Market: The Kingdom of England, with Benfica and Sporting leaders in sales

Aubameyang’s move from Barcelona to Chelsea overtook, at the sound of the bell, two of this summer’s great champions and closed the market window in which the Premier League broke investment records, with more than two billion estimated expenditures. She emphasized that the financial strength of English football is much higher than the rest of Europe. On the sellers side, Benfica and Sporting are among the clubs with the biggest wins this summer.

At the individual level, no records were broken in this window. And Anthony’s largest transfer to Manchester United, with an initial value of 95 million euros, was among the top 20 deals entered into by Portuguese international Matthews Nunes, who left Sporting for Wolverhampton. See the list here.

But there were many large companies, led by English clubs, that invested like never before, after years of bankruptcy due to the epidemic. Pending official data from FIFA about the amounts involved in international transfers, it is already possible to have an idea that English football spending far exceeds the previous record, which dates back to 2017 and was 1.6 billion. Of the ten most invested clubs, according to data estimated by Transfermarkt, only three are outside the Premier League: Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

The summer in which leading strikers such as Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland changed clubs also marked the trend of major clubs to invest heavily in central defence. Of the top 20 summer transfers, five are center stage ones.

The market is still marked by changes that never occurred. First and foremost regarding Cristiano Ronaldo. After the Portugal international later debuted at Manchester United, speculation about his future led to rivers of ink flowing, but in the end Ronaldo remained at Old Trafford. Bernardo Silva has been another frequent name in the market headlines, but he hasn’t left Manchester City either.

But there were many, many changes. A look at the major trends in the major leagues.

in EnglandChelsea signed Aubameyang on the last day of the market and also took delivery of midfielder Zakaria on loan from Juventus, underlining their position as the biggest investor in this market. With the new owners, the Blues took a while to get to market, but when they did, so did it, as they bet on reinforcements like Sterling, Fofana and Koulibaly. Or Cucurella, the signed Brighton full-back for 65m which gives a measure of the sheer volume of domestic business in the Premier League, as well as the way the cost bar is rising for the big clubs.

Let Manchester United say that, the other club that has crossed the €200m barrier has been spent and which has had many difficulties to secure the reinforcements that new coach Ten Hag intended. After several departures and a poor start in the Premier League, the Red Devils ended up with solid investments in two big names, Casemiro and Anthony.

Investment capacity cross-sectional to the Premier League. For example, newly promoted Nottingham Forest has invested more than 150 million euros in two dozen reinforcements.

in Spain, the global trend has been restraint, with the exception of Barcelona, ​​which, in an attempt to regain dominance, has moved towards an all-or-nothing strategy, anticipating future revenue in order to be able to employ a lot, and in a way to create the conditions to stop defaulting on private payroll rules Spanish League. Lewandowski, Ravenha and Conde have arrived, Bellerin is still on the last day and will also arrive Marcos Alonso, who has terminated his contract with Chelsea. The Catalans also promoted several departures, trying to balance the accounts.

Real Madrid have invested heavily in midfielder Chuamini, who signed from Monaco in the summer that Casemiro left, but otherwise have been more conservative. The remaining clubs in the Spanish League did not exceed the average spending of more than thirty million euros, which are lower values, for comparison, than what the three “big” in Portugal called.

in GermanyThe Bundesliga lost its two great attacking references, Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski. But both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have responded with solid investments. The Bavarians have signed Sadio Mane, de Ligt or Gravenberch, as well as investing in a bet on the future of the attack, Matisse Tal. The investment of most other clubs cannot be compared, in a league that has seen many players leave and has a positive balance between expenses and earnings.

in ItaliaThis was a summer of a lot of changes. There have also been big names who have left the First Division, such as De Ligt, Koulibaly or Fabian Ruiz, but many references have arrived or are back, among them Di María, Pogba or Lukaku. Jose Mourinho’s Roma have gained new life with the arrival of reinforcements such as Dybala, Matic or Wijnaldum, although the latter is facing an injury pause. All things considered, Serie A is the second major European league with the highest investment, although the estimated expenditure of €750m is significantly lower than the Premier League.

in FrancePSG has again led the way in spending, with a solid investment in Portuguese reinforcements, in the definitive signing of Vitinha, Renato Sanches and Nuno Mendes. With a luxurious and extensive ensemble, the Parisians also promoted several departures, including the transfer of Julian Draxler to Benfica. Despite the much lower values, Marseille also invested heavily, with more than a dozen reinforcements, among them Nuno Tavares. At the closing of the market, there was another Portuguese international to increase the Portuguese squad in France: Andre Gomes, who signed for Lille de Paulo Fonseca.

Most Spending Clubs *

1. Chelsea 278.99 million euros

2- Manchester United 238 million

3. West Ham 182 million

4- Tottenham, 169.90 million

5. Nottingham Forest, 161.95 million

6- Barcelona, ​​153 million

7- PSG, 147.5 million

8- Manchester City 139.5 million

9- Bayern Munich 137.5 million

10. Wolverhampton, 136.6 million

*Data estimated by Transfermarkt website

And soon followed by Ajax sales champions, Benfica and Sporting

As for the clubs that have won the most, Ajax have once again reaped several gains from their traditional profile as a player-boosting club and top the group, thanks primarily to two great deals with Manchester United, Anthony and Lisandro Martinez. Added to these, among others, is Haller’s move to Dortmund or from Gravenberch to Bayern Munich. Several players have left the Amsterdam club, which has also bet heavily on signings, which have exceeded 100 million spent, to form a squad that now includes Portugal’s Francisco Conceicao.

The second club on the list, which is still according to the data estimated by Transfermarkt, is Manchester City, which despite spending more than 130 million euros on reinforcements has a positive balance, mainly due to the departure of Sterling to Chelsea and Gabriel. , but also, for example, Borough’s permanent move to Sporting. Bernardo Silva still holds it.

Benfica, whose big business is Darwin’s transfer to Liverpool but who also has sales from Yarchouk (Club Brugge), Everton Cipollinha (Flamingo), Jota (Celtic), Gedson (Besiktas) or Vinicius (Fulham), are in third place. List, about 122 million euros.

In fourth place is Sporting. With nearly €120 million in transfer sales for Matthews Nunes (Wolberhampton), Balinha (Fulham) and Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), joined by Tabata (Palmeiras) or Sporar (Panathinaikos), this was the most lucrative market window for Lions.

FC Porto appears in the 14th place, with an estimated profit of 86 million, the largest share in the transfers of Vitina (Paris Saint-Germain) and Fabio Vieira (Arsenal), who were joined by Francisco Conceição, Sergio Oliveira (Galatasaray) or Marchesin (Celta Vigo). .

Clubs that won the most *

1. Ajax 216.22 million euros

2- Manchester City – 159.90 million

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- Night of 99 million

*Data estimated by Transfermarkt website