Premier League transfers: Are Big Six clubs raiding their rivals? | Football News
What do Elliot Anderson, Morgan Rogers and Sandro Tonali have in common?
All three made moves for £100m or more this summer – but they also follow a growing trend where ‘Big Six’ clubs – defined as Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs – sign players from their non-Big Six Premier League rivals.
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So, how much are the league’s powerhouse clubs spending on players from other teams in the top flight?
Since summer 2016, Big Six clubs have spent £2.8bn on players from non-Big Six Premier League rivals. The trend has accelerated sharply: £647m last season was the highest in history, and the total already stands at £420m this summer.
Is more Premier League business staying in-house?
Premier League clubs are increasingly buying from within the league. The total spend on intra-Premier League signings reached £1.29bn last season – the highest ever by a wide margin.
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Sky Sports’ Dave Reed assesses whether £100m+ deals are becoming the new norm in the transfer market
Why? Clubs are increasingly looking to recruit tried-and-tested players for minimal risk, but that security now comes at an increasingly high price.
A fairer comparison is to look at the proportion of money spent on players already plying their trade in the division.
That share reached a record-low 14 per cent in 2018/19, with the majority of teams splashing cash on overseas talent – but that has generally trended upwards since then and currently stands at 41 per cent this summer to date.
Which clubs rely most on domestic market?
Chelsea are the Premier League hub for transfers, spending a staggering £862m on players from other Premier League clubs since 2016. The majority of that has been spent since the BlueCo takeover in 2022.
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Elliot Anderson conducted his first interview as a Manchester City player and could not resist a cheeky dig at their rivals Manchester United. Pictures courtesy of City Studios
The biggest intra-Premier League corridor remains Brighton to Chelsea, with deals totalling £263m since the summer of 2016.
Chelsea have also signed £222m of players from Leicester and £156m from Aston Villa, with Alejandro Garnacho moving the other way on loan this summer.
But the Big Six also offload heavily to other Premier League clubs. Chelsea are in a league of their own when it comes to spending (£862m) and selling (£683m) to their league rivals since 2016/17.
Summer window hotting up
One thing is clear: the top end of the transfer market continues to accelerate, with the average top-end signing now costing £68m.
Six of the top 10 deals so far this summer are intra-Premier League deals, excluding Mateus Fernandes’ £85m move from relegated West Ham to Spurs.
Indeed, Spurs have been the biggest-spending club in the window so far with £237m spent, followed by Chelsea (£203.5m) and Manchester City (£129m).
In the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) era, Big Six clubs increasingly appear to believe Premier League players offer lower recruitment risk – while giving the league’s other clubs one of the quickest routes to financial headroom.
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The direction of travel is clear: more Premier League money is staying inside the league, and the Big Six are increasingly finding their next signings closer to home.
