Rating every Premier League club's record signing - from Liverpool, Southampton and Aston Villa masterstrokes to Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs flops

Gross spending this summer hit £1.92billion, surpassing the record of £1.86bn for the summer and January windows combined in the 2017-18 season.

Chelsea, under their new ownership group headed by Todd Boehly, spent £255.3m on the likes of Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.

That was £53.3m more than the next biggest spenders – Manchester United with £202m as Antony, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez all featured in their top 10 most expensive signings of all time.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Newcastle Alexander Isak and West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta were further £50m-plus arrivals – though City were one of five clubs to make a net profit in the window.

With the trading halted until January, we have rated every club’s record signing based on their price tag and performances...

Arsenal - Nicolas Pepe, £72m

Joining the Gunners in 2019, Pepe made 80 appearances and scored 16 goals following his big-money switch from Lille. The 27-year-old left the club this summer as he moved to Nice on loan, where he has scored one goal in four appearances in Ligue 1.

Rating – 5/10.

Aston Villa - Emiliano Buendia, £35m

After scoring 24 goals and providing 42 assists in 121 games for Norwich City, the 25-year-old from Argentina joined Villa last summer after Jack Grealish had made his £100m move to Man City. He scored four goals and claimed six assists in 35 Premier League games in his first season at Villa Park.

Rating – 7/10

Bournemouth - Jefferson Lerma, £25m

The midfielder made the move to the south coast in August 2018 as he joined the Cherries from Levante. He has gone on to make over 150 appearances for the club, scoring eight times while also notching eight assists.

Rating – 7/10

Brentford - Keane Lewis-Potter, £17m

The former Hull City man became the Bees record signing as he joined this summer. Since his arrival he has featured five times for the club and started in their most recent win over Leeds. He provided the assist as Thomas Frank’s side drew 1-1 at Goodison Park at the end of August.

Rating – N/A

Brighton - Enock Mwepu, £20m

Another player who has come off the production line at the Red Bull clubs, Mwepu joined the Seagulls from RB Salzburg last summer. Injury problems limited him to 18 appearances last season as he had seven goal contributions from central midfield. He has been involved in all of Brighton’s Premier League fixtures this season.

Rating – 6/10

Chelsea - Romelu Lukaku, £97m

After scoring 24 goals and adding another 10 assists as he helped Inter Milan win Serie A in 2021, the Belgian returned to Chelsea with great expectations last summer. He scored on his debut as the Blues beat Arsenal 3-0 and scored twice more against Aston Villa in his third appearance since returning to Chelsea. However, he would only score five more times before returning to Inter on loan.

Rating – 4/10

Crystal Palace - Christian Benteke, £27m

The Belgian joined Palace from Liverpool in the summer of 2016 after a miserable spell at Anfield, where he failed to live up to his £35m price tag. He scored 37 goals in 177 games for Palace before departing for DC United last month.

Rating – 4/10

Everton - Gylfi Sigurdsson, £45m

The ex-Iceland international left Everton after not making an appearance for the club last season. He cost the Toffees almost £50m when he joined from Swansea in August 2017.

Rating – 5/10

Fulham - Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa, £27m

The 26-year-old from Cameroon joined Fulham from Marseille in 2018 but spent much of his time at the club out on loan with Villarreal and Napoli. He is now officially a Napoli player after a £13m move in July. He made just 66 appearances for Fulham in his four years with the club.

Rating – 4/10

Leeds United - Rodrigo, £27m

The Spanish international arrived at Elland Road from Valencia in the summer of 2020. He has so far made 68 appearances, scoring 17 goals and providing 18 assists. The 31-year-old is a player reinvigorated this season, scoring four goals in five games.

Rating – 6/10

Leicester City - Youri Tielemans, £40m

The Belgian arrived at the King Power Stadium from Monaco in July 2019. He scored the winning goal in the 2021 FA Cup final as his stunning strike won the trophy for Leicester at the expense of Chelsea.

Rating – 7/10

Liverpool – Virgil Van Dijk, £75m

The defender joined the Reds from Southampton on January 1, 2018. He has gone on to win every major trophy available at club level and made 189 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 17 goals and claiming 11 assists from defence. Darwin Nunez could usurp the Dutchman as Liverpool’s record signing after joining for around £67m in the summer but his fee could rise to £85m if all add-ons are met.

Rating – 9/10

Manchester City - Jack Grealish, £100m

The England international broke the Premier League transfer record when he joined City from Aston Villa last summer. He has so far struggled to live up to the price tag, scoring six goals and adding four assists in 43 games.

Rating – 5/10

Manchester United - Paul Pogba, £89m

The 2018 World Cup winner joined Juventus on a free transfer in the summer, after initially leaving the Serie A club for Old Trafford in 2016. He struggled for consistency at Man United, making 233 appearances, scoring 39 goals and claiming 54 assists.

Rating – 5/10

Newcastle United - Alexander Isak, £59m

The Swedish international became the Magpies’ record signing as he arrived at St James Park from Real Sociedad last month. He gave Newcastle fans a glimpse of what he can deliver, scoring on his debut at Anfield while having a second goal in the same game ruled out for a narrow offside.

Rating – N/A

Nottingham Forest - Morgan Gibbs-White, £25m

Forest were another club who broke their transfer record this summer as they agreed a deal to sign Gibbs-White from Wolves. The 22-year-old enjoyed a fine season on loan at Sheffield United last year, scoring 12 goals and providing 10 assists in 37 games as the Blades reached the Championship play-offs.

Rating – N/A

Southampton - Danny Ings, £22m

The striker joined the Saints from Liverpool in 2019 after spending a year on loan at St Mary’s. He struggled with injury at Anfield as he made just 25 appearances. He scored 46 goals in 100 games for Southampton before joining Aston Villa last summer.

Rating – 8/10

Tottenham Hotspur - Tanguy Ndombele, £59m

After arriving in north London for a big fee from Lyon, Ndombele was unable to establish himself at the club. He returned to Lyon on loan after two-and-a-half seasons, who did not take up their option to buy the player. He is now on a season-long loan at Napoli.

Rating – 4/10

West Ham United - Lucas Paqueta, £51m

The Hammers broke their transfer record in the summer to sign Brazilian midfielder Paqueta from Lyon, who was also attracting interest from Premier League rivals.

Rating – N/A

Wolves – Matheus Nunes, £38m

After being linked to Liverpool and Man City, Wolves made their move for Nunes as he joined the club for a club record fee from Sporting Lisbon.

Rating – N/A