There is Arsenal panic over Viktor Gyokeres and Liverpool irritation at miserly owners refusing to pay out for Alexander Isak, but these deals are done late.
That is, of course, an entirely facetious outlook: both Arsenal and Liverpool supporters are renowned for their patience and understanding when it comes to such things as transfers, underground conspiracies designed specifically to hold back their clubs from the otherwise total global domination they would be able to impose if Stockley Park and FIFA didn’t exist, and generally any other mild to negligible setback in day-to-day life.
Arsenal approaching this summer with a calm focus, securing a fine back-up keeper, putting in place a £51m deal for a wonderful midfielder well in advance, cutting through the noise to choose between two centre-forward targets instead of rushing into increasingly expensive negotiations and engaging on other potential options has been received well by fans willing to name their first-borns David Ornstein.
Liverpool owners FSG slightly undermined accusations of parsimony by orchestrating the biggest single-window transfer spend in the club’s entire history before June was over, including a potential British record deal, with the promise of more to come.
But even so, the lack of Isak immediately renders their Premier League title defence an unmitigated disaster.
There are substantial signings in the works elsewhere – your Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United, your Antony Elanga to Newcastle, the teenage South American wide forward or Brighton player to Chelsea – but often lost among the rumours is the fact that the more expensive deals are typically done late.
It makes perfect sense: the bigger transfers in terms of cost can be more delicate to structure properly, with both clubs involved but also any intermediaries trying to secure the best possible deal for themselves. These talks take time and cannot really be rushed.
Only one of the 15 most expensive summer signings in Premier League history was completed before mid-July – and that was Liverpool’s capture of Florian Wirtz a couple of weeks ago.
It is even quite rare that they are agreed in July; these deals are almost as often sorted as late as September, but are normally done around August.
There was a slight Club World Cup-shaped caveat this summer with the advent of a second transfer window making this a uniquely protracted period for player trading, but Wirtz was a stark exception to the rule that the biggest signings take the longest time and provide the largest obstacles to overcome.
When were the biggest summer signings in Premier League history made?
Florian Wirtz to Liverpool (£100m rising to £116m) – June 20
Liverpool sought permission to speak to Wirtz in March. The German told Leverkusen of his desire to leave in May. Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid had been meticulously removed from the equation well before his smooth signing in June.
Moises Caicedo to Chelsea (£100m rising to £115m) – August 14
This hold-up was almost entirely down to Chelsea deciding to engage in a game of poker with actual professional player Tony Bloom, nicknamed The Lizard for his cold-bloodedness.
It was a bold and ultimately costly strategy. Chelsea waited so long to bid a measly and immediately rejected £80m that Liverpool barged in with a panicked £111m offer of their own, which Brighton inevitably accepted.
Caicedo rejected that move but Chelsea still had to pay a premium as a way of apologising for their foolishness.
Declan Rice to Arsenal – (£100m rising to £105m) – July 15
Arsenal had put the moves on Rice long before he officially joined them, but West Ham engaged in a spot of mischief to bring a new phrase hurtling into the wider football lexicon: ‘payment structure’.
The Gunners played it perfectly, circumventing Manchester City interest with a couple of low-balled offers before meeting the Hammers’ demands of three payments over 24 months.
Jack Grealish to Manchester City (£100m) – August 5
Even when the requisite fee is specifically outlined by a release clause, elite-level shenanigans can delay an agreement. Manchester City were not aware any such clause existed, which Villa used to either try and extract more money or strengthen their own bargaining position when signing Grealish’s replacements, which included one gloriously unexpected deal.
Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea (£97.5m) – August 12
The most glaringly unfinished business in Premier League history dragged Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in summer 2021 but it required five bids and Chelsea’s reluctant acceptance that Erling Haaland was out of reach to push his return through.
“I only realised that Chelsea were serious when they made their third offer,” Lukaku said before things almost immediately went to sh*t again. Neither party will make that mistake again.
Paul Pogba to Manchester United (£93.3m) – August 9
There were plenty of loose ends for Pogba to tie up back at Old Trafford, too. Once Real Madrid pulled out of the race over financial concerns and the Euros were in the rear-view mirror, it became clear that his world-record switch would be to Manchester United.
But it still took a while to sort, presumably because Stormzy was double-booked.
Antony to Manchester United (£82m) – September 1
Manchester United initially valued Antony at ‘around £25m’ so inevitably paid £60m more when Ajax, in the words of chief executive at the time Edwin van der Sar, “challenged United to go as far as possible” and “the fee got so high”.
Harry Maguire to Manchester United (£80m) – August 5
Pep Guardiola claimed with a straight face that Manchester City “could not afford” the sort of money Leicester were requesting over Maguire, which again left Manchester United with no choice but to hesitate before eventually just paying it.
Josko Gvardiol to Manchester City (£77m) – August 5
Manchester City suddenly could afford the sort of money Leipzig were requesting for Gvardiol exactly four years to the day later. Those must have been some remarkably lucrative sponsorship deals signed in between.
Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United (£75m) – July 10
Having still not learned to completely ignore his advisers when making important decisions on his future, Lukaku made an uncharacteristically quick and uncomplicated move to Manchester United once Old Trafford interest in Alvaro Morata was abandoned.
READ MORE: The most expensive players ever in cumulative transfer fees dominated by Manchester United
Jadon Sancho to Manchester United (£73m) – July 23
Manchester United were relatively nimble in securing Sancho, too. But only after spending the entire summer 2020 transfer window under the hilariously mistaken belief Dortmund would lower their demands.
Sancho became cheaper a year later, although that might not soften the blow of how things have turned out since.
Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal (£72m) – August 1
“I saw 20 Zaha games, some incredible performances and I told them that this is the player that I want for this team. I spoke to Zaha. I had been with him personally. And he wanted to come,” said Unai Emery long after he was sacked by Arsenal.
“But the club decided that Pepe was younger, he was one for the future.” And he prompted a reported internal review into Arsenal’s entire recruitment processes, soon after which head of football Raul Sanllehi – the driving force behind the club-record transfer – left by apparent mutual consent.
Kepa Arrizabalaga to Chelsea (£71.6m) – August 9
The goalkeeper merry-go-round of summer 2018 should never be forgotten.
Thibaut Courtois had made absolutely no attempt whatsoever to disguise his desire to leave Chelsea for Real Madrid, going as far as to refuse to turn up for training after winning the Golden Glove at the World Cup.
Chelsea rather understandably wanted to source a replacement first but took their time wondering whether signing Alisson for £66m was worth it. Liverpool had fewer reservations, perhaps owing to a need to no longer rely on Loris Karius, which left Chelsea with little choice but to make a remarkably expensive mistake.
Kai Havertz to Chelsea (£71m) – September 4
A combination of lockdown and Chelsea exiting a two-window transfer ban meant they had the budget and the impetus to sign one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting young talents, but talks had to be slow and intricate with neither club wishing to give up any ground.
Wesley Fofana to Chelsea (£70m) – August 31
Leicester held firm for months when Chelsea made their interest in Fofana known, with three bids rejected and a world-record fee for a defender – more than £80m – demanded.
Then the Foxes inevitably caved and accepted £70m after the centre-half had to be dropped for a pre-deadline trip to Stamford Bridge as, in the words of Brendan Rodgers, he was “not in the right frame of mind”.
