Spending by Premier League club has exceeded £1bn for the first time, which has meant 13 out of the 20 teams in the top-flight have broken their transfer records: Manchester United: Paul Pogba (£93.25m) Liverpool: Sadio Mane (£36m) Crystal Palace: Christian Benteke (£32m) West Ham: Andre Ayew (£20.5m) Leicester: Ahmed Musa (£16m) Southampton: Sofiane Boufal (£16m) Swansea: Borja Baston (£15.5m) Bournemouth: Jordon Ibe (£15m) Sunderland: Didier N'Dong (£13.6m) Hull: Ryan Mason (£13m) West Brom: Nacer Chadli (£13m) Watford: Roberto Pereyra (£13m) Burnley: Jeff Hendrick (£10.5m)
Barcelona goalkeeper moves to Etihad Stadium on a four-year deal
Manchester City have announced the signing of Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
The 33-year-old has agreed a four-year deal to move to the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola's ninth recruit of the transfer window.
Having bolstered their midfield and attacking options with the
acquisitions of Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Aaron Mooy,
Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Marlos Moreno, Bravo joins John Stones as
part of Man City's rearguard for 2016/17.
“I’m very proud to be joining Manchester City," he said in an interview with mancity.com. "I know the Club is building something very special and I hope I can be part of many successes in the coming years."
Chile's most-capped international with 106 appearances to his name,
ahead of Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez (101), Bravo moves to the Premier
League after two seasons with Guardiola's former club Barcelona.
During his time at Barcelona he won back-to-back La Liga and Copa del Rey titles, as well as winning the UEFA Champions League.
This summer he starred as his country retained the Copa America,
saving a penalty in a shootout victory over Argentina in the final.
He will be hoping to feature for the first time in a City shirt on Sunday when West Ham United visit the Etihad Stadium.
Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez has ended speculation about his
immediate future by signing a new four-year contract with the English
Premier League champions.
“Leicester City Football Club is delighted to announce that Riyad
Mahrez has signed a new contract, committing his future to the Foxes
until June, 2020,” said a statement issued by the Midlands club on
Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Algeria winger was a key figure in Leicester’s shock
run to the 2015/16 title, which saw the Foxes defy odds of 5,000/1,
scoring 17 goals and being responsible for a further 11 assists.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has
expressed “regret and guilt” at his side’s failure to beat shock
champions Leicester City to last season’s Premier League title.
Wenger’s side finished runners-up, 10 points adrift of Leicester, who were 5,000/1 outsiders for the title at one stage.
For many fans of Arsenal, it was yet
another missed opportunity under Wenger, who last guided the north
London side to the Premier League crown back in 2004.
Now the veteran French manager expects
the new season, which gets underway this weekend, to be one of the most
competitive ever, with English football’s top flight playing host to a
“world championship of managers” in Jose Mourinho (Manchester United),
Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Antonio Conte (Chelsea) and Jurgen
Klopp (Liverpool).
“Who expected Leicester to be champion last season? Nobody,” Wenger told Sky Sports on Wednesday.
“So you would say today to take into account seven or eight teams who can win it.
“There is always a surprising team, and
then you have six or seven big clubs who have the ambition to win it,”
added Wenger, in charge of Arsenal since 1996.
“All the big clubs experienced last
season a regret and a feeling of guilt but that would take something
away from Leicester, who had an exceptional season.
“When you lose only three games in a season in a difficult league like that, you are a fantastic champion.
“(There is) guilt because you would not
have predicted Leicester win the league, so all the other teams would
say ‘We should have come in front of Leicester’.
“You would understand you could lose
against City, United, Liverpool or Tottenham — not Tottenham! (he joked
in a reference to Arsenal’s arch local rivals) — the other big clubs,
but you should beat Leicester.
“But they had an exceptional season and you have to congratulate them.”
Looking ahead, Wenger added: “It’s a
very exciting season, there are so many ambitions out there. It’s a
little bit of a world championship of managers.
“Let’s not be naive, the economic power
of the Premier League attracts the best players and the best managers.
If you want quality people, you have to pay the amount of money.
“Today the Premier League is the most powerful as well as the most attractive and maybe the most popular in the world.
“Every manager thinks today, ‘If I want to be recognised as a top manager, I have to go through the Premier League’.”
