Summer transfer window 2023 biggest spenders: Chelsea blow everybody else out of the water

Chelsea were far and away the biggest spenders across Europe, but Tottenham moved into third ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal.
Here are the 10 clubs who have spent the most money on new recruits so far this summer. For consistency, for the most part, we’ve used fees and figures from transfermarkt.
1) Chelsea – £397.2m (€464.1m)
Biggest purchase: Moises Caicedo (from Brighton, £100m plus £15m add-ons)
Now we wait to see if there is method behind Chelsea’s madness this summer. They have recouped a decent amount but the signing of Cole Palmer on deadline day took Todd Boehly’s spending beyond the £1billion mark since he took ownership of the club. Which is obviously mental.
2) Paris Saint-Germain – £299.2m (€349.5m)
Biggest purchase: Randal Kolo Munai (from Eintracht Frankfurt, £81.3m)
The largest wage packet of any PSG summer signing has probably gone to either of the free agents in Marco Asensio and Milan Skriniar, but the French giants have otherwise made fee-worthy additions in every position aside from goalkeeper, adding Bradley Barcola and Kolo Muani in the final days.
3) Tottenham – £212.8m (€248.6m)
Biggest purchase: Brennan Johnson (from Nottingham Forest, £47.5m)
Tottenham had to cough up for a few pre-arranged deals involving Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro before they got to work on a summer that seems to have gone quite swimmingly for Daniel Levy, despite the loss of Harry Kane. Micky van de Ven’s fee could eclipse the £40million paid for James Maddison, but the Johnson deal on deadline became Levy’s most lavish purchase of the window.
4) Manchester City – £206.32m (€241.1m)
Biggest purchase: Josko Gvardiol (from RB Leipzig, £77.1m)
The purchase of Jeremy Doku from Rennes and then Matheus Nunes from Wolves , following the arrivals of Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic, saw the Treble winners edge past Arsenal into third place before Spurs thundered past them both in the last hour of the window.
5) Arsenal – £201.2m (€234.9m)
Biggest purchase: Declan Rice (from West Ham, £100m plus £5m add-ons)
Arsenal soared to the summit of this list by smashing their transfer record for Rice after signing up Kai Havertz from Chelsea and Jurrien Timber from Ajax. Then they sat back at watched while City, Spurs, PSG and Chelsea caught up and eventually outspent them.
6) Manchester United – £176.9m (€206.7m)
Biggest purchase: Rasmus Hojlund (from Atalanta, £64m plus £8m add-ons)
Three huge signings for the Red Devils, supplemented by a couple of loans and another keeper who could be bargain. A successful window? We’re really not sure.
7) Liverpool – £147.2m (€172m)
Biggest purchase: Dominik Szoboszlai (from RB Leipzig, £60m)
Liverpool regained their place in the top 10 by spending £38.5million on Ryan Gravenberch on the final day of the window. The Reds could recoup all of their summer spend – and a lot more – by selling Mo Salah to Al-Ittihad in the next week.
8) Bayern Munich – £132.9m (€155m)
Biggest purchase: Harry Kane (from Tottenham, £86m)
After doing their usual scan of Bundesliga talent but finding only free transfers in Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro, Bayern have had to look further afield for two signings they hope can finally win them the German title. And Daniel Peretz is here from Maccabi Tel Aviv to help warm Manuel Neuer’s seat. But deadline day was a certified disaster for Bayern after Fulham refused to rubber stamp their deal for Joao Palhinha that would have taken them into the top five.
9) Newcastle – £131.8m (€153.2m)
Biggest purchase: Sandro Tonali (from AC Milan, £52m)
The sale of Allan Saint-Maximin really did unlock everything for Newcastle, who signed Tonali and Harvey Barnes before bidding a weirdly sad farewell to the winger, with Tino Livramento joining thereafter, all for fees far upwards of £30m.
10) RB Leipzig – £130.62m (€152.5m)
Biggest purchase: Lois Openda (from Lens, £36.9m)
With all that money burning a hole in their pocket from the sales of Dominik Szoboszlai and Christopher Nkunku among others, Leipzig splurged to smash their club record to sign Openda. They are still in profit and the Germans have kept much of their cash in the family, sending £37.5million to Salzburg for Benjamin Sesko and Nicolas Seiwald. Castello Lukeba is the man they have chosen to replace Josko Gvardiol for not much over a third of the price of that Manchester City sale.
Read next: Top 10 biggest-earning clubs in the 2023 summer transfer window