£2.5bn and beyond? Transfer window set to break all records

With two weeks to go until the Premier League summer transfer window closes, clubs are well on course to spend a record amount on new players.

Data from Transfermarkt, external shows that Premier League clubs have already spent £2.26bn on players since the window opened at the start of June.

That is an increase of 12.7% on the £1.97bn spent during the summer of 2024.

The current record stands at £2.36bn during the 2023 summer transfer window.

With more deals to come and the future of several players unclear as the 1 September deadline nears, it seems certain a new record will be set.

Here, BBC Sport takes a deeper look at the spending and how it compares with other leagues in Europe.

As always, Premier League clubs are spending more than their foreign counterparts.

English top-flight clubs have exceeded the transfer investments of Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and La Liga teams combined.

Clubs in the Premier League have spent £1bn more than they have raised in sales.

The only other top European league to have a minus net spend is La Liga, where Spanish clubs have spent £35m more than they have brought in.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the Premier League is driving the sales for the bigger leagues.

The three biggest Premier League signings so far this summer in terms of fees paid have been for players from Bundesliga clubs - Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool) - £100m rising to £116m with add ons; Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool) - £69m rising to £79m with add-ons; Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig to Manchester United) - £66.3m rising to £73.7m with add-ons.

Meanwhile, Serie A is the top-spending league outside the Premier League.

Italian clubs have spent £783m - but that is still less than the net spend of the Premier League, never mind the total spend.

This has been an unusual transfer window - in that there have been two windows.

The first opened between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, because of an exceptional registration period relating to the Fifa Club World Cup.

A total of £400m was spent before the traditional transfer window opened, with Manchester City paying about £108m to sign Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Tijjani Reijnders.

It then reopened on Monday, 16 June and will close again on Monday, 1 September.

Six clubs have broken their transfer records this summer.

Brentford completed a deal of up to £42.5m to sign Burkina Faso forward Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth, who spent £34.6m on French centre-back Bafode Diakite.

Newly promoted Burnley and Sunderland have paid £25m and £26m respectively for French midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu and Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra, whose deal could rise to £30m with add-ons.

Nottingham Forest have broken their transfer record twice this summer, first for Switzerland winger Dan Ndoye from Bologna, then winger Omari Hutchison from Ipswich for £37.5m.

In June, Liverpool signed Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a guaranteed £100m and a further £16m in add-ons.

Should those add-ons be achieved, Wirtz's move to Anfield would become a British transfer record to beat the £107m Chelsea paid Benfica for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in 2023.

Of the current 20 Premier League clubs, 16 have broken their transfer record in the past four years, with four - Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal - having transfer records of £100m or more.

At the other end of the scale, Burnley's record transfer fee paid is £25m.

Despite spending about £200m on players this summer, Manchester United's record signing remains Paul Pogba from Juventus for £91m in 2016, around the same time Crystal Palace paid Liverpool £27m for Christian Benteke, which also remains a record for the Eagles.

For the past two seasons, all three teams promoted to the Premier League - Burnley, Sheffield United, Luton Town, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton - have been relegated straight away.

Survival is harder than ever which perhaps explains why Sunderland have been busy recruiting players like former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka.

According to Transfermarkt, the Black Cats are now top of the table in terms of clubs promoted to the Premier League with highest spends., external Next are Nottingham Forest, who invested heavily after promotion in 2021-22.

In La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, only Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have spent more than the £140m-plus Sunderland have paid for players.

Indeed, Atletico Madrid are the biggest spenders outside the Premier League having shelled out £153m, with neighbours Real Madrid a close second on £147m.

Those figures, however, are well down on the reported £289.5m Liverpool have invested in their squad since being crowned Premier League champions.

That is more than three times the amount Paris St-Germain (£90m) have spent since winning the Champions League.

Elsewhere in Europe, Juventus have spent £103m, Bayer Leverkusen £100m, RB Leipzig £98m and AC Milan £93m.

Barcelona have spent just £22.5m so far.

The biggest signing outside the Premier League is Luis Diaz from Liverpool to Bayern Munich in a £65.5m deal, including add-ons.

With the clock ticking towards the deadline, the future of Newcastle forward - and Liverpool target - Alexander Isak, who is valued at £150m by his club, remains unclear.

Will Premier League spending smash the £2.5bn barrier?

Liverpool are keen on Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, while Eagles forward Eberechi Eze is wanted by Tottenham.

Brentford forward Yoane Wissa and Manchester United striker Alejandro Garnacho could also be on the move, along with Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku.

Where will Premier League spending stand after the window closes?

Let us know your thoughts - comment below.