LONDON — There was the usual frenzy of last-minute deals as the Premier League brought the curtain down on another bumper European transfer window in which Manchester City again flexed its financial muscle as the continent's top spenders. With Europe's other major countries closing for transfer business Monday, the English top flight hogged the limelight for an extra day, with City's rival Manchester United completing the biggest and most eyebrow-raising late deal.
The capture of Anthony Martial from Monaco for 36 million pounds ($55.12 million), labeled a panic-buy by sections of the British media, ensured Premier League clubs racked up a record spend of more than 860 million pounds.
That comfortably surpassed last season's record by more than 25 million pounds and reinforced the competition's status as the leading league in terms of transfer spending in the window.
City, which has won its first four league games this season, led the way with an outlay of 150 million pounds, including the 50 million-pound capture of midfielder Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg, and forward Raheem Sterling from Liverpool in a deal that could reach 49 million pounds.
City was followed in the spending stakes by United which took its outlay past 100 million with Tuesday's deal for 19-year-old French striker Martial, who followed Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger into Old Trafford.
Liverpool was not far behind in the spending stakes, splashing out almost 80 million pounds, mainly on Christian Benteke from Aston Villa for 32.5 million and Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino for 28.5, offset by Sterling's move to City.
English domination
Fuelled by the money from the Premier League's increasingly lucrative broadcast deals, English clubs made six of the biggest seven signings in the window.
Only Qatari-backed Paris St Germain punctuated the list of the biggest deals with the 63 million euros ($71.26 million) signing of Argentina winger Angel Di Maria from Manchester United.
Some of Europe's traditional powerhouses had quieter windows than many might have expected.
Arturo Vidal's 37 million euros move to Bayern Munich from Juventus was the high point of the Bundesliga champion's spending while there was no ‘galactico' signing for Real Madrid, seeking to wrestle the La Liga crown back from Barcelona.
Madrid, under new coach Rafa Benitez, brought in Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Inter Milan for 30 million euros in its biggest deal but failed to sign Manchester United's Spain goalkeeper David De Gea before the window slammed shut.
That failure, with the two clubs blaming each other for the administrative snarl up, will have likely handed a psychological fillip to Real's bitter rival Barcelona.
The Catalan club managed to pull off deals for attacking Turkey midfielder Arda Turan from Atletico Madrid and winger Spaniard Aleix Vidal from Sevilla despite being prevented from registering new players until January, meaning this pair will have to kick their heels for some months. — Reuters
