The 20 biggest inflation-adjusted spends in a single PL season ft. Man City & Chelsea | OneFootball

A pair of football finance experts have calculated the highest spenders in single Premier League season after factoring in inflation - and it makes for interesting reading.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have made the running in terms of spending in the early stages of the current transfer window, parting with £65 million to sign Kai Havertz, while also setting aside £105m to land West Ham's Declan Rice.

Ajax right-back Jurrien Timber also looks bound for the Emirates Stadium, with the two clubs having reportedly agreed a £40.5m fee for the 22-year-old.

Even with that pricey trio of acquisitions, the Gunners would still have to keep spending at a crazy pace for the rest of the window to get anywhere near the top of the inflation-adjusted list prepared by Kieran Maguire and Jason Laws. In fact, the Gunners don't feature in the top 20 at all.

Their study worked out exactly how much each of the biggest-spending clubs would have parted with had the transactions taken place today.

Who are the highest-spending Premier League club in a single season in modern-day terms?

In his first 12 months after taking over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly signed players with almost reckless abandon.

Despite this, the American entrepreneur's spending during 2022/23 doesn't take top spot on the list.

That distinction belongs to the Chelsea side of 2003/04, in which Roman Abramovich invested an inflation-adjusted total of £692m. Among 11 new arrivals during that campaign were the likes of Claude Makéléle, Joe Cole, Juan Sebastián Verón, Hernan Crespo and Damien Duff.

Almost £700m spent - and the Blues could still only finish second to Arsenal's invincibles!

Boehly's bonkers spending spree then sits in second place with a total adjusted outlay of £543m in 2022/23.

Chelsea's 2005/06 (£430million) and 2004/05 (£394million) campaigns feature in third and fourth place respectively. During this two-year spell, the Blues brought in club icons including Petr Cech and Didier Drogba. They also won the Premier League title back to back within the time period.

Chelsea's dominance at the head of the list is eventually broken by Manchester City's 2010/11 spend (when David Silva, Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure all arrived at the Etihad Stadium).

You can check out a graphic detailing the modern-day value of the 20 biggest spends in top-flight history below.

The biggest transfer spends in a single Premier League season (adjusted for inflation)

In total, Chelsea appear in the top 20 no less than seven times. Man City feature four times, while their neighbours United see three seasons included.

Liverpool make the list twice, with their most expensive season coming in 2010/11 after splashing out on Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll and Joe Cole among others.

The remainder of the top 20 is made up by Newcastle (1998/99), Leeds (2000/01), Blackburn and Aston Villa (both 1998/99).

It remains to be seen if any Premier League club will be bold enough in their spending during 2023/24 to crack this list next year.