Premier League: clubs splurge on new talent as transfer window closes, Chelsea alone dish out US$500 million

Fronted by a US$500 million splurge by Chelsea, Premier League clubs hurtled toward an unprecedented US$3 billion outlay in the European football summer transfer window that closed on Friday, with Mohamed Salah still a Liverpool player despite a mammoth offer from Saudi Arabia.

England’s top clubs have flaunted their wealth over the past three months, dwarfing the outlay of their European rivals, but the Saudi Pro League emerged as a serious competitor in the market because of the backing of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund which claims assets of about US$700 billion.

The crowning signing, they hoped, would be Salah – the Egypt superstar who is the most high-profile Arabic player – but Liverpool are standing firm in the face a reported verbal offer totalling £150 million (US$188 million) by Al-Ittihad, insisting the 31-year-old forward is not for sale.

There are still a few days left in the Saudi window, which closes on September 7, but the European one is now shut, with many of England’s biggest clubs active in the market right up to the deadline, spending the money generated from the Premier League’s huge global broadcasting deals worth about £10 billion over three seasons.

Chelsea led the record spree, with the arrival of 21-year-old winger Cole Palmer from Manchester City for £40 million (US$50.4 million) taking the west London club’s spending in this window to around half a billion dollars. That included Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo joining for US$145 million, a record for a British club.

In the three transfer windows under their new American ownership fronted by Todd Boehly, Chelsea have spent about US$1.15 billion on players mostly signed up on long contracts in an innovative way to spread “amortisation” costs of transfer fees.