How Sunderland's summer transfer spending actually compares to Premier League rivals - including Leeds United
Sunderland have been impressively active in the transfer window this summer
Much has been made of Sunderland’s spending in the transfer market this summer, and justifiably so.
While many of their newly-promoted predecessors in recent years have attempted to avoid the sucker punch of an immediate return to the Championship on a relative shoestring budget, the Black Cats have come out swinging with a series of big money acquisitions aimed at building a squad capable of not just surviving, but thriving too.
At the time of writing, no fewer than eight new players (or seven and Enzo Le Fée, depending on how you prefer to look at it) have been parachuted into the Stadium of Light, with a loan deal for Chelsea striker Marc Guiu seemingly on the cusp of completion too.
According to the number-crunchers at The Athletic, that octet of deals has taken Sunderland’s total spend thus far to around £121.6 million - a figure eclipsed by just eight clubs across the entirety of Europe: Real Madrid, their city rivals Atletico, and all the members of the Premier League’s traditional Big Six.
Certainly, it is illustrious company that Sunderland find themselves in, and their willingness to fork out hefty sums for in-demand talent is an impressive signifier of the club’s ambitious project. But the truth is that the Black Cats’ spree hasn’t been quite as extravagant as it first appears.
Make no mistake, Sunderland have spent big, and it would be duplicitous to suggest otherwise, but the sales of Jobe Bellingham and Tommy Watson - totalling around £36.5 million, according to The Athletic’s figures - do make a significant dent in their recruitment outlay, and bring their net spend to a more conservative £85.1 million.
That is still the seventh-largest spend in the Premier League this summer, but it is only £18.1 million more than Leeds United have invested at the time of writing, for instance. By comparison, the disparity between the transfer fees that the two newly promoted sides have actually paid out is around £30 million more than that.
All of this is to say that while Sunderland are undoubtedly backing themselves in the market, they are not being as flagrant with their spending as it may first appear, and a large part of the reason that they have been able to start the transfer window at such a blistering pace is because they sold Bellingham and Watson when they did.
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Premier League Net Spend Summer 2025 so far
- Arsenal - Net spend - -£185.7m
- Liverpool - Net spend - -£137.7m
- Manchester United - Net Spend - -£131.5m
- Manchester City - Net spend - -£121.6m
- Tottenham Hotspur - Net Spend - -£115.3m
- Chelsea - Net spend - -£103.5m
- Sunderland - Net spend - -£85.1m
- Leeds United - Net spend - -£67m
- Everton - Net spend - -£47m
- Burnley - Net spend - -£33.7m
- Newcastle United - Net spend - -£30m
- Crystal Palace - Net spend - -£2m
- Fulham - Net spend - -£0.4m
- Aston Villa - Net spend - £0
- West Ham - Net spend - +£1.5m
- Wolves - Net spend - +£27.4m
- Brentford - Net spend - +£35m
- Brighton - Net spend - +£35m
- Nottingham Forest - Net spend - +£39.4m
- Bournemouth - Net spend - +£70.2m
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