This summer, 35% of transfers involving a fee have taken place between Premier League teams, up from 30% last year.
The proportion rises to 44% when deals involving players signed by Premier League sides from clubs in the lower tiers of English football are included.
Meanwhile, the Premier League’s net expenditure during this window remains above £1bn, comfortably the highest total in Europe, even though the English top flight has also accounted for several of the summer’s largest sales. In contrast, clubs in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have earned more from transfers than they have paid out.
Apart from France-based pair Barcola and Bouaddi, most of the notable additions made by Premier League teams this month have arrived from other clubs in the division.
Among them are England colleagues Rogers and Anderson, while Newcastle transferred Tonali to Spurs and Guimaraes to Arsenal.
After pursuing him for a year, Manchester United brought in Baleba from Brighton as part of their midfield rebuild. Tottenham’s acquisitions of Fernandes and Savio follow a similar pattern.
So why are English teams increasingly recruiting from one another this summer rather than completing their biggest transfers overseas?
One possible explanation is the appeal of signing players who have already demonstrated their ability in the Premier League.
A number of expensive arrivals last season, including many recruited from the Bundesliga, did not perform as expected or prove worthy of their substantial fees.
Some transactions this summer have also seen the same clubs exchange players, potentially for financial reporting reasons, as demonstrated by the business conducted between Chelsea and Villa.
There is also a belief that overseas clubs raise their asking prices whenever wealthy English teams, supported by significant television revenue, express interest in their players.
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