
Received: £229.73m
Net spend: £221.05m
6. Tottenham Hotspur
Spent: £404.46m
Received: £197.69m
Net spend: £206.78m
7. Aston Villa
Spent: £349.52m
Received: £150.08m
Net spend: £199.44m
8. West Ham United
Spent: £364.50m
Received: £168.77m
Net spend: £195.73m
9. Brighton & Hove Albion
Spent: £282.75m
Received: £95.06m
Net spend: £187.69m
10. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Spent: £328.64m
Received: £147.98m
Net spend: £180.67m
11. Fulham
Spent: £212.78m
Received: £51.17m
Net spend: £161.61m
12. Liverpool
Spent: £440.22m
Received: £287.21m
Net spend: £153.01m
13. Leeds United
Spent: £184.08m
Received: £49.68m
Net spend: £134.40m
14. Newcastle United
Spent: £222.80m
Received: £97.37m
Net spend: £125.43m
15. Leicester City
Spent: £385.51m
Received: £262.96m
Net spend: £122.55m
16. Sheffield United
Spent: £130.99m
Received: £36.68m
Net spend: £94.31m
17. Crystal Palace
Spent: £147.81m
Received: £70.85m
Net spend: £76.96m
18. Cardiff City
Spent: £77.11m
Received: £23.60m
Net spend: £53.51m
19. Stoke City
Spent: £120.74m
Received: £74.20m
Net spend: £46.54m
20. Burnley
Spent: £113.03m
Received: £74.84m
Net spend: £38.20m
21. Huddersfield Town
Spent: £109.04m
Received: £70.91m
Net spend: £38.13m
22. West Bromwich Albion
Spent: £119.10m
Received: £85.59m
Net spend: £33.51m
23. Southampton
Spent: £242.55m
Received: £217.98m
Net spend: £24.57m
24. Watford
Spent: £153.72m
Received: £145.02m
Net spend: £8.70m
25. AFC Bournemouth
Spent: £160.48m
Received: £157.75m
Net spend: £2.73m
26. Norwich City
Spent: £97.93m
Received: £140.25m
Net spend: -£42.32m
27. Brentford
Spent: £88.22m
Received: £137.74m
Net spend: -£49.52m
28. Swansea City
Spent: £75.79m
Received: £172.08m
Net spend: -£96.29m
So, United have the biggest net spend in the Premier League over the last five seasons - just £8 million more than rivals Manchester City.
But those two clubs are well clear of Arsenal in third, who trail by about £140 million. It’s interesting to see the Gunners having a net spend £100 million more than Chelsea, who have received £554.64 million from player sales.
You have to go all the way down to 12th to find Liverpool, who only signed Ibrahima Konaté this summer. Their net is £330 million less than rivals Man Utd over the last five years and they find themselves below the likes of Brighton, Wolves and Fulham when it comes to net spend.
Meanwhile, just three clubs who have appeared in the Premier League in the last five seasons have a negative net spend with Norwich, Brentford and Swansea all making a profit.
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