Premier League’s Spending Dwarfs that of their European Counterparts

While the rest of European football has tightened their belts this winter, perhaps still counting the costs of global events in 2020 and 2021, the Premier League has been on a spending spree like never before.

In fact, Chelsea - who are currently tenth in the English top flight, ten points adrift of Champions League qualification - spent more than the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, and the Championship combined. Despite their winter spending, however, oddschecker, which compares Premier League odds and free offers, still makes the Blues distinct outsiders to secure a top-four finish this season. 

While the Stamford Bridge club is currently enduring a season to forget, no one can accuse their owner, Todd Boehly, of not putting his hand in his pocket. The American businessman has stumped up an eye-watering €329.5 million to fund the arrivals of Enzo Fernández, Mykhaylo Mudryk, João Félix, Benoît Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana. To put that into context, the top flights in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy spent €259 million combined. 

A Record-Breaking Winter 

Chelsea’s winter spending has contributed to the past transfer window being the most expensive in Premier League history, and by some distance. England’s 20 top-flight clubs combined to spend a whopping €830 million. That figure dwarfs the €525 million spent back in 2018 when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived at Arsenal, Virgil Van Dijk swapped St. Mary’s for Anfield, and Aymeric Laporte sealed his move from Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City. 

But it wasn’t just Stamford Bridge that saw an outpouring of cash this last January. League leaders Arsenal have invested €60 million into their squad in the hopes of claiming their first Premier League title since the Invincibles of 2004. They have brought in Jakub Kiwior from Serie A’s Spezia, as well as Brighton’s Leandro Trossard and Jorginho - who arrived from rivals Chelsea on deadline day. 

Relegation strugglers Nottingham Forest added to their 23 summer transfers with a further six additions in January. They've brought in the experienced centre-back Felipe from Atletico Madrid, Champions League winning goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Paris Saint-Germain, as well as Premier League regular Jonjo Shelvey, who left Newcastle United for the City Ground. Chris Wood also left the North East for Forest, while Brazilian duo Danilo and Gustavo Scarpa both arrived from Palmeiras. 

It’s been two years since Florentino Pérez attempted to get his dream of a European Super League off the ground. But let’s face it. We already have a Super League. Its name is the English Premier League.