Transfer deadline day: Premier League leads spending in Europe

Last-minute medicals, number crunching and Saudi speculation. It's deadline day in the summer transfer window for Europe’s five big domestic leagues.

The English Premier League again leads overall spending — about $2.4 billion and counting — and once again Chelsea is first in line with an outlay of $290 million.

Deadline-day deals could see some players headed to Saudi Arabia, which has been less active compared to a year ago.

Among the big names in European soccer that could be changing jerseys on Friday were Ivan Toney (Brentford), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Jadon Sancho (Manchester United) and Victor Osimhen (Napoli).

But England's top tier remains the most lucrative, even if its spending is down slightly from a year ago.

More evidence of the Premier League's draw: Teams in the second-division Championship have spent more than 200 million euros ($221 million) to strengthen their squads. That's the seventh-highest expenditure among leagues worldwide.

MAN UNITED ADDS UGARTE

United signed Uruguay defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain for an initial 50 million euros ($55.7 million). It takes the club’s summer spending on new players to around $240 million. United had earlier signed striker Joshua Zirkzee, centre-backs Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, and full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

The 23-year-old Ugarte looks set to be the long-term replacement for Casemiro.

Crystal Palace signed centre-back Maxence Lacroix from Wolfsburg. The move reunites the 24-year-old French player with Palace manager Oliver Glasner, who coached the German club for two seasons.

MCTOMINAY TO NAPOLI

Italy is back over the $1 billion mark again in overall spending — the second highest in Europe.

Napoli signed Scott McTominay on Friday, paying 30 million euros ($33 million) to Man United for the midfielder who had been with the English club since he was five. United manager Erik ten Hag lamented the pressure that clubs are under to sell “homegrown” players — because of the good profit margin — amid the league's financial regulations.

Romelu Lukaku joined Napoli on Thursday, reuniting with manager Antonio Conte, who had coached Belgium’s all-time record scorer at Inter Milan.

SAUDI DEADLINE MONDAY

There could still be some surprises in store beyond Europe. That's because the Saudi Pro League has until Monday to lure players.

Entering this week, the Saudis had spent just $240 million in this transfer window — a huge decrease from the roughly $1 billion spent in the same period a year ago.

One reason might be the lack of squad spots, though the league has put in place a plan to add more foreign players. Changes that took effect this season increased the limit on the number of foreign players per team from eight to 10. There's no age limit for eight foreigners but in a bid to get younger stars — not just the 30-something crowd — two spots are restricted to “non-Saudi players born in 2003 or after.”

On Tuesday, Saudi champion Al Hilal paid $28 million to Manchester City for full-back João Cancelo.

Mohamed Salah was No. 1 on Al-Ittihad's wish list last year when Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid worth $188 million. The 32-year-old Salah is in the final year of his contract on Merseyside.

BAYERN DONE BUYING

Early Friday, Bayern Munich ruled out signing any more players in the transfer window. The Bavarian powerhouse spent about 100 million euros ($110 million) combined for Portugal midfielder João Palhinha and forward Michael Olise.

Palhinha seemed set to join Bayern a year ago — and even travelled to Munich for a medical — but the deal collapsed just before the end of the transfer window.

Max Eberl, Bayern’s board member for sport, said Friday morning there would be no more arrivals in a squad which is aiming to recapture the German title it lost to Bayer Leverkusen last season.

“We won’t sign any more players. If there’s something, then possibly it’s someone leaving,” he said, in a possible reference to French forward Kingsley Coman, who’s been linked with teams in England and Saudi Arabia. “We have a squad that we’re very, very satisfied with and very happy with.”

Leverkusen kept most of its double-winning team together, while last season’s surprise second-place team Stuttgart was ransacked by rivals.

The highest-profile signing by a German club on Friday was Netherlands defender Lutsharel Geertruida, who is moving to Leipzig from Dutch club Feyenoord. Geertruida was a key player for Feyenoord last season under coach Arne Slot, who’s now at Liverpool. He also played two games for the Netherlands at Euro 2024.

In fact, the most talked-about transfer on deadline day in Germany was one that didn’t happen. Leverkusen and Germany defender Jonathan Tah was a target for Bayern and was linked with Barcelona.

The defender confirmed on Friday he was staying put.

“It’s true that in the meantime I’ve been looking into transfer options,” Tah wrote in an Instagram post addressed to Leverkusen fans, adding he plans to stay and mark 10 years with the club next year. Tah’s contract expires at the end of the season so he could leave for free. “I promise you that I will give everything I have this season too for us to be successful, just like in the last nine years!”

Reminder: Mbappé was free

The summer's biggest move came with no transfer cost at all when Kylian Mbappé joined Real Madrid after his contract expired at Paris Saint-Germain. La Liga was on course to be the lowest spender among the big five — it entered the final week at just under $600 million.

ZAHA TO LYON

Veteran forward Wilfried Zaha joined French club Lyon from Galatasaray for a modest fee of $3 million. The 31-year-old Zaha spent most of his career at Crystal Palace before playing last season in Turkey, where he helped Galatasaray win the domestic league title.