Look who’s back: David Luiz return to Chelsea caps a frenzied summer of Premier League spending
English clubs swell the bank accounts of continental rivals in a summer of record-breaking spending that ended on Wednesday with the biggest shock of the transfer window
English Premier League clubs swelled the bank accounts of continental rivals in a summer of record-breaking spending that ended on Wednesday with the biggest shock of the transfer window: David Luiz’s return to Chelsea.
The flamboyant Brazilian is back at Stamford Bridge after two years at Paris Saint-Germain to reinforce Chelsea’s defence under new manager Antonio Conte. While Chelsea sold the 29-year-old for around £50 million (HK$509.3 million), the London club has re-signed him on a three-year contract for about £20 million less.
United were one of 13 Premier League sides to break their club records for spending on a single player since the end of last season. The 20 top-flight clubs collectively spent nearly £1.2 billion on talent in the summer, breaking the billion-pound barrier for the first time in a transfer window as they benefit from new television deals.
Over the next three years, the Premier League will make £8.3 billion pounds from broadcasters eager to televise the most unpredictable of Europe’s top leagues – a bonanza that has swelled thanks to a 70 per cent upsurge in the value of domestic rights.
There is a flipside.
Stoke had a relatively modest summer of spending after breaking their transfer record in the January window when they paid Portuguese club Porto £18.3 million for defensive midfielder Giannelli Imbula.
Negotiating with clubs on the continent for a bargain is proving tougher for Premier League chairmen like Steve Parish at Crystal Palace. The London club’s record-breaking summer deal was a domestic transaction, paying Liverpool £27 million for striker Christian Benteke.
“It’s been the most difficult transfer window anybody can remember – there’s kind of a wall of money,” Parish said. “The other leagues basically have decided there’s one price within their league and a completely different price if a Premier League club calls. The prices have gone crazy ... you find people focusing more on the domestic market.”
Tottenham turned to Newcastle for their biggest summer deal, paying a reported £30 million as the window was closing for France midfielder Moussa Sissoko.
Here are some of the other key deadline-day moves across Europe:
While splurging on new talent, Premier League clubs having sought to shed non-vital players. Offloading top earners is tough with the wealthier parent clubs, like Manchester City, often having to subsidise the wages for a player on loan.
New City coach Pep Guardiola dispatched Joe Hart, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala on Wednesday for the rest of the season.
In addition, Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere had to accept moving to a less prestigious club on Wednesday, heading to Bournemouth for the season in a bid to revive his injury-plagued career.
Liverpool also got troubled striker Mario Balotelli off their books, with the Italian joining Nice in France.
Three of the biggest transfers in Serie A on deadline day saw players arrive from England. As well as Hart’s loan move, Juan Cuadrado returned to Juventus from Chelsea and Luis Alberto joined Lazio from Liverpool on permanent deals.
In the biggest internal deal of the summer in Italy, Juventus reinvested the Pogba windfall by bringing in last season’s top goalscorer, Gonzalo Higuain, for €90 million from Napoli.
Espanyol were the most active Spanish club on Wednesday as the squad was overhauled under new Chinese owner Chen Yansheng continued.
After conceding eight goals in their first two matches of the season, Espanyol brought in three players (striker Alvaro Vazquez, defender Diego Rivas and goalkeeper Diego Lopez) and shipped out four more.