Liverpool saved the biggest transfer until last in their remarkable US$570 million summer spree, finally signing Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for a British record fee as the window closed on Monday with spending by English Premier League clubs soaring beyond US$4 billion.
The biggest saga of Europe’s summer transfer window ended with Isak completing his dream move to the English champions for ￡125 million (US$167.4 million), with the deal announced in the final throes of a chaotic deadline day.
“I feel amazing. It’s been a long journey to get here,” said Isak, who effectively went on strike at Saudi Arabian-controlled Newcastle over the summer as he agitated for a move to Anfield.
Photo: AP
On the back of winning the Premier League for a record-tying 20th time, Liverpool have aggressively overhauled their squad and blown their rivals out of the water, spending more than any other team in Europe. German playmaker Florian Wirtz and young French striker Hugo Ekitike have also joined in deals worth more than US$100 million.
However, one transfer Liverpool failed to get over the line was for England defender Marc Guehi, who is to stay at Crystal Palace for the final year of his contract, because the London team could not secure a replacement.
English soccer has unrivaled spending power owing to its huge domestic and international broadcasting deals, and its top-flight clubs have demonstrated their financial might this summer. They have smashed the previous single-window record spend of ￡2.36 billion in 2023 by splashing out about ￡3 billion over the past few months.
The 20 Premier League teams spent more than those in the top leagues in Spain (US$800 million), Italy (US$1.4 billion), France (US$750 million) and Germany (US$1 billion) combined, according to expenditure figures on the Transfermarkt Web site.
Arsenal were second to Liverpool with their summer outlay of more than US$300 million on players such as Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi. The club’s eighth and likely final signing of the window was a loan deal for Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie from beleaguered Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Monday.
Flush with cash from the Isak transfer, Newcastle signed Yoane Wissa from Brentford for a reported ￡55 million as a second striker addition along with Nick Woltemade, who joined for a club-record fee on Saturday.
Other highlights on Monday included Tottenham Hotspur signing France striker Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, while Aston Villa were very active in signing midfielder Harvey Elliot on loan from Liverpool, winger Jadon Sancho on loan from Manchester United and former United center back Victor Lindelof on a free transfer.
United continued trimming their squad by offloading Antony to Real Betis Balompie on a permanent deal and Rasmus Hojlund to SSC Napoli on loan, while signing Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp to fix their issues in that department.
Most Premier League clubs were in the market for players on deadline day in what has been one of the most chaotic transfer windows in history.
In Germany, Bayern Munich succeeded in signing Senegalese forward Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea after an on-off transfer saga.
Jackson arrived in what both clubs described as a season-long loan, giving Bayern backup for Harry Kane and a wider range of tactical options in attack.
Earlier in the window, Bayern signed winger Luis Diaz from Liverpool and defender Jonathan Tah arrived on a free transfer from Leverkusen, the 2023-2024 German Bundesliga champions where a summer of upheaval saw the exits of other star players including Wirtz and Granit Xhaka.
Olympique de Marseille pulled off the biggest move of deadline day in France by signing 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Benjamin Pavard.
The defender joined on a loan from Inter. The deal includes a purchase option set at 15 million euros (US$17.5 million), L’Equipe newspaper said.
In their search for defensive reinforcements, Marseille also signed Italian left back Emerson Palmieri from West Ham United.
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