Spending patterns for Premier League clubs are not just about the fee, but who the clubs are choosing to do business with.<\/p>\n
Take a look at the high-value deals, worth \u00a340m or more, which have doubled this summer from two years ago.<\/p>\n
In 2024-25 there were 13 such deals, this summer there were 27.<\/p>\n
More striking is the breakdown of these transfers. <\/p>\n
Two years ago, there were seven transfers worth \u00a340m or more done with teams on the continent. Only six were completed between Premier League clubs.<\/p>\n
Now look at what has changed. <\/p>\n
This summer there were nine deals worth \u00a340m or more with European clubs.<\/p>\n
But between clubs in England it has trebled, from six to 18. The total spend across all domestic transfers has more than doubled, too. <\/p>\n
Maguire told BBC Sport that one reason is English clubs now scout players from abroad so extensively that they are signed much earlier, and made into Premier League players.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a new tranche of clubs, sort of the the algorithm kids, who are recruiting from the international markets,” Maguire said. <\/p>\n
“They’re bringing players to the Premier League, and then the Big Six clubs are signing the best players.”<\/p>\n
On such example is Carlos Baleba, who Brighton<\/a> signed from Lille three years ago for \u00a323m and last week sold to Manchester United<\/a> for \u00a370m. <\/p>\n “It has effectively created a recruitment area, sort of a petri dish, to determine which of the overseas players can deliver in the Premier League, and then it’s a win-win for all the parties,” Maguire added.<\/p>\n But that only tells part of the story. There are also the transfers which look like they could only happen in the Premier League.<\/p>\n Would a European club have given Manchester City<\/a> the \u00a375m Tottenham<\/a> spent on Savio? Or paid Everton<\/a> \u00a365m for Iliman Ndiaye? What about the \u00a385m West Ham received from Spurs for Mateus Fernandes?<\/p>\n As if to underline this, only seven signings of \u00a340m or more were made this summer by European clubs, from another on the continent, all by Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain.<\/p>\n