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What do Elliott Anderson, Morgan Rogers and Sandro Tonali have in common?
All three spent £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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Speaking on the Transfer Talk Podcast, Henry Winter and Keith Downie discuss the importance of Bruno Guimaraes at Newcastle and how much he’s worth to the club
So, how much do the league’s powerhouse clubs spend on players from other teams in the top flight?
Since the summer of 2016, Big Six clubs have spent £2.8 billion 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.
Are more Premier League businesses sitting at home?
Premier League clubs are buying from within the league. Total spending on intra-Premier League signings reached £1.29bn last season – the highest ever by a wide margin.
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Sky Sports’ Dave Reid assesses whether £100m+ deals are becoming the new norm in the transfer market
Why? Clubs are increasingly looking to hire vetted players for minimal risk, but that security now comes at an increasingly high price.
A fair comparison is to look at the proportion of money spent on players already plying their trade in the division.
That share hit a record-low 14 per cent in 2018/19, with most teams splashing the cash on foreign talent – but it has since trended generally upwards and currently stands at 41 per cent so far this summer.
Which clubs rely most on the domestic market?
Chelsea are the Premier League’s hotbed for transfers, having spent £862m on players from other Premier League clubs since 2016. Much of this has been spent since the BlueCo takeover in 2022.
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Elliott Anderson conducted his first interview as a Manchester City player and couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at their rivals Manchester United. Images courtesy of City Studios
The biggest intra-Premier League corridor remains Chelsea to Brighton, with deals totaling £263m since the summer of 2016.
Chelsea signed the £222m player from Leicester and £156m from Aston Villa, with Alejandro Garnacho heading 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 to their league rivals (£683m) since 2016/17.
Summer windows are heating 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 signings so far this summer have been intra-Premier League deals, apart from Mateus Fernandes’ £85m move from West Ham to Spurs.
In fact, Spurs are the biggest spending club in the window so far, spending £237m, followed by Chelsea (£203.5m) and Manchester City (£129m).
In the squad cost ratio (SCR) era, the Big Six clubs increasingly believe that Premier League players offer lower recruitment risk – while giving other clubs in the league one of the fastest routes to financial headroom.
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James Savundra takes a look at who would be best to replace injured William Saliba at Arsenal – John Stones and Ezeri Konsa?
The direction of travel is clear: more Premier League money lies within the league and the Big Six are increasingly finding their next signings closer to home.
