Chelsea, Man City bolster squads for Club World Cup

The Premier League transfer window has closed after a frenetic 10-day period that saw clubs spend £400 million - just six days before it reopens for a special summer edition.

This year features an unprecedented split transfer window to accommodate the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, which kicks off on Sunday, 15 June (01:00 BST). The second window will open on Monday, 16 June and run until Monday, 1 September at 19:00 BST for Premier League, EFL and Scottish Premiership clubs.

The unique scheduling comes as FIFA regulations mandate that transfer windows cannot exceed 16 weeks in a calendar year.

Premier League Clubs Lead Spending Spree

English top-flight clubs have already outspent their counterparts in Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Saudi Arabia combined with their £400 million outlay. While significant, this figure remains well below last summer's record £2.36 billion spending spree.

Manchester City and Chelsea, the two Premier League representatives at the Club World Cup in the United States, have been particularly active in the market:

• Chelsea lead all clubs with £89.5 million spent on new signings including Liam Delap (£30m), Dario Essugo (£18.5m), and Mamadou Sarr (£12m)
• Manchester City secured Wolves left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri (£31m) and Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki (£30.45m)
• Manchester United made the window's biggest splash with their £62.5 million acquisition of Wolves forward Matheus Cunha

Real Madrid's Defensive Reinforcements

In a surprising move, Real Madrid triggered Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen's £50 million release clause, beating out competition from several Premier League clubs. The Spanish giants also accelerated their long-planned signing of Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold to ensure his availability for the Club World Cup.

With tournament winners potentially earning up to £97 million in prize money, Real's early business moves appear strategically timed.

Other Notable Transfers

• Liverpool replaced Alexander-Arnold with Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong
• Borussia Dortmund continued their tradition of signing Bellinghams, acquiring Jude's younger brother Jobe from Sunderland for £27.8m
• Sunderland broke their transfer record with the £19m signing of Enzo le Fee from Roma

As clubs prepare for the second transfer window opening on June 16, the football world watches to see if this summer's spending will approach last year's record levels.