Premier League clubs have invested more than £3.4bn in players this summer, an increase of 11.9% on last year. There are three aspects of this enormous spending worthy of closer scrutiny. Premier League clubs are spending less on players in the peak 24-27 age band even though those players are increasingly the core of their selections.
As recently as 2021-22, 40% of minutes were taken by players at least 28 years old at the start of the season. That proportion has dropped each year, reaching 26.6% in 2025-26. The reliance on veterans has declined.
The bulk of their lost minutes went to players aged between 24 and 27, which is now the dominant age band. The spend on that key demographic has fallen by 23% since last summer, though. Without Manchester City signing the 25-year-old Enzo Fernández for a British transfer record-equalling £125m shortly before the window closed, the drop would have been even greater.
Younger players account for some of the shortfall but a surprisingly high slice of it has gone towards older footballers. The Premier League has invested £323.3m in players aged at least 28, only around £50m shy of the outlay on this age range in the previous three summers combined (£370.5m). Their proportion of the total has not been as high for four years.
How much this increased spending on veterans affects the playing time figures depends in part on the selection decisions of Mikel Arteta. Arsenal signed two 28-year-olds for a combined £126m: Bruno Guimarães (£75m) and Ezri Konsa (£51m). Transfermarkt considers them to be the most expensive central midfielder and centre-back respectively aged over 27 in history.
The three most expensive Premier League signings of the summer before Fernández, Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson and Bradley Barcola, were 23 when their deals were completed. With only slightly less spent collectively on footballers who are 22, clubs have gone hard for players on the verge of entering their peak years rather than those in them. Perhaps the most notable aspect of transfer spending this summer is how much of it has remained within English football.
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