Lukaku raises his arms aloft in front of the Old Trafford stands as Paul Pogba runs to celebrate with his new team-mate.
LONDON, United Kingdom, Sep 1 – The transfer window closed on Thursday with Premier League clubs having spent over Sh159bn (£1.2bn) on new players. AFP Sport lists the 10 biggest deals:
Romelu Lukaku
– Everton to Manchester United; £75 million*
After four increasingly prolific seasons at Everton, Belgium striker Lukaku was reunited with his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
Signed to replace the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the 24-year-old has made an impressive start to life at Old Trafford, scoring four goals in his first four appearances.
Alvaro Morata
– Real Madrid (ESP) to Chelsea; £58 million*
With Diego Costa having been frozen out by manager Antonio Conte, Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign 24-year-old Spain striker Morata.
He made an inauspicious start to his Chelsea career by squandering his spot-kick in a Community Shield penalty shootout loss to Arsenal, but scored in his first two league home games.
Benjamin Mendy
– Monaco (FRA) to Manchester City; £52 million*
Saddled with an ageing group of full-backs, Pep Guardiola found it difficult to play the kind of thrusting football he loves in his maiden campaign as Manchester City manager.
He took remedial action during the close season, most notably forking out £52 million to make France left-back Mendy the game’s most expensive defender.
Naby Keita
– RB Leipzig (GER) to Liverpool; £48 million*
Liverpool smashed their transfer record to sign highly regarded Guinea midfielder Naby Keita from RB Leipzig, but he will not arrive until next year.
Liverpool are believed to have paid Keita’s £48 million release clause, as well as an additional premium.
Alexandre Lacazette
– Lyon (FRA) to Arsenal; £46.5 million rising to £52.6 million*
France striker Lacazette had been poised to join Atletico Madrid, only for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold a transfer ban against the Spanish club.
Arsenal stepped in, breaking their transfer record to sign the 26-year-old, who needed less than two minutes to find the net on his league debut against Leicester City.
Kyle Walker
– Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City; £45 million rising to £50 million*
The second of Manchester City’s three new full-backs (the other being Brazilian Danilo), Walker arrived from Spurs after Dani Alves opted to join Paris Saint-Germain over rejoining forces with Guardiola.
England’s first-choice number two, Walker had a home debut to forget as he was sent off in City’s 1-1 draw with Everton.
Bernardo Silva
– Monaco (FRA) to Manchester City; £43 million*
Portuguese playmaker Silva pitched up at City after his 11 goals and 12 assists inspired Monaco to Ligue 1 glory and a place in the Champions League semi-finals.
The 23-year-old is expected to line up on the right flank for City, as he did at Monaco, but is likely to have been earmarked as the long-term successor to his namesake David Silva.
Tiemoue Bakayoko
– Monaco (FRA) to Chelsea; £40 million*
The third player to have left Monaco for England, France midfielder Bakayoko will make Chelsea’s midfield an even more intimidating prospect.
Tall and technically accomplished, the former Rennes player will provide a redoubtable physical presence alongside the buzzing N’Golo Kante.
Nemanja Matic
– Chelsea to Manchester United; £40 million*
Deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea following Bakayoko’s arrival, Matic moved to United to link up with Mourinho, who previously brought him back to Chelsea from Benfica in 2014.
A stylish but steely holding midfielder, the 29-year-old Serbia international has already proved a useful counterweight for the forward runs of last year’s star signing, Paul Pogba.
Ederson
– Benfica (POR) to Manchester City; £35 million*
The goalkeeping situation gave Guardiola constant problems during his first season at the Etihad Stadium, with Claudio Bravo proving an inadequate replacement for Joe Hart, who was loaned out to Torino.
Guardiola moved to remedy the problem by signing 24-year-old Brazilian Ederson, who became the world’s second most expensive goalkeeper after Gianluigi Buffon.
