London: A record $1.3 billion was spent by English Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window.
But the most intriguing moments at the end of the frenzied trading period centered on the deals that never went through and the public quarrels between clubs. This season — or until the January transfer window at least — some potentially unhappy players will be in teams they hoped to be leaving behind. None more so perhaps than Spain goalkeeper David de Gea.
BIG SPENDERS
The most fraught transfer of the summer initially looked like being Manchester City's pursuit of Raheem Sterling, but a $76 million-deal was sealed with Liverpool in July. City still found time to break its transfer record by recruiting Kevin de Bruyne from Wolfsburg for $83 million. In its bid to regain the title from Chelsea, the Abu-Dhabi-owned club lavished 160 million pounds ($245 million) in the summer, a record for a Premier League club, according to accountancy firm Deloitte. England's four Champions League participants — Manchester rivals United and City, Chelsea and Arsenal — spent around $520 million in the summer. But Arsenal only accounted for 3 percent of that with goalkeeper Petr Cech being the London club's solitary signing.