The Premier League Summer Transfer Window officially closed earlier this month, and despite a near-billion pound drop in transfer spending compared to last season, over £2.04 Billion was spent on signings, making it the second-highest-spending window of all time, with Dominic Solanke and Pedro Neto being the most expensive signings.
Interested, SeatPick wanted to uncover which Premier League club needs to sell the most tickets to recoup the costs of their most expensive summer signing.
SeatPick can reveal that Manchester United is the Premier League club that needs to sell the most tickets (1,106,383) to recoup the costs of their most expensive signing, Leny Yoro, whose transfer fee cost £52 million. The Red Devils would need to sell out 15 home games to cover this. The centre-back joined the club from Lille in July but sadly suffered an ankle injury on his second appearance for the club against Arsenal, and isn’t expected to return until October.
The Clubs Needing the Most Ticket Sales to Recoup Transfer Fees:
| # | Club | Player | Transfer Value (£) | Average Adult Ticket Cost (£) | No. of ticket sales needed to recoup | Stadium sell-outs needed to cover transfer fees |
| 1 | Manchester United | Leny Yoro | £52,000,000 | £47.00 | 1,106,383 | 15 |
| 2 | Bournemouth | Evanilson | £40,200,000 | £44.50 | 903,371 | 80 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | Dominic Solanke | £65,000,000 | £73.50 | 884,354 | 14 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | Amadou Onana | £50,000,000 | £61.25 | 816,327 | 19 |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | Elliot Anderson | £35,000,000 | £45.00 | 777,778 | 26 |
| 6 | Chelsea | Pedro Neto | £54,000,000 | £72.50 | 744,828 | 18 |
| 7 | Brighton | Georginio Rutter | £40,000,000 | £56.00 | 714,286 | 22 |
| 8 | Liverpool* | Giorgi Mamardashvili | £29,000,000 | £45.50 | 637,363 | 10 |
| 9 | West Ham | Max Kilman | £40,000,000 | £67.50 | 592,593 | 9 |
| 10 | Brentford | Igor Thiago | £30,000,000 | £52.50 | 571,429 | 33 |
| 11 | Newcastle United** | Lewis Hall | £28,000,000 | £51.00 | 549,020 | 11 |
| 12 | Ipswich Town | Omari Hutchinson | £22,500,000 | £43.00 | 523,256 | 18 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | Eddie Nketiah | £30,000,000 | £59.00 | 508,475 | 20 |
| 14 | Arsenal | Riccardo Calafiori | £42,000,000 | £85.75 | 489,796 | 8 |
| 15 | Fulham | Emile Smith Rowe | £34,000,000 | £70.00 | 485,714 | 20 |
| 16 | Leicester City | Oliver Skipp | £25,000,000 | £52.50 | 476,190 | 15 |
| 17 | Wolves | André | £21,000,000 | £48.75 | 430,769 | 14 |
| 18 | Southampton | Taylor Harwood-Bellis | £20,000,000 | £47.50 | 421,053 | 13 |
| 19 | Manchester City | Savinho | £21,000,000 | £58.50 | 358,974 | 7 |
| 20 | Everton** | Jake O’Brien | £17,000,000 | £55.00 | 309,091 | 8 |
AFC Bournemouth are in second place, needing to sell 903,371 tickets to cover Evanilson’s £40.2 million signing fee, the equivalent of selling out the Vitality Stadium a whopping 80 times, the most out of all clubs in the league. The striker joined Bournemouth in August from FC Porto, just before the club’s opening game of the season, and considering he scored 25 goals for Porto last season, Bournemouth could look forward to a similar performance this season.
Tottenham Hotspur follows in third place, needing to sell 894,354 tickets (equivalent to 14 home games) to recoup Dominic Solanke’s £65 million transfer fee, who joined from Bournemouth last month. Sadly the centre-forward suffered an ankle injury in Spurs’ opening match of the season against Leicester City, causing him to miss the next two games, with a return unknown. But judging by his impeccable performance at Bournemouth, Spurs will soon see the value in him.
Aston Villa is in fourth place, needing to sell an estimated 816,327 tickets(or 19 home games) to make back midfielder Amadou Onana’s £50 million transfer fee. The 23 year old who joined from Everton has scored two goals so far this season for The Villans, one in their opening game and the other in their last match against Leicester City, so to date, they are getting their money’s worth.
Nottingham Forest are in fifth place, needing to sell 777,778 tickets to cover Elliot Anderson’s £5 million transfer fee, equivalent to 26 home games at the City Ground. Anderson joined Forest in June and despite receiving a yellow card in their most recent game against Wolves, he assisted Chris Wood with a corner to score the opening goal, to earn a 1-1 draw.
Brentford are mid-table, needing to sell 571,429 tickets (equivalent to 33 home games) to cover Igor Thiago’s £30 million transfer fee, the second-highest after Bournemouth. The Bees signed Thiago from Club Brugges at the start of July but the centre-forward sadly suffered a meniscus injury against AFC Wimbledon, ruling him out until the end of the year
Trailing at the bottom of the table is Everton, who only need to sell 309,091 tickets to make back Jake O’Brien’s £17 million transfer fee from Olympique Lyon who had the lowest signing fee out of all clubs. To do this, The Toffees would need to sell out Goodison Park eight times. O’Brien joined The Toffees at the end of July, despite being on the bench for all of their Premier League games so far, he claimed an assist in the EFL Cup game against Doncaster, so is already showing promise.
