The Premier League deal for 2025-29 was worth £6.7 billion. Have the huge amounts of money paid to all the top teams made the league more competitive, and how have they used it so far?
Summer 2025 fee
There was no clear pattern of mid-table clubs spending more, compared to the traditional big sides.
Fulham spent 44.5 million euros, which is a small sum in the Premier League. Kevin from Shakhtar was their biggest purchase for 40 million euros.
Crystal Palace won the FA Cup and finished one place behind Fulham in 12th place. They spent 55.3 million euros, most of that on Jeremy Pino.
Bournemouth spent €138.1m, with Bafode Diakite their most expensive signing at €35m. Their €15 million for Veljko Milosavljevic, a youth center bought with a view to the coming seasons, highlighted how much the Premier League has grown. (It was only six seasons ago that title-chasing Manchester United signed Dan James for the same fee to compete for a place in the starting 11. In the same season, Newcastle signed Allan Saint-Maximin for the same fee.)
These new players are playing to bigger audiences than ever before, in large part because the UK is televising more games. Sky Sports and TNT Sports share an average of seven games each weekend, with a typical game week having a traditional 3pm kick-off. The 3pm Saturday games are the only ones not allowed to be shown on home television, with the UK being the last country in Europe to still use the “3pm blackout”.
This rule does not apply to overseas fans in countries such as the United States, where football fans tend to watch 3pm games on channels such as NBC. If they are going to the UK, however, they should use a tool like this ExpressVPN to access their subscription.
The Premier League and EFL are reportedly in talks to end it 3pm closed. The contracts don’t expire until 2029 so any changes are possible from the 2029-30 season. In the meantime Premier League rights shrouded in uncertainty as Netflix attempts to buy Warner Bros. Pictures, Television, and Sports, along with DC Studios, HBO, and TNT Sports. The latter being part of the Warner Bros Discovery umbrella of companies means that if the Netflix sale goes through, Premier League fans will likely be able to watch games on Netflix.
The top six
Of the big clubs, Liverpool have been spending big in the summer. €482.9m went to stars including Alexander Isak (€145m), Florian Wirtz (€125m), and Hugo Ekitike (€95m). They spent €46.9 million on Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, meaning the latter’s spending was not as bad as it could have been (“only” €100.31m).
Chelsea had a normal operating window, spending €339.15m and bringing in €332.25m. Joao Pedro, another signing from Brighton and Hove Albion, was their biggest purchase for €63.7m.
Arsenal finished second last season and were the biggest spenders of the summer, with Martin Zubimendi (€70m), Eberechi Eze (€69.3m), Viktor Gyokeres (€66.9m), Noni Madueke (€56m), Christhian Mosquera (€15m), and Christian Norgaard (€11.6m) all arriving in the same window.
Aston Villa finished 6th last season but made a summer turnover of €24.65m, with their key signing being Evan Guessand from Nice (€30m). They sold Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle for €45 million.
Manchester United, a traditional “big six” team, finished 15th last season and tried to repair the damage with a total of 250.7 million euros. It’s not enough for Ruben Amorim to keep his job but interim manager Michael Carrick could benefit from having Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbuemo, and Matheus Cunha to choose from, each costing more than €70m.
Is the Premier League more competitive?
Spending doesn’t always match results in the Premier League, and this season is no exception. Bournemouth got off to a good start but then went into a dramatic slump and looked on the verge of collapse for most of the season. Arsenal could be very happy with how their new signings have paid off: Zubimendi has made a solid midfielder even better, Eze has given them more options and still has room to grow at 27, and while Gyokeres (also 27) has not had a great start, Mikel Arteta has repeatedly said that the striker will find his feet.
Despite the dismissal of Amorim, United looks like they can climb to the top five and possibly qualify for the Champions League this season. While it won’t be as passionate as Fulham or Bournemouth against Real Madrid and co, it will suggest that TV money helps teams stay competitive even after major setbacks.
