It may take a while for a proper sense of perspective to set in but, once the spreadsheet was filled and the columns totalled up, only Manchester City had spent more money than Chelsea in the Premier League this summer. The champions’ outlay stretched beyond the £180m mark, albeit with a hefty chunk recouped through sales and with Diego Costa potentially still to be jettisoned to Atlético Madrid. Antonio Conte had wanted a wave of reinforcement across his squad, a policy that was always going to require heavy expenditure. He made that clear even before the title was claimed in the spring. So, in theory, the Italian should be approaching the next phase of the campaign with a sense of satisfaction.
Related: Premier League clubs spend £1.4bn to break summer transfer record
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