Hey big spenders - Liverpool lead top-four domination of £1bn deals

It has already been a transfer window like no other.

Premier League clubs have until 1 September to strengthen their squads and there have been huge deals every few days, with more still to come.

Arsenal are on the verge of completing the signing of Sporting striker Victor Gyokeres for £63.5m, while his Sweden team-mate Alexander Isak revealed on Thursday he is considering leaving Newcastle.

The 25-year-old forward could cost as much as £150m, with reigning champions Liverpool, who are the top spenders so far this summer, still maintaining an interest.

The Reds have already signed German international Florian Wirtz for a potential British record transfer of £116m and France forward Hugo Ekitike for an initial £69m fee, which could rise to £79m.

Data from Transfermarkt, external shows Premier League clubs have spent £1.63bn (1.87bn euros) on players since the transfer window first opened at the start of June.

Last season's top four make up five of the biggest spenders this season, with Manchester United - looking to make up ground after finishing 15th - the outlier.

Of the total figure, just over £1bn has come from six teams, the traditional so-called 'big six' in the Premier League era - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Liverpool, who won the league by 10 points last season, are top of the list with £269m spent so far this summer. That includes the purchases of Wirtz and Ekitike, as well as Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez for £40.8m and right-back Jeremie Frimpong, who cost almost £35m from Bayer Leverkusen.

It has been a contrast to the 2024-25 campaign, when the Anfield outfit's only major signings were goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and forward Federico Chiesa, who joined for a combined total of less than £40m.

Chelsea, fourth in the Premier League last season, have spent the second highest total this summer, with just over £212m. Their biggest moves have been a deal worth £60m for Brighton forward Joao Pedro, left-winger Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund for £56m, and Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap for £30m.

Arsenal have been runners-up in each of the past three seasons and they would also pass the £200m mark with the arrival of Gyokeres, having already spent £137m. Their major purchases have included Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi for £60m from Real Sociedad and Chelsea winger Noni Madueke for just under £50m.

Manchester City finished third last year and did their business early in the summer, with about £127m spent, largely on the trio of midfielder Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves and French attacker Rayan Cherki from Lyon.

Manchester United suffered their worst campaign in the Premier League era when they came 15th. They are the only side outside last season's top four to have spent more than Manchester City this summer, but most of their £133.5m outlay has been on two forwards - Cameroon international Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and Brazilian Matheus Cunha from Wolves.

Tottenham finished 17th in the table, but salvaged a disappointing season by winning the Europa League - beating Manchester United in the final - although it was not enough to avoid manager Ange Postecoglou getting the sack.

Spurs have since spent £122.5m under new boss Thomas Frank, with almost half of that in one transfer - the £55m purchase of midfielder Mohammed Kudus from West Ham, while it cost £30m to turn attacker Mathys Tel's loan from Bayern Munich into a permanent deal.

Liverpool are already sixth on the list of most money spent by one club in a transfer window around the world.

The top three in that statistic all came from last summer's window, where Chelsea spent £404.4m (463m euros), Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal spent £307.7m (353m euros) and Champions League winners Paris St-Germain paid out £305.1m (350m euros).

Real Madrid's transfer outlay in the 2019-20 summer window was £288.6m (331m euros), while Chelsea spent £287.7m (330m euros) in the winter transfer window of the 2022-23 campaign.

If Liverpool bought Isak for £135m or above then Arne Slot's side would move top of the list for most money spent in a single transfer window.

However, when taking 'football inflation' into account - the annual increases in Premier League revenue - their spending does not seem quite as lavish, with Chelsea topping the all-time list with their 2003-04 transfers.

"Liverpool's spending this season to date puts them just 48th in the all-time list," according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire. "Even if they sign Isak for £140m it would only take them to about 12th."

It is a question fans were asking even before they signed the 23-year-old Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.

"Liverpool have two potential restrictions in terms of transfer spending, cash and PSR (profit and sustainability rules). From a cash perspective the club are in a strong position," explained Maguire.

"The group accounts show that Liverpool generated more than £80m cash in each of the last two seasons, and new signings will be paid for on an instalment basis, so no problems here.

"Add in the extra money generated in 2024-25 from winning the Premier League (prize money and an expanded Anfield that generates more than £100m a season from ticket sales), a new kit deal with adidas that starts on 1 August, participation in the expanded Champions League and revenue is likely to exceed £700m.

"Some players have left, which has freed up money on the payroll too, as well as generating 'pure' profits if those players (Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jarell Quansah) are from the academy. There are other players that could be sold too to further assist the finances.

"PSR-wise Liverpool are very strong too. The allowable PSR loss is £105m over three seasons. Liverpool were well within that figure to the end of 2023-24 and the PSR add-backs, such as academy, infrastructure and the women's team costs, probably meant that Liverpool had a PSR profit going into the summer 2025 window."

Each of the three newly promoted teams - Burnley, Leeds United and Sunderland - are in the top 10 of biggest spenders so far this summer.

Sunderland are seventh and have spent just over £100m on six new players, although they sold Jobe Bellingham and Tom Watson, recouping about £37m.

Burnley have added 10 players to their squad, at a total cost of just under £70m, while Leeds have spent just over £60m for their six new signings.

Fulham are the only Premier League side yet to spend anything this summer, while Crystal Palace's only paid purchase has been Ajax left-back Borna Sosa for £2m.

Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest both qualified for Europe, but are yet to make major signings. Villa's only addition has been teenage Turkish defender Yasin Ozcan in a deal worth £6.7m from Kasimpasa.

Forest have spent £27m on Brazilian duo Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha, but winger Anthony Elanga joined Newcastle for £55m.

With less than a third of the league accounting for nearly two thirds of the total summer spending, what does this mean for the competitiveness of the division?

Only five months ago fans and pundits considered the Premier League to be as wide open as it had been in a long time, with Forest and Bournemouth both in the Champions League spots.

"I'm looking at Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Brentford, Brighton... they're not the biggest clubs in stature but what a job they've done," ex-Premier League striker Dion Dublin said on Final Score in February.

"They're all in the top 10 and I think it's just outstanding."

However, normal service was resumed as Forest eventually slipped down to finish seventh, while Bournemouth were ninth.