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.