At Manchester United’s last game against Burnley at Turf Moore fans decided to fly a plane banner over the stadium with the words “Ed Woodward out!”. The Manchester United executive vice-chairman has been heavily criticized for his inability to support and get the targets Jose Mourinhio desired.
“He had to get him Maguire, he had to get him Alderweireld because they wouldn’t have made those mistakes, and irrespective of the manager of Manchester United, they need new centre backs………My view is that Alderweireld and Maguire would have been good options. If it cost £120million to bring them in then that’s what you have to do when you are backing Jose Mourinho. You back him.”- Gary Neville
United legend Gary Neville has also expressed disappointment with the lack of support the club showed their manager in the summer. Because of this, fans’ frustration has moved away from the manager and towards the club executive board. In United’s last two matches Mourinho was even applauded by the Red Devils fans who are becoming more sympathetic to the manager with each game.
Let’s have a look at the 6 Premier League clubs that spent more than United’s €83 million this summer.
1 Everton- €100 million
Marco Silva brought in 3 Barcelona players and poached Richarlison from his former employers, Watford.
Signings:
Richarlison(Watford)- €39 million
Yerry Mina(Barcelona)-€30 million
Lucas Digne(Barcelona)-€21 million
Kurt Zouma(Chelsea)-Loan fee €8 million
Andre Gomes(Barcelona)-Loan fee €2million
Bernard(Shakhtar Donetsk)- Free
Total: €100 million
2 West Ham- €105 million
West Ham broke their transfer record twice this summer. Brazilian Olympic gold medalist Felipe Anderson left Lazio to become part of the Irons squad.
Signings:
Andriy Yarmolenko(Dortmund)- €20 million
Lukasz Fabianski(Swansea)-€8 million
Carlos Sanchez(Fiorentina)-€5 million
Lucas Perez(Arsenal)- €5 million
Fabian Balbuena(Corinthians)-€4 million
Ryan Fredericks(Fulham)- Free
Jack Wilshere(Arsenal)- Free
Total: €105 million
3 Fulham F.C.- € 109 million
The newly promoted London club managed to bring Serbian international Aleksandar Mitrović to the club permanently and somehow sign the previously Barcelona linked Jean Michaël Seri from Nice.
Signings:
Jean Michaël Seri(Nice)- €30 million
Alexsandar Mitrovic(Newcastle)- €20 million
Alfie Mawson(Swansea)- €17 million
Joe Bryan(Bristol City)- €7 million
Fabri(Besiktas)- €6 million
Maxime Le Marchand(Nice)- €4 million
Andre Schurrle(Dortmund)- Loan fee €400 thousand
Sergio Rico(Sevilla)- Loan
Tim Fosu-Mensah(Manchester United)- Loan
Calum Chambers(Arsenal)- Loan
Luciano Vietto(Atletico Madrid)- Loan
Total: €109 million
4 Leicester City- € 115 million
The Foxes spent big as they try to replace the prolific Riyad Mahrez who left the club for Manchester City this summer.
Signings:
Caglar Soyuncu(Freiburg)- €21 million
Felip Benkovic(Dinamo Zagreb)- €15 million
Rachid Ghezzal(Bristol City)- €14 million
Danny Ward(Liverpool)- €14 million
Jonny Evans(West Brom)- €4 million
Total: €115 million
5 Chelsea – € 137 million
Chelsea now owns the most expensive goalkeeper of all-time in Kepa Arrizabalaga. Sarri also convinced Italian international Jorginho to re-join him in West London.
Signings:
Jorginho(Napoli)- €57 million
Robert Green(Huddersfield)- Free
Mateo Kovacic(Real Madrid)- Loan
Total: €137 million
6 Liverpool- € 187 million
Jürgen Klopp, once critical of big spending managers, became one himself, as he and Liverpool spent over two times as much as Manchester United this summer.
Signings:
Alisson(Roma)- €67 million
Naby Keita(RB Leipzig)- €60 million
Fabinho(Monaco)- €45 million
Xherdan Shaqiri(Stoke)- €15 million
Total: €187 million