By Matt Hardy
Summer signings with a value of £228m scored goals at the weekend as the Premier League returned for the first round of games since the transfer window closed on 1 September.
Declan Rice (£105m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m) and James Maddison (£40m) were among the five goal scorers who had changed clubs this summer.
The 20 Premier League clubs spent a record £2.36bn in the summer of 2023, well above last year’s figure and the first time the clubs have breached the £2bn barrier in one summer, according to data and estimates provided by Deloitte.
Premier League spending
Last year saw a summer gross spend of £1.97bn topped up by a further £815m worth of transfer spend in the January window meaning outgoings of just £430m in early 2024 would see this season set a new spending record.
This summer’s net spend is slightly down on last year’s – £1.01bn from £1.08bn – according to Deloitte.
This net figure also represents the highest net spend of every year except the 2022/23 season.
Rice scored Arsenal’s second as the Gunners beat Manchester United 3-1 yesterday. The former West Ham captain netted his first goal for his new club since his £105m move in the summer – Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard helped to cancel out Marcus Rashford’s opener.
Rice’s transfer is second only in value (Premier League) to Moises Caicedo’s move to Chelsea this summer.
Liverpool’s £60m attacking midfielder Szoboszlai, purchased from RB Leipzig in July, scored for the Reds as they beat Aston Villa 3-0 yesterday at Anfield.
The Hungarian found the back of the net in the third minute before a Matty Cash own goal and a third by Mohamed Salah – who was subject to a £150m Saudi bid last week – secured victory.
Cash is king
James Maddison, a £40m transfer from Leicester City, netted for Tottenham as they beat Burnley 5-2 on Saturday – Son Heung-min scored three while Cristian Romero was also on the score sheet.
Anthony Elanga, who joined Nottingham Forest from Manchester United for £15m, scored the only goal – and his first for the club – as his new side toppled Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Cameron Archer opened the scoring for Sheffield United in their 2-2 draw with Everton having joined from Aston Villa.
According to Deloitte’s estimates, last season remains the only campaign where transfer spending was higher than Premier League revenues for that year.
