Liverpool headlined a thrilling deadline day with two moves that capped off an expensive and, possibly title defining, summer transfer window for the Premier League champions.
The Reds agreed a British record-breaking fee of £125m for Isak who has dominated the transfer window thanks to his refusal to play for Newcastle amid a desire to move to Anfield.
Despite strengthening at the top of the pitch Liverpool were dealt a blow in defence as a £35m move for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi failed to materialise. The two clubs agreed on the fee and Guehi completed a medical only for Palace to withdraw at the 11th hour due to their failure to secure a replacement.
That failure came down to Brighton’s Igor Julio who was set to join the Eagles before switching to West Ham through a last minute deal sheet instead.
A club that did manage to bolster their defensive line was Arsenal who managed to secure an important signing on the final day of the transfer window with Piero Hincapie joining them on loan from Bayer Leverkusen. The Gunners’ announcement labelled him the ‘final piece of the puzzle’ as Arsenal aim to challenge for the Premier League title over the course of the season.
Deadline day was a blistering whirlwind of last-minute deals with Newcastle splashing out £55m to secure the services of Yoane Wissa from Brentford and Tottenham improving their forward options with the season-long loan of PSG’s Randal Kolo Muani.
Nicolas Jackson managed to force his move to Bayern Munich and joins the Bundesliga champions on loan from Chelsea with the deal including an appearance-based obligation to buy.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Manchester United negotiated a move for Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens while Manchester City agreed a £26m fee for Gianluigi Donnarumma as Ederson looks set to head out of the club to join Fenerbahce. Neither of those City deals have been announced as yet.
Aston Villa, limited somewhat by PSR concerns, managed to do two strong loan deals. Jadon Sancho signed for Unai Emery’s men on a season long loan and Harvey Elliott, who wants more first-time football, leaves Liverpool on another loan but with an option for Villa to buy next summer for a fee of £35m.
In further moves, Fulham confirmed the signing of Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin for a club-record deal of £34.6m but Harry Wilson failed to secure a switch to Leeds United. Sunderland will pay up to £21m for Ajax striker Brian Brobbey and Nottingham Forest completed their paperwork in time to sign Dilane Bakwa from Strasbourg.
Premier League teams broke the record spend for a summer transfer window with outgoings hitting £3bn.
