Premier League Net Spend Summer 2023 Analysis
Premier League spending rises to new heights
Another window has come to a close and with that one of my mega threads detailing all transfer activity across the last 5 seasons including the 2023/24 Summer window!
So Lets begin first with the 2023/24 Summer Window
Chelsea has the highest net spend at £171m - with United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle and SHOCK Bournemouth all cracking over £100m for the window.
The window saw the 2nd biggest spending spree in premier league history at £2.59bn spent.
If Premier League clubs spend over £400m in the 2024 Winter Window then it will eclipse last seasons £3bn season.
This was lead with Chelsea’s £434m spending spree. However Spurs, City, Arsenal, United and Liverpool all spent between £175m to £224m
An important point to note this season is that premier league teams also sold a lot as well. Bringing the overall net spend for the window so far only at £1.08bn. Last season teams spent near £2bn net.
Chelsea again led the way here with £262m in sales with Brighton and Manchester City also selling £175m in players.
This is partially due to a lot of internal transfers between the premier league teams with over £800m in fees happening internally led by the huge Declan Rice and Caicedo tranfers.
Additionally there was £267m in sales to Saudi Arabia teams.
Which means sales to other European teams /Lower division English teams would only be just over £400m while Premier League teams spent brought in £1.8bn in purchases outside of the premier league
Over the last 5 seasons the netspend trend has 4 of the traditional big 6 firmly in the top spots with Chelsea leading the way with £702m followed closely behind by Manchester United at £676m. The 2 North London clubs sit above £500m. While Liverpool and Manchester City sit mid table at £245m and £155m respectively.
Brighton has a negative £134m net spend over the last 5 seasons which is remarkable for a team playing Europe this season as Brighton to continue to show how well they are run on the transfer side.
Todd Boeyls spending spree has catapulted Chelsea to the top of purchases in the last 5 seasons with a total of £1.4bn spent on player purchases with £1.05bn of that spent in the last 18 months! Chelsea now hold 3 of the 5 biggest transfers in Premier League history.
To offset a lot of these purchases Chelsea again have the best sales over a 5 year period. Boosted massively by a £150m sale of Hazard to real Madrid (£89m + £61m in add ons) in 2020. Manchester Citys sales sit over £600m with Citys academy model bearing fruits over the last 5 seasons where theyve brought in over £300m in academy sales during that period.
Below is the 25 biggest purchases over the last 5 seasons
Chelsea having 7
Manchester United 6
Manchester City 5
Arsenal 3
Liverpool 2
Spurs 1
Newcastle 1
Below is the 25 biggest sales over the last 5 seasons
Now lets look at team break downs
Arsenal last 5 seasons has seen them spending loads of money with little sales to rebuild a team from a team struggling to attain top 4 to challenging for a title they have spent over £140m in 4 of the last 5 seasons with over £400m spent in the last 2 seasons.
Chelsea’s Todd Boely era has ear marked an absolutely crazy transfer policy spending over £1bn in 18 months while breaking transfer records on individual players in a space of 6 months with Enzo Fernandes £106.8m transfer and Caicedo’s £115m transfer. This a completely different strategy to previous regime where Chelseas spending was mostly boosted by strong sales via the academy.
Manchester City has seen a consistent trend build over the last 5 seasons similar spending patterns (£150m to £200m per season) while being offset with strong sales via the academy with over £300m academy sales in a 5 year period and retaining strong values for players that want to leave such as Zinchenko, Mahrez, Sterling and Jesus
Manchester United on the other hand have continued a trend with high spending but really poor sales as they dont have a similar academy setup to Chelsea or Manchester City while struggling to sell unwanted players such as Harry Maguire due to high wages and little value. Their sales have only accounted for £218m over a 5 year period.
Liverpool has a very different transfer strategy than the other big 6 teams. Even though the last 2 seasons has seen them spend over £150m in 2 consecutive seasons to help rebuild their midfield and front line. It is very easy to argue that Liverpool should be spending more on transfers however FSGs model means that they will on purchase out of necessity or when they receive sales (Fabinho/Henderson) out of the big 6 teams Liverpool have definitely spent the least on transfers (£500m) while the rest of the big 6 outside of Chelsea have all spent between £700-800m in the same period. Liverpools spending is even eclipsed by Newcastle, Villa, West Ham who have all put down more money on player purchases. Will be interesting to see FSGs model shift if they continue to stay out of the top 4.
Tottenham over the last 5 seasons has a similar trajectory as Arsenal. Spending a lot of money to try rebuild a team in and out of the top 4 with little value in the older team. Outside of Harry Kanes sale Spurs have struggled to crack over £50m in sales for 5 of the last 6 seasons. Spurs have averaged a near £100m netspend per seasons since 2020 where the previous year in 2019 they bought absolutely no one.
Aston Villa have definitely flown under the radar transfer wise while the traditional big 6 do their thing - they have laid down a massive £546m on purchases in a 5 season period. While having 1 massive sale in Jack Grealish in that same period. Villas owners are definitely ambitious and they have proved season after season their willingness to spend
Similar to Aston Villa, Newcastle are backed by ambitious owners in PIF and their spending habits since purchasing the club has shown them put down £430m on player purchases in a 3 season period. Now that theyve made Champions League their ambitions will only grow from here as they build towards a team that has the potential to compete with the traditional big 6 which may need to be called the Big 7 soon once Newcatles revenues gets near the others.
Brightons model of buy young and sell high since arriving at the premier league is a testament to Blooms ownership model and strategy. They have almost applied a Dortmund type model of being the go to place for young players to develop and move on to a big club while playing amazing football and being a firm top 10 club. Their sales have in a 3 season period have hit £400m and they have by far the best net spend in the league over a 5 year period at -£134m. Truly remarkable transfer strategy.
**Note here is that Caicedo’s sell on was £23m which has been taken out from their sales. Thus the negative £23m.
Everton have recently run into FFP issues and have been charged by the premier league for breaching their sustainability rules which has had them go from a club that spent £617m on transfers between 2017 and 2022 to only spending £128m over the last 2 seasons while having a negative net spend.
Wolves similarly to Everton have also run into a bit of financial issues with their owners no longer willing to spend as previous seasons. This is Wolves first negative netspend season in a long time where they sold £147m worth of players selling players like Neves and Matheus Nunes for big sums.
West Ham with the Declan Rice sale has seen their first negative net spend in many years. West Ham last season put a massive £195m down on purchases. Overall Westhams net spend over a 5 year period sits at £280m
Brentford’s Net spend sits £66m over 5 seasons with most of their spending happening over the last 3 seasons.
Bournemouth has spent £180m since returning to the premier league as they fight to stay in the premier league once again.
Burnley returned the premier league this season and spent £96m with no sales in 2023/24 as they try to remain in the premier league.
Nottingham Forest continue on from their huge spending since coming back into the premier league they with an absolute late flurry of transfer activity on deadline day pushing their purchases over £100m for the 2nd straight season. Last season they spent a massive £195m on transfers. It will be interesting to see what trend continues over the next 2-3 seasons.
Crystal Palace have continued to be a “quiet” team on the transfer market front while only bringing in 3 players and no sales this transfer window (they did lose Zaha on a free). When compared to other premier league teams they maintain a strategy of being reasonable spenders. On the sales front theyve only sold Benteke in the last 3 seasons for £5m.
Fulham
Sheffield United
Luton Town will play the “happy to be here” role in the premier league this season. Only bringing in 4 players on very minimal fees with a total spend of £14m, Luton Town are doing the reasonable thing of not overstretching to stay in the premier league while bringing in players that will most likely remain within them next season even if they are eventually relegated.
Some bonus teams that were in the premier league last seasons - all 3 teams have sold most of their top talent as the premier league teams pry them away as per usual. With all 3 teams having negative net spends.
Leicester have sold their best 2 players in Barnes and Maddison while bringing in smart signings to help them re achieve promotion.
Southampton have sold Lavia, Livramento, Tella, Salisu and JWP all for big fees giving them total sales for this window at £146m while only spending on 2 players this window
Leeds
The Premier League is the Super league!