Aubameyang’s move from Barcelona to Chelsea at the sound of the gong crossed this summer’s two protagonists and closed a market window in which the Premier League broke investment records with more than two billion in estimated spending. And confirmed that the financial power of English football is much higher than the rest of Europe. In terms of sellers, Benfica and Sporting CP are among the clubs that have won the most this summer.

At the individual level, no records were broken in this window. Antoni’s biggest transfer was to Manchester United with an initial cost of €95m, in the top 20, which includes Portugal international Mateus Nunez from Sporting to Wolverhampton Wolves. See list here.

But there have been many big businesses, led by English clubs, who, after years of bankruptcy due to the pandemic, have invested like never before. While waiting for the official figures from FIFA on the amounts involved in international transfers, one can already have an idea that the cost of English football is much higher than the previous record, which dates back to 2017 and amounted to 1.6 billion dollars. Among the top 10 clubs that have invested the most, according to data estimated by Transfermarkt, only three are outside the Premier League: Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and PSG.

A summer in which top strikers such as Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland switched clubs has also been marked by an increased tendency for top clubs to invest heavily in top-notch centre-backs. Among the 20 largest summer transfers, five are central.

The market is still marked by changes that never happened before. First of all, with regard to Cristiano Ronaldo. After the Portuguese later appeared at Manchester United, hopes for his future turned into rivers of ink, but in the end Ronaldo remains at Old Trafford. Bernardo Silva has been another recurring name in the market headlines, but he hasn’t left Manchester City either.

But there have been many, many changes. Take a look at the major trends in the big leagues.

Em England, Chelsea signed Aubameyang on the last day of the market and also secured midfielder Zakaria on loan from Juventus, confirming their status as the biggest investor in the market. With new owners, the Blues took a while to get on the market, but when they did, they bet on reinforcements like Sterling, Fofana and Koulibaly. Or Cucurella, a £65m full-back from Brighton, who gives a glimpse of the sheer scale of domestic business in the Premier League and how the cost bar is being raised for big clubs.

Let Man Utd say so, another club that has broken the €200m barrier and faced many challenges to get the reinforcements intended by new coach Ten Hag. After many relegations and a poor start in the Premier League, the Red Devils ended up investing heavily in two big names, Casemiro and Anthony.

The investment capacity extends to the Premier League. Newly promoted Nottingham Forest, for example, have invested more than €150m in two dozen reinforcements.

Em Spain, the global trend has been one of restraint, with the exception of Barcelona, ​​which, in an attempt to restore hegemony, has moved to an all-or-nothing strategy, anticipating future earnings in order to be able to hire a lot, and how to create the conditions to stop violating Spanish wage rules leagues. Lewandowski, Rafinha and Kunde arrived, still Bellerin on the last day, as well as Marcos Alonso, who terminated his contract with Chelsea. The Catalans also promoted several exits to try and balance the bills.

Real Madrid have invested heavily in midfielder Chuameni, who was signed from Monaco in the summer when Casemiro left, but he has been much more reserved otherwise. The average spending of the rest of the clubs in the Spanish league did not exceed thirty million euros, which, by comparison, is lower than the costs of the so-called “big” three in Portugal.

Already Germany, the Bundesliga has lost two of its best strikers, Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski. But both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund responded with large investments. The Bavarians have signed Sadio Mane, De Ligt or Gravenberch and have also invested in an attacking future bet, Mathis Tel. The investment of most other clubs is not comparable to a league that has lost many players and has a positive balance between costs and profits.

Em ItalyIt’s been a summer of many changes. Big names such as De Ligt, Coulibaly or Fabian Ruiz have also left Serie A, but many have arrived or returned, including Di Maria, Pogba or Lukaku. José Mourinho’s Roma have found new life with the arrival of reinforcements such as Dybala, Matic or Wijnaldum, although the latter could be stopped due to injury. All things considered, Serie A is the second largest European league with the most investment, although the estimated cost of €750m is far less than the Premier League.

Em FrancePSG once again took the lead in terms of spending, investing heavily in strengthening the Portuguese, finally signing Vitinha, Renata Sanches and Nuno Mendes. With a lavish and extensive squad, the Parisians have also facilitated several departures, including Julian Draxler’s transfer to Benfica. Despite much lower numbers, Marseille also invested heavily, receiving over a dozen reinforcements, among them Nuno Tavares. Closing the market, another Portuguese appeared who increased the Portuguese contingent in France: André Gomez, who signed for Lille de Paulo Fonseca.

Clubs that spent the most*

1. Chelsea, €278.99m

2. Manchester United, 238 million people

3. West Ham, 182 million

4. Tottenham Hotspur $169.90m

5. Nottingham Forest, 161.95 million

6. Barcelona, ​​153 million

7. PSG, 147.5 million

8. Manchester City, $139.5m

9. Bayern Munich, 137.5 million

10. Wolverhampton Wolverhampton, 136.6 million

*Data calculated from the Transfermarkt website.

Ajax sales champion, Benfica and Sporting CP will soon follow.

As for the clubs that have won the most, Ajax have once again reaped a lot of dividends from their traditional player promotion profile and are leading the way, thanks primarily to two excellent deals with Manchester United, Anthony and Lisandro Martínez. These include, among others, Haller’s transfers to Dortmund or Gravenberch to Bavaria Munich. Many players have left the Amsterdam club, which also bet heavily on signings that cost more than 100 million, to form a team that now includes Portugal’s Francisco Conceição.

The second club on the list, still according to Transfermarkt, is Manchester City, who, despite spending over €130m on strengthening, have a positive balance sheet, mainly due to the departure of Sterling to Chelsea and Gabriel. Jesus and Zinchenko at Arsenal. , but also, for example, Porro’s permanent transfer to Sporting. And still kept Bernardo Silva.

Benfica, whose big business is transferring Darwin to Liverpool, but also sells passes from Yaremchuk (Club Brugge), Everton Cebolinha (Flamengo), Jota (Celtic), Gedson (Besiktas ”) or Vinicius (“Fulham”), ranks third in the ranking. list, with about 122 million euros.

In fourth place is Sporting. With nearly €120 million in transfer sales for Mateus Nunez (Woolburhampton), Paligny (Fulham) and Nuno Mendez (PSG), joined by Tabata (Palmeiras) or Sporar (Panathinaikos), it was the most profitable Lions market window. .

FC Porto is in 14th place with an estimated income of 86 million, the largest share in the transfers of Vitinha (PSG) and Fabio Vieira (Arsenal), joined by Francisco Conceição, Sergio Oliveira (Galatasaray) or Marquesin (“Celta”, Vigo). .

Most winning clubs*

1. Ajax, €216.22m

2. Manchester City, $159.90m

3. Benfica, 127.30 million

4. Sporting, 119.80 million

5. Monaco, 117 million

6. Brighton, 113.9 million

7. Leeds 108.2 million

8. Bayern Munich, 104.4 million

9. Juventus, 103.15 million

10. Lille, 99 million

*Data calculated from the Transfermarkt website.