It was a frantic end to the summer transfer window for Chelsea as they managed to bring in two new faces on deadline day, while there were also a couple of notable exits from the club.
Chelsea had already been active during the transfer window, bringing in Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella for big money, but they were also able to add both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria to their ranks on Thursday.
Gabon international Aubameyang has signed a two-year contract and returns to the Premier League after a short spell with Barcelona, where he scored 11 goals in 18 La Liga appearances since joining from Arsenal in January this year.
The Blues (40/1 – Premier League 2022-23 Outright) also managed to bring in Swiss midfielder Zakaria on loan from Juventus for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign, with an option of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
Chelsea also confirmed the exit of defender Marcos Alonso, who has left by mutual consent after six years at Stamford Bridge, while midfielder Billy Gilmour has joined Brighton permanently in a deal worth around £10million.
Liverpool (11/2 – Premier League 2022-23 Outright) also made a late addition to their squad with the acquisition of midfielder Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus until the end of the campaign. A total of 4.5m euros were paid in loan fee, while there is the option to make the move permanent for 37.5m euros at the end of the temporary spell.
Nottingham Forest’s (Evens – To be relegated) summer spree continued as they added three more faces to their squad on deadline day, bringing the total number of signings in the transfer window to 21 – a British record for most signings in a single window.
Defensive duo Willy Boly and Loic Bade arrived from Wolves and Rennes respectively, the former joining permanently and the latter on loan, while winger Josh Bowler made the switch from Blackpool and will spend the rest of the campaign on loan with Olympiacos.
Aston Villa held off the advances of Arsenal to keep hold of midfielder Douglas Luiz, reportedly turning down a £25m bid, while Steven Gerrard managed to bring in Leander Dendoncker from Wolves on a permanent deal and Southampton defender Jan Bednarek on loan until the end of the season.
It was also a positive end to the window for Manchester United, who finally managed to bring in Antony from Ajax, before also confirming the loan signing of Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Defending champions Manchester City (1/3 – Premier League 2022-23 Outright) added Switzerland international defender Manuel Akanji to their ranks, paying a reported fee of £15 million for his services.
It turned out to be a record-breaking summer window in terms of Premier League spending with £1.9bn spent – smashing the previous record of £1.4bn in 2017.
