The Premier League’s ‘big six’ are the undisputed kings of splashing the cash in the summer transfer window.
Since 2014, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, both Manchester clubs and Tottenham have spent a combined £7.35billion on new recruits.
Here at InstantCasinos, we crunched the numbers of the 20 highest-spending clubs across Europe’s top five leagues. Four of England’s elite all cleared the £1bn barrier.
Furthermore, the top three biggest spenders across the continent all hail from Old Blighty. Their combined total spend comes in at an eye-watering £4.55bn.
| Club | League | Biggest Signing | Cost | Date | Most Expensive Window | Year | Total Spend |
| Chelsea | Premier League | Moises Caicedo | £115m | August 2023 | £403.2m | 2023 | £1.7bn |
| Manchester City | Premier League | Josko Gvardiol | £77.6m | August 2023 | £221m | 2023 | £1.43bn |
| Manchester United | Premier League | Romelu Lukaku | £90m | July 2017 | £204m | 2022 | £1.42bn |
| Juventus | Serie A | Cristiano Ronaldo | £105m | July 2018 | £229.2m | 2018 | £1.24bn |
| PSG | Ligue 1 | Neymar | £198m | August 2017 | £200.5m | 2017 | £1.23bn |
| Arsenal | Premier League | Declan Rice | £105m | July 2017 | £208.6m | 2023 | £1.10bn |
| Barcelona | La Liga | Ousmane Dembele | £113.7m | August 2017 | £235m | 2019 | £1.06bn |
| Atletico Madrid | La Liga | Joao Felix | £113m | July 2019 | £208m | 2019 | £946.8m |
| Real Madrid | La Liga | Eden Hazard | £130m | June 2019 | £279m | 2019 | £897m |
| Liverpool | Premier League | Darwin Nunez | £85m | June 2022 | £160.75m | 2018 | £870.8m |
| Inter | Serie A | Romelu Lukaku | £67.5m | August 2019 | £125.5m | 2016 | £866m |
| Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | Harry Kane | £82m | August 2023 | £126.3m | 2023 | £851.2m |
| Tottenham | Premier League | Richarlison | £60m | July 2022 | £207.7m | 2023 | £834.8m |
| Roma | Serie A | Patrik Schick | £35.3m | August 2017 | £111.1m | 2021 | £777.1m |
| Milan | Serie A | Rafael Leao | £41.6m | August 2019 | £118.5m | 2019 | £764.8m |
| West Ham | Premier League | Lucas Paqueta | £51m | August 2022 | £155.5m | 2022 | £742.45m |
| Aston Villa | Premier League | Moussa Diaby | £51.9m | July 2023 | £119.45m | 2019 | £707m |
| Dortmund | Bundesliga | Ousmane Dembele | £29.5m | July 2016 | £111.7m | 2016 | £676.3m |
| Monaco | Ligue 1 | Wissam Ben Yedder | £33.6m | August 2019 | £117.9m | 2019 | £637.5m |
| Newcastle | Premier League | Alexander Isak | £63m | August 2022 | £134m | 2023 | £628m |
*All transfer figures are correct up to July 31 2024
Chelsea Are The Biggest Spenders
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea are the biggest spenders out of the top 20 clubs that were analysed. The Blues have spent £1.7bn on summer signings since 2014.
Moises Caicedo is their most costly acquisition. The Ecuadorian joined the west Londoners for £115m (including future add-ons) from Brighton in August 2023.
Next up is Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian international cost £97.5m when he joined in the summer of 2021. Wesley Fofana (£75m), Kai Havertz and Kepa Arrizabalaga (both £72m) complete the club’s top four.
£9.35bn Spent From Nine Premier League Sides
Of the nine Premier League sides we looked into, a total of £9.35bn was laid out on summer recruits across the last ten years. Of that figure, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham are responsible for £2bn.
UEFA Champions League newbies Villa have already spent £148.5m in the current summer transfer window. Amadou Onana proved the most expensive at £50m.
Additionally, the Magpies spent hefty sums prior to their journey into Europe’s elite competition last season. £55m was laid out on Sandro Tonali and £63m on Alexander Isak in the summer of 2022.
East Londoners West Ham found themselves spending handsomely as well. In 2022 the Hammers spent £155.5m and they splashed out £115.8m last summer.
2023 The Most Expensive Summer Transfer Window
Naturally, the 2023 summer transfer window saw the most amount of money spent across the Premier League. Overall, five top-flight English sides spent the most last summer compared to the previous ten windows.
All in all, 1.17bn was spent between Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham. Moises Caicedo was the most expensive addition.
Across Europe, Bayern Munich also spent the most in the 2023 summer transfer window. The bulk of their spending came from the acquisition of England captain Harry Kane. He cost the club £82m.
