— London The Premier League clubs have not been affected by the cost of living crisis in England, and the record for the most money spent in a single season, £1.86 billion from 2017–18, may be broken when the transfer window closes later on Thursday.
The European aristocracy has refrained from luring Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United and granted him his dream of playing in the Champions League due to his 37-year-old legs and exorbitant pay.
United and their domestic rivals, in contrast, have not discovered any outrageous fee or wage demands that are beyond them.
As of last Thursday, gross spending by the 20 Premier League teams stood at £1.5bn, surpassing the 2017 record of £1.43bn spent by English clubs in the close-season window.
It was also more than the £1.44bn spent in the whole of last season.
United helped reduce the gap further early on Thursday as Erik ten Hag was reunited with another of his former Ajax proteges, Antony.
The 22-year-old was prised away for a reported €95million, making the Brazilian forward the fourth most expensive player in Premier League history.
“This is an incredible moment in my career to be joining one of the most iconic clubs in the world,” Antony said in a statement on United’s website.
His fee is a record for an Eredivisie player, demoting former Ajax teammate Frenkie de Jong’s €86m move to Barcelona to second. Ironically, United have pursued the latter throughout the close season without success.
Antony is likely to be United’s last big money signing of this window, with a reported £60m for 30-year-old Brazilian midfielder Casemiro their other eye-catching capture.
“As a manager you always want more,” said Ten Hag.
“You always want to maximise, but at a certain point you also have to be satisfied with what is there.”
His spending pales into insignificance compared to that of Chelsea, whose indifferent start to the campaign mirrors that of United’s.
Thomas Tuchel has outlaid around £250m of the American owners’ money, receiving similar backing to that of former owner Roman Abramovich in the transfer market.
Having finally got French defender Wesley Fofana for a reported £70m on Wednesday, Tuchel is still keen to sign veteran Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona.
The 33-year-old would cost around £7.5m with Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso also part of the package.
This despite Aubameyang being sidelined for several weeks after having his jaw broken in a break-in at his house earlier this week.
There are also rumours that Tuchel is keen to denude Ajax of another star, Edson Alvarez, who would be considerably more expensive than Aubameyang.
Liverpool have been relatively parsimonious in the transfer market, but Jurgen Klopp is known to want a midfielder – even more so with Jordan Henderson going off injured in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Klopp is a known admirer of Aston Villa’s Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz, who has a year left on his contract.
Villa could do with him as they have made a poor start to the season – they are second from bottom after five matches – but their manager and former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admits the matter is out of his hands.
“There’s more than two people that are in control of that but I’m certainly not one of them,” said Gerrard.
“That will be Douglas, that will be his agent and that will be what happens around that.
“We are not in a position where we need to lose top players.
“But at the same time, Douglas has got a year to go and it is really one of those really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me.”
Liverpool are also trying to bring in Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus.