Even with a month of the transfer window left, there are plenty of high profile deals to talk about. Premier League teams have spent nearly £2bn bringing in new players, with last season’s champions, Liverpool, leading the pack of big spenders, while other teams to have exercised their financial clout have included Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United – all of whom have spent more than Manchester City.
Liverpool have spent big already, investing more than £250m in new players. The Reds are 9/5 to win next season’s Premier League, making them favourites for the competition. Punters can keep track of the latest goings on with prices from sports bookies and betting tips from experts on First.com.
The champions have had the biggest deal of the summer so far, bringing in Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of around £100m. The 22-year-old German attacking midfielder is widely considered one of the best young players in Europe, although there are question marks over the eventual price tag.
The reigning champions have also seen the signing of Hugo Ekitike, from Eintracht Frankfurt, for £69m, and there are still strong suggestions that they could move to wrap up the signing of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak before the end of August.
Away from Liverpool, Man Utd surprised fans by completing the early signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves. The forward cost £62.5m and manager Ruben Amorim will be hoping that the Brazilian can help inject some goals into an impotent strike force. To further help in that regard, the United manager also brought in Cameroonian international Bryan Mbeumo, who will likely take the other number 10 spot. The Red Devils parted with £65m to land their man.
One player that didn’t make the move to Manchester despite early overtures from Old Trafford, was Liam Delap. The 22-year-old opted to join Chelsea costing the Blues just £30m, thanks to a low release clause. While the youngster joins on the cheap, he could prove to be an exceptional signing, although he will not only have to battle the likes of Nicholas Jackson for a starting spot, he will also have to try and get in ahead of another new Chelsea signing – Joao Pedro. Pedro moved to Chelsea for £55m before making an instant impact in the Club World Cup.
Arsenal finally brought an end to month-long rumours regarding their transfer activity when they signed Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP on July 26, paying approximately £54m for the striker. While Gyokeres doesn’t have Premier League experience, he has shown in the Champions League that he should be able to cut it against some of the top teams.
Premier League clubs haven’t had it all their own way. Liverpool lost Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, although the £66m transfer fee looks generous, and Liverpool may well use the money to help finance the acquisition of Isak. Man Utd also oversaw the exit of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona, albeit only as part of a loan deal, and they will be hoping several other members of the so-called bomb squad will follow him out of the door to free up more funds.
