So it ends with a flurry of sorts and, above all, a return to normality. On a deadline day that became more about departures than arrivals for London’s clubs, spiced up by Pierre Emerick Aubameyang's premature arrival in Barcelona, the estimated £295million in spending brought top-flight clubs back to the expected level.
Should that put an end to talk of Covid-19 threatening to burst the bubble? For the Premier League, yes. For the rest of the game, clearly not and the squeeze has remained evident around Europe, with a majority of the continent’s big clubs cutting cloth without such broadcasting riches to prop them up.
According to the BBC, France, Germany, Italy and Spain combined spent £317million. The contrast with the EFL is stark, too, with about £20million paid in fees across the 72 clubs.
