August 31st is the deadline day.
Millions of pounds have been spent, and hundreds of players have moved clubs. So at Mainline Menswear, we’re going to have a look at all the action from deadline day, and some of the biggest moves of the 2016 transfer window.
Deadline Day
In the last 24hrs of the window being open, many big clubs frantically scrambled to acquire some final new team members. Whilst others were happy to send players away on loan or for free transfers.
Manchester City released both Wilfried Bony and Samir Nasri on loan, to Stoke and Sevilla respectively. They also allowed former keeper Joe Hart to leave the club, on loan to Torino, in Italy. Other departures included Mario Balotelli having a free transfer from Liverpool to Nice, and another Man City player, Eliaquim Mangala, going on loan to Valencia.
Big signings on the final day for Premier League clubs saw almost a further £150m being spent. Chelsea were responsible for £57m of this, signing Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina and re-acquiring David Luis for £34m, after selling him to PSG only a couple of seasons ago.
Tottenham grabbed one of the final signings of the window, not happy with only buying Nkoudou from Marseille on the last day. After weeks of trying, they secured a deal for Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle United, for a reported fee of £30m – the Frenchman’s value increasing dramatically after the Euros.
Finally, Leicester City spent £29m on Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon. West Ham lucked out to receive Alvaro Arbeloa on a free transfer from Real Madrid, and former Championship winners Burnley spent £10.5m on Jeff Hendrick from Derby, hoping to survive the season in the Premier League.
Other Signings
Some confirmed signings from earlier in the week which had been rumoured for a while are also due to make an impact in the upcoming games.
Manchester City officially signed a deal with Barcelona for keeper Claudio Bravo on August 25th, spending £15.4m on the man who is tipped to become one of the best keepers in the world. Manchester City also signed John Stones from Everton for £50m; making Stones the most expensive defender in Premier League history – and the second most expensive deal in the Premier League this summer.
After weeks of indecisiveness, Liverpool finally agreed a fee with Crystal Palace for Christian Beneteke. The Belgian was signed for £27m on August 20th, despite Liverpool previously refusing a bid for £30m from Palace, so it looks like they must have lowered their expectations.
Top Stats
Finally, we have several stats to round up the summer transfer window, letting you know who spent the most money, who signed the most players and more.
The most expensive signing was Paul Pogba, who moved from Juventus to Manchester United for £89m.
Collectively, Premier League clubs smashed the previous record of £870m for the summer transfer window, having spent £1.005bn by 8:30am on deadline day – with several more signings following after this hour.
The club who acquired the most players through this was Middlesbrough, signing 12 new players – splashing the cash after their promotion.
The most money in general was spent in Manchester. With Manchester City being the highest spending club under new manager Pep Guardiola, forking out £167m on their signings. This was closely followed by rivals Manchester United, under their new manager Jose Mourinho. They spent a total of £163.5m; although more than half of this was on just one player.
All this money spent is working out so far for both Manchester clubs. After three games in the 2016/17 season, Man City are in first place, and Man Utd are in third, just behind Chelsea.
Newly promoted Hull City and Middlesbrough are sitting comfortably in 5th and 6th place, whilst previous champions Leicester are just behind them in 9th.
The next two big games to watch out for will commence in just over a week, starting on the 10th August. The first will be the Manchester derby, where United will host City at 12:30pm. This will be followed by Liverpool playing Leicester at 5:30pm.
Whether you’re a football fan or not, there’s plenty of action that’s been going on. Make sure you’re up to date and kitted out in proper footballing attire to watch the games, or even play yourself. You can find plenty of sports gear on our website, available here. In addition, discover what the perfect outfit is to wear to a football game, by reading this blog post.
