Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea: Every PL club's net spend since 2018/19

The 2022 summer transfer window was a record-setting one for Premier League clubs.

Per BBC Sport, the 20 top-flight sides splashed out a combined £1.9 billion on transfers, smashing the previous high of £1.4bn set in 2017.

The Premier League’s spending dwarfed that of Europe’s other top leagues, outstripping the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga combined.

Chelsea were the club with the highest outlay during the transfer window, racking up purchases totalling more than £253 million.

Manchester United were the only other Premier League club to break the £200m mark, with their deadline day signing of Antony from Ajax accounting for £85.5m of that figure.

Chelsea may have spent significantly, but they also saw the most departures during the window – with 20 players exiting Stamford Bridge either on permanent or loan deals.

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A single transfer window, though, isn’t truly a fair sample size to judge how a team has fared in the market.

With that in mind, we’ve taken to the ever-reliable Transfermarkt to look at every Premier League club’s net spend over the past five seasons.

For those not familiar with the term, net spend is the figure spent when taking into account both expenditure and income from transfer deals.

A total of 27 teams have competed in the English top-flight since 2018/19. All but five of them have a positive net spend in that period.

Which Premier League teams have the highest net spend over the last five seasons?

27. Watford

Spent: £121.86m

Received: £196.12m

Net spend: – £74.26m

26. Huddersfield Town

Spent: £59.33m

Received: £78.69m

Net spend: – £19.36m

25. Norwich City

Spent: £94.95m

Received: £112.10m

Net spend: – £17.15m

24. Burnley

Spent: £118.26m

Received: £130.37m

Net spend: – £12.11m

23. West Brom

Spent: £79.93m

Received: £83.74m

Net spend: – £3.82m

22. Brentford

Spent: £122.13m

Received: £122.23m

Net spend: £99,000

21. Bournemouth

Spent: £165.2m

Received: £157.75m

Net spend: £7.45m

20. Cardiff

Spent: £56.4m

Received: £24.99m

Net spend: £31.41m

19. Leicester

Spent: £326.61m

Received: £291.13m

Net spend: £35.48m

18. Brighton

Spent: £270.14m

Received: £211.61m

Net spend: £58.53m

17. Crystal Palace

Spent: £145.86m

Received: £73.06m

Net spend: £72.08m

16. Sheffield United

Spent: £130.23m

Received: £36.68m

Net spend: £93.56m

15. Southampton

Spent: £243.5m

Received: £126.06m

Net spend: £117.43m

14. Leeds United

Spent: £258.78m

Received: £131.31m

Net spend: £127.47m

13. Nottingham Forest

Spent: £197.56m

Received: £45.79m

Net spend: £151.77m

12. Everton

Spent: £378.78m

Received: £202.39m

Net spend: £176.4m

11. Fulham

Spent: £246.74m

Received: £54.23m

Net spend: £192.51m

10. Manchester City

Spent: £616.96m

Received: £413.06m

Net spend: £203.9m

9. Liverpool

Spent: £408.56m

Received: £191.94m

Net spend: £216.61m

8. Wolves

Spent: £442.31m

Received: £193.95m

Net spend: £248.36m

7. Aston Villa

Spent: £431.79m

Received: £171.83m

Net spend: £259.97m

6. Newcastle United

Spent: £394.34m

Received: £78.27m

Net spend: £316.07m

5. Tottenham Hotspur

Spent: £472.32m

Received: £140.87m

Net spend: £331.45m

4. West Ham

Spent: £478.71m

Received: £123.02m

Net spend: £355.69m

3. Chelsea

Spent: £808.19m

Received: £425.17m

Net spend: £383.02m

2. Arsenal

Spent: £563.77m

Received: £123.39m

Net spend: £440.38m

1. Manchester United

Spent: £701.39m

Received: £156.09m

Net spend: £545.3m

It’s the Red Devils who lead the way in terms of net spend since 2018/19, despite rarely looking like Premier League title contenders in that period.

Off the back of a busy summer of arrivals at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal occupy second place in the rankings, although their net spend is still more than £100m shy of United’s.

Chelsea’s frenzy of activity in the market under new chairman Todd Boehly sees the west London club take third spot with a net of £383m.

Liverpool’s net spend comes in at notably less than that of their rivals. Their net spend of £216m sees the Reds rank ninth overall, with their only major acquisition this summer being Darwin Nunez from Benfica for £67.5m.

After offloading Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandar Zinchenko to Premier League rivals, Man City returned a profit of £18.36m on their transfer dealings over the summer. The Premier League champions now have only the 10th highest net spend over the last five seasons.

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers went on record to complain about his side’s poor transfer window following their loss to Manchester United on Thursday night. A net of barely £35m since 2018/19 for the Foxes perhaps sums up his frustration.

Burning through a staggering £145.76m over the summer, Nottingham Forest could well find themselves higher than 13th on this list if their crazy spending continues in January.