London, England – Liverpool were the first club to show their hand on transfer deadline day, signing three players as gross spending in the English Premier League surpassed £500 million.
Defenders Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori signed from Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting Lisbon respectively, while Victor Moses arrived on a season-long loan from domestic rivals Chelsea.
Liverpool reportedly paid a combined amount of £25 million to sign Ilori and France international centre-back Sakho, the headline acquisition.
The 23-year-old captained PSG at the age of 17 and looked set for a long and illustrious career at Parc des Princes, only to fall out of favour following Carlo Ancelotti's appointment as coach in December 2011.
Despite Ancelotti being succeeded by Laurent Blanc earlier this year, Sakho found himself fourth-choice centre-back and arrives at Anfield determined to force his way into the France squad for next year's World Cup.
“I came here because the project that is in place at Liverpool interests me. I'm really looking forward to playing my first game,” Sakho told the club's official website.
Ilori, 20, was born in London but raised in Portugal and is a Portuguese youth international, while 22-year-old Moses arrives after being crowded out by a glut of close-season signings at Chelsea.
The £500 million figure represents a record for Premier League spending in one transfer window, according to financial consultants Deloitte, and some of the country's biggest clubs were expected to further inflate that amount with transfers later on Monday.
Several British media outlets, including the BBC, reported that Arsenal had agreed a club-record fee of £42.4 million with Real Madrid for German playmaker Mesut Oezil.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is yet to make a major signing this summer and has come under pressure from fans to add to his squad, despite Sunday's 1-0 success over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby.
Reigning champions Manchester United, meanwhile, were reported to be close to signing Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini.
United manager David Moyes brought Fellaini to England during his time at Everton and his successor at Goodison Park, Roberto Martinez, has identified Wigan Athletic midfielder James McCarthy as his preferred replacement for the Belgian, according to Latics chairman Dave Whelan.
“Roberto is chasing James. If Everton sell Fellaini, they are going to come in again for our boy,” Whelan told the Irish Independent newspaper.
“It depends whether Fellaini goes today (Monday). I have heard that he's definitely going.”
United have also been linked with Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera, having reportedly had a bid of 30 million euros for the Spaniard rejected last week.
Unlike Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham, all of whom have spent lavishly on new players, United's only arrival to date is little-known Uruguayan full-back Guillermo Varela.
Spurs have led the way for the English clubs, spending around £110 million on new players, but they ceded star forward Gareth Bale to Madrid on Sunday in a deal reported to be worth between 91and 101 million euros. – Sapa-AFP