Top 10 net spenders of the summer

James Shearman

• Updated: 1 Sep 2021 16:00 CDT
• 5 min read

After a hectic summer transfer window, we now know which teams had the highest nets spends of all.

Some clubs sold youth players and back-up stars to fund the signing of new players, such as Chelsea, who have done well not to feature in this list.

Whereas other clubs, like Arsenal, dug into their deep pockets to get expensive deals over the line and couldn't offload nearly enough players to balance the books.

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All in all, the past few months have been the most remarkable for transfer activity in the history of football.

But now it's all said and done, who were the biggest net spenders of the window?

10. Leeds: €59m (£51m)

Leeds failed to recoup a single penny of their outlay this summer, with the likes of Pablo Hernandez and Ezgjan Alioski leaving on free transfers at the end of last season.

Jack Harrison's loan deal was made permanent after an impressive debut Premier League season, while Junior Firpo and Daniel James signed from Barcelona and Manchester United, respectively, to ensure Marcelo Bielsa's side do not suffer from a case of second season syndrome.

9. Leicester: €64m (£55m)

Another productive window from the Foxes saw key figures such as Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison stay at the club.

Patson Daka appears to be the long-term replacement for club legend Jamie Vardy and Jannik Vestegaard offers a solid defensive option in the absence of Wesley Fofana through injury. It remains to be seen whether 22-year-old Boubakary Soumare will adapt to the Premier League in a similar vein to N'Golo Kante at the King Power.

8. Milan: €69m (£59m)

Milan injected youth into their first-team squad this summer with the additions of Fikayo Tomori, Yacine Adli and Sandro Tonali.

Mike Maignan is a decent enough replacement goalkeeper for the outgoing Gianluigi Donnarumma, who signed for Paris Saint-Germain after his Euro 2020 heroics for Italy. Rather controversially, Hakan Calhanoglu left Milan for rivals Inter on a free transfer.

7. West Ham: €72m (£62m)

With Europa League football coming to The London Stadium this month, a difficult Premier League season was in store for the Hammers if the recruitment was poor.

Instead, the signings of Kurt Zouma and Nikola Vlasic have provided the necessary depth to compete on both fronts. But, the best piece on business could be keeping hold of Declan Rice who was heavily linked with Manchester United and Chelsea.

6. Palace: €73m (£63m)

Crystal Palace have not made the same mistake as the last time they attempted to undergo a total revolution, under Frank de Boer.This summer, the Eagles board have backed manager Patrick Vieira as he attempts to transition from the defensive approach of Roy Hodgson into a more possession-based style of play.

Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise provide much-needed attacking flair, while Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen have the physicality and ball-playing ability to suit the Premier League.

5. PSG: €74m (£63.5m)

PSG's net spend is absurdly low given the calibre of players they were able to acquire this summer. Indeed, perhaps the wage bill would provide a better indicator as to how significantly the Ligue 1 side have invested.

That said, the addition of Achraf Hakimi represents one of the more expensive deals of the summer.

4. Man City: €89m (£76.5m)

Potential deals for Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane would have seen Pep Guardiola's side higher on this list, but it was not to be. As such, the absence of an out-and-out striker will make this season's Premier League title race more open than it might have been.

City still broke their transfer record in a £105m deal for Jack Grealish, however, in what can't be described as a low-spending season for the club. The sales of Jack Harrison and Angelino helped to take the edge off an extortionate fee for the former Aston Villa man.

3. Roma: €96m (£82.5m)

Jose Mourinho's marquee signing in his first window as Roma boss was the £36m deal for Tammy Abraham from Chelsea. Eldor Shomurodov made the switch from Genoa while Rui Patricio made it two signings from Premier League clubs.

There were no sales of note as Edin Dzeko and Pedro left the club on free transfers.

2. Man Utd: €110m (£95m)

United's deadline day sale of Daniel James to Leeds for £26m to cover the fee for Cristiano Ronaldo's return from Juventus could go down in history as one of the smartest transfer moves.

Yet, the Red Devils net spend ranks high given the expensive, but fair value, deals for Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane. The pair, alongside Ronaldo, have bolstered the squad enough to offer manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer no excuses not to win his first title.

1. Arsenal - €135m (£116m)

Arsenal fans have long complained about the lack of investment at their club, and rightly so, but this summer has totally bucked that trend as the Gunners have the highest net spend of all.

Although, this goes to show that recruitment is far more than just spending money. A number of clubs can lay claim to having the best transfer window, but Mikel Arteta's side aren't in the conversation.

The £50m signing of Ben White has unfortunately led to direct comparisons with the much superior Varane, while £25m on Aaron Ramsale, a backup goalkeeper, is difficult to understand when there were gaps in the starting lineup that needed filling.

The additions of Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu were two that made sense, but the fact that Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac and Mohamed Elneny remain at The Emirates has to put technical director Edu's job at risk.