Soccer-Premier League clubs smash summer transfer spending record

The Premier League has smashed its summer spending record for ​the second successive season as once again England's top-flight ​clubs flex their financial muscles. Manchester City's signing ‌of ​Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye for a reported £65 million pushed the total gross spend in the window to an eye-watering £3.198 billion.

With more late deals still in the pipeline, the ‌total already eclipses last summer when the combined spend of the 20 clubs breached the £3 billion barrier for the first time. Five years ago the total was £1.13 billion.

Three players alone cost a combined £333 million with Manchester City signing midfielder Elliot Anderson from ‌Nottingham Forest for £116 million, Morgan Rogers switching from Aston Villa to Chelsea for £117 million and Tottenham Hotspur breaking their ‌club record to sign Sandro Tonali for a fee that could reach £100 million from Newcastle United. On Monday Liverpool agreed to pay an initial £107 million to Paris St Germain for France forward Bradley Barcola with that deal likely to rise to £123m.

Of the 11 most expensive signings ever, three of ⁠them -- Anderson, ​Rogers and Barcola -- have happened ⁠this summer. To highlight the complete domination of Premier League clubs' purchasing power over their European rivals, only Yan Diomande's move to Real Madrid from ⁠Leipzig and Anthony Gordon's switch from Newcastle to Barcelona involved fees in excess of £60 million while newly-promoted Ipswich Town spent more on ​squad-strengthening than Barcelona, AC Milan and Juventus.

The spending spree continued right up to the final hours of the ⁠window with several more big-money transfers. Aston Villa announced their 11th signing of the window with the £47 million purchase of Senegal winger Ibrahim Mbaye from PSG ⁠while ​Newcastle paid £51.4 million to bring in forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille.

The trend for clubs to buy from English top-flight rivals continues to rise with around 38% of deals made between Premier League clubs -- up from 30% last summer. Chelsea ⁠were the biggest summer spenders as new manager Xabi Alonso enjoyed a £347 million influx of players while Manchester City and ⁠Tottenham Hotspur were not far ⁠behind.

Tottenham splashed out £303 million as they rebuild after two successive seasons close to being relegated. According to website transfermarkt, promoted trio Ipswich, Coventry City and Hull City spent more than a ‌combined £400 million to ‌prepare themselves for life in the top flight.