The summer transfer window is now over. As has become the norm in the Premier League, clubs from England’s top division have thrown a gargantuan amount of money around in the never-ending footballing arms race.
Once again, the summer record for spending was annihilated by clubs in the Premier League. The previous record stood at £3.19 billion – this year, they spent £3.48 billion [via Sky Sports].
But which clubs spent more than any other? That’s what we’ll be looking at today. For reference, we won’t be looking at net spend, just the amount of money that clubs paid out in total. In simpler terms we won’t be accounting for any incoming money to offset the overall spend.
Aston Villa – £257m
Aston Villa fans seem rather downcast at the start of the 2026/27 season. It isn’t hard to see why, having lost their first two games of the campaign without scoring a goal.
Still, despite losing key players such as Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, they’ve also spent a massive amount of money to try and rebuild their squad.
Yohan Manzambi was snapped up for a fee of £51 million, while Ibrahim Mbaye – who had been targeted by a number of top clubs this summer – was brought on board to the tune of £30 million. All in all, a summer of ups and downs for Unai Emery’s men.
Newcastle United – £268m
Like Villa, Newcastle United also had a troubling window in which several of their key players departed the club. As such, big spending was swiftly necessitated.
Also akin to Villa, they didn’t spend a huge amount of money on any one player (at least, by today’s standards) – rather, their huge outgoings of finances were accumulated due to the amount of players they signed.
They paid fees for no less than eight players this summer, the most expensive of which being Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Nico Gonzalez, who cost £51 million and £48 million (respectively).
Tottenham Hotspur – £314m
Tottenham’s summer spending has been very well-documented – it’s surprising to see them fail to break into the top two, even with over £300 million being splashed around.
Players such as Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Savio were all massively expensive, making Roberto De Zerbi’s team look like a real threat ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Nevertheless, that threat has failed to emerge thus yet, having lost their first two games of the season. Still, with so much quality in their team, we’re sure the results will turn around sooner, rather than later.
Chelsea – £348m
We’ve become accustomed to Chelsea’s monolithic spending over the last 20 or so years. This summer has been no different, of course.
With Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella having left the club, the former of which departing on deadline day, their splashing of the cash has been understandable.
They broke the transfer spend for a single player this summer, when they paid out £117 million to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa. Cleary, Xabi Alonso doesn’t want his side to make up the numbers this year.
Manchester City £451m
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Having spent over £100 million on two different players this summer – Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez – Manchester City were by far the biggest Premier League spenders of the transfer window.
That’s not all, either. They also paid £86 million for midfield sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi and £60 million for the now-former Everton player Iliman Ndiaye.
City are in a period of transistion, having lost a few key players in the summer and legendary head coach Pep Guardiola – but if their summer spending is any indication, they should be fine.