THE Premier League’s biggest transfer spenders have been revealed.
And Chelsea have blown their rivals away by occupying FOUR of the top five spots.
The Prem’s status and wealth has long been a source of envy for rival continental leagues.
Superstars including Mo Salah, Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne all ply their trade in England’s top flight.
And each summer sees clubs splash the cash in a bid for fight for trophies.
Now, the biggest window spenders in history have been revealed.
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Financial expert Kevin Maguire produced a list of the top money kings including Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United.
But it’s Chelsea who are the largest spenders with some eye-watering figures in the last few years.
Money was no object for former Blues owner Roman Abramovich.
Yet even that has paled in comparison to the billion-plus spent by successors Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
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And Chelsea occupy no less than four of the top five spots in the list.
But are they number one? Read on to find out…
10. MANCHESTER CITY (2023/24): £222m
PEP GUARDIOLA went on the offensive after winning the Treble.
The Spaniard lost several big players including Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte, with Cole Palmer also departing.
And he made sure to replace them as best as he could, starting with the £75m capture of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig.
Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic all followed too.
And Guardiola even forked out to secure the services of Argentina wonderkid Claudio Echeverri.
9. LIVERPOOL (2018/19): £223m
JURGEN KLOPP’S historic season saw him lead the Reds to Champions League glory.
Liverpool also finished second to Man City in the league with 97 points while losing only one match.
And their savvy shopping played a huge role, with the Reds deciding to drop £53m on Brazil goalie Alisson.
A similar fee was spent on RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, with key man Fabinho also brought in from Monaco.
And Klopp made sure he had quality on the bench too as he raided relegated Stoke for star forward Xherdan Shaqiri.
8. TOTTENHAM (2023/24): £232m
ANGE POSTECOGLOU’S first season saw some big changes.
The Aussie was forced to deal with the loss of captain Harry Kane for starters.
But he made sure Bayern’s £82m fee was wisely reinvested in numerous signings, with £46m Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest the biggest deal.
James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro all came in alongside Guglielmo Vicario and Radu Dragusin.
And Postecoglou also made sure Dejan Kulusevksi’s loan from Juventus was made permanent, while also planning for the future with the capture of young forward Alejo Veliz.
7. MAN UTD (2017/18): £243m
JOSE MOURINHO led United to their best-place finish since the Sir Alex Ferguson days during this term, coming second while also tasting defeat in the FA Cup final.
After winning the Europa League the previous season, Jose attacked the market by beating Chelsea to the £84m signing of Romelu Lukaku from Everton.
He then raided his old club for key midfielder Nemanja Matic.
And the Special One also poached a young Victor Lindelof from Benfica.
But Mourinho was not done yet, finishing January with an audacious swoop for Arsenal’s key player Alexis Sanchez.
6. ARSENAL (2022/23): £251m
MIKEL ARTETA was eager to make up for a disappointing season by strengthening Arsenal’s squad with higher-quality players.
His first move was to sanction a £73m double-swoop for Man City duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
And he followed that up with deals for Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos.
But Arsenal challenged for the title, Arteta realised he needed more depth.
So in January, he splashed out again on Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior before Arsenal finished second.
5. CHELSEA (2018/19): £281m
MAURIZIO SARRI was not shy upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues had lost Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
And Sarri responded by spending a record £67m on goalie Kepa Arrizbalaga from Athletic Bilbao.
A big fee was also spent to bring key player Jorginho from Napoli, while Chelsea even forked out a huge loan fee to sign Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus in January.
That same month saw them pre-purchase Christian Pulisic ahead of a season-long transfer ban, with Sarri going on to lift the Europa League before quitting his post.
4. CHELSEA (2017/18): £290m
A YEAR earlier, the Blues set out to defend their title under Antonio Conte — which remains the last time Chelsea won the Premier League.
Key figures in Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and John Terry departed.
And Chelsea were left with some questionable replacements — who still cost a king’s ransom.
A sweet £55m was spent on Alvaro Morata alone, with the striker proving to be one of the worst signings of the Abramovich era.
Chelsea also splashed out on flops like Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta, although Antonio Rudiger and Olivier Giroud eventually showed their worth.
3. MAN CITY (2017/18): £328m
PEP GUARDIOLA was not used to losing titles and decided to go big in the market after his debut City season ended in a third-place finish.
Aymeric Laporte was his most expensive signing that term at £65m.
While a new defence was completed with the purchases of Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Danilo and Ederson.
Guardiola also made a key purchase in Portuguese playmaker Bernardo Silva.
While fees were also paid on youngsters like Douglas Luiz and Jack Harrison.
2. CHELSEA (2023/24): £396m
NOT content with their splurge the previous January, Chelsea decided to shell out on no less than 12 players.
Moises Caicedo was the biggest signing at £115m, with fellow midfielders Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu also arriving for big fees.
In attack, Christopher Nkunku was joined by Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson.
While defender Axel Disasi came in with TWO goalies in Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic.
And in true BlueCo fashion, youngsters like Deivid Washington and Angelo arrived for fees usually spent on more senior figures.
1. CHELSEA (2022/23): £754m
THE BLUES rewrote the book in the first full season under Boehly and Eghbali.
A bizarre summer window under Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked the following month, saw huge fees dropped on stars like Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marc Cucurella.
Fast forward several months and this time it was Graham Potter who was having to deal with a bloated squad as Chelsea embarked on more major spending.
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A stunning £105m was spent on Enzo Fernandez, while Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, and Noni Madueke were signed for tasty fees.
There were more big deals for teens completed too, while Joao Felix’s loan from Atletico cost a cool £10m — and all that spending resulted in a 12th place finish.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
