Story of the transfer window

It was another hectic transfer window with all 20 Premier League clubs seeing players either come in or go out the door.

Manchester United broke the world transfer record and plenty of other clubs smashed their own records as Premier League spending passed the £1billion mark.

Here’s the day-by-day story of how the transfer window played out for the Premier League teams…

May 24

Just a week after the final game of the 2015/16 season, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool were already thinking about the new campaign and they wasted no time in bringing in goalkeeper Loris Karius for £4.7m from German club Mainz to challenge Simon Mignolet.

“I wouldn’t make the move otherwise if I thought I was just going to sit on the bench,” the now 23-year-old said. Unfortunately for him, though, a broken hand in pre-season meant his debut was delayed.

May 25

A day after Liverpool’s first major signing, Arsenal decided to enter the market with a £34m swoop for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka, who would go on to spend the summer playing for Switzerland at Euro 2016.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “Granit is an exciting young player, already with good Champions League and Bundesliga experience. We have been watching him for a long time now and he is a player who will add quality to our squad.”

Newly-promoted Middlesbrough also brought in midfielder Viktor Fischer from Ajax, once linked with Manchester United and Chelsea, for £3.8m.

June 2

A busy summer for new Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola began at the start of June as he recruited Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund for £21m.

The signing was something of a gamble from City as Gundogan was injured at the time and missed the Euros with Germany as a result. The 25-year-old is yet to make his debut for the club and is set to be unavailable for a while longer.

June 8

And just as City completed the first signing of the Guardiola era, Manchester United were at it a few days later with the first deal of Jose Mourinho’s tenure at Old Trafford, bringing in defender Eric Bailly from Villarreal for £30m. 

The 22-year-old Frenchman, who signed a four-year deal with the club, said: “It is a dream come true to be joining Manchester United. To play football at the highest level is all I have ever wanted to do.”

June 23

The transfer window quietened down slightly during the Euros, but that didn’t stop the first major deal between Premier League clubs taking place as Tottenham signed Victor Wanyama on a five-year deal from Southampton for £11m.

“I write to you with a heavy heart to announce that I will be leaving Southampton Football Club. As you can imagine it is very emotional for me to say goodbye to the club that gave me the chance to be the first Kenyan to play in [the] Premier League,” the 25-year-old midfielder said.

June 25

Having lost Wanyama, Southampton, who were also without a manager following the departure of Ronald Koeman to Everton, wasted no time in making their first summer acquisition as Nathan Redmond arrived from relegated Norwich for £11m.

Claude Puel, who would sign arrive to take charge at St Mary’s, later compared the English winger to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. “It is two men with the same possibilities, quick, a good ability in the technical and the run also,” he said. “I see similarities between the two with this ability to shoot with the right foot and to curl the ball.”

June 28 

Southampton are always involved in plenty of ins and outs every summer and 2016 was no different as they waved goodbye to Sadio Mane, the Senegalese winger joining Liverpool for £36m – their record transfer fee.

Mane became the latest in a long line to leave the Saints to join the Anfield club, following Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert who made the same move in previous years.

“Today is a big day and I am very happy to sign for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a club that has won a lot of trophies and has a big history,” he said.

July 1

The first day of July saw plenty of movement across the Premier League and, despite being a free transfer, there were few bigger deals this summer than the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Manchester United.

The Swede joined following the expiration of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain, saying: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my career so far and have some great memories. I am now ready to create more special memories in England.”

Man City also made a move as they signed Nolito from Celta Vigo for £13.8m, while Andros Townsend joined Crystal Palace from Newcastle for £13m.

Watford also got in on the act as they brought in Belgian international defender Christian Kabasele from Genk for £6m, striker Isaac Success from Granada for £12.5m and Jerome Sinclair from Liverpool for £4m.

July 3

Less than 24 hours after being knocked out of the Euros with Italy, Antonio Conte was greenlighting his first signing as Chelsea’s new boss as Michy Batshuayi arrived at Stamford Bridge for £33.2m from Marseille.

Leicester also made a positive acquisition as …

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