The global transfer spending record has been broken this summer, according to figures from Transfermarkt.

Clubs worldwide have spent a combined £6.56billion on 1,617 players so far, surpassing the previous high for a single window of £6.51bn set in 2019.

Here, the PA news agency breaks down the record-breaking total.

Highest spending leagues

The Premier League is comfortably the highest-spending division in 2023-24, with almost £2.1bn having been invested in 269 players.

The Saudi Pro League is second on the list with a combined total of £727million, ahead of Italy’s Serie A (£683m), Germany’s Bundesliga (£598m), France’s Ligue 1 (£597m) and Spain’s LaLiga (£342m).

The English top flight has moved further clear of rival leagues co…

It is the closest Liverpool have been to City in 18 months and Van Dijk believes with consistency in results and fitness they can mount a sustained challenge.

Asked whether he thought they were capable of running City close for the title, the captain said: “I hope so.

“You have all these aspirations, dreams, goals and you want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in.

“That is definitely the case at the beginning of the season and then you grow into a season. It’s November and there is still so much to play for.

“It’s going well, but if we had not got a result against Brentford (a 3-0 win at the weekend) we would have been in that downward spiral – from the outside world of course – because you don’t set it up nicely …

Real Sociedad have opened talks with Manchester City over the possibility of signing Sergio Gomez this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The La Liga side will need to replace Kieran Tierney in their squad, with the Scottish left-back set to return to Arsenal following the conclusion of his season-long loan in Spain at the end of June.

Meanwhile, Gomez s numbers at Manchester City have been very modest. He hasn t been able to establish himself as a player of much importance for the Premier League champions, making no more than six league appearances for Pep Guardiola s side in 2023/24. Even in those six matches, he wasn t a part of the starting XI, despite Guardiola having no other designated left-back in his squad. The only goal contribution the 23-year-old managed …

Juventus and AC Milan are interested in signing Jakub Kiwior from Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report in the Italian news outlet has claimed that Juventus were already on the hunt for Kiwior, and now incoming Milan coach Paulo Fonseca wants to secure the services of the Poland international defender.

Kiwior knows Italian football well during his time at Spezia. The 24-year-old, who can operate as a centre-back or as a left-back, did well in Serie A and was snapped up by Arsenal in January 2023. The Poland international has done well for the Gunners when he has played, but he is not guaranteed a place in manager Mikel Arteta’s starting lineup. 

Kiwior made 11 starts and nine substitute appearances in the Premier League for Arsenal last sea…

According to , Juventus are currently trying to work out a solution for their problems in the attacking section, and the options they re considering are Lille s Jonathan David, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton.

Dusan Vlahovic has been on excellent form for the Bianconeri this term, scoring seven goals in nine appearances in all competitions. However, the club feel coach Thiago Motta is being forced to rely on the Serbia international too much, due to other players in the department not contributing enough. The only other out-and-out striker in the squad is Arkadiusz Milik, who is yet to play as he walks a long road of recovery from a knee injury.

David, 24, and Calvert-Lewin, 27, are both in the last year of contract with their respective clubs, and Juventus see the…

Erik ten Hag tasted victory in his first pre-season friendly as Manchester United manager as they eased to a 4-0 win over Liverpool.

United have not beaten Liverpool in the Premier League since 2018 and suffered 5-0 and 4-0 defeats to their arch rivals last season.

But Ten Hag s side claimed a comfortable win over Jurgen Klopp s men in Bangkok, though it came in a game that saw both sides make a raft of changes throughout.

Still, it was an encouraging start for Ten Hag, who saw Jadon Sancho open the scoring for his team in the 12th minute when he fired into the bottom corner after Liverpool failed to clear a Bruno Fernandes cross.

A stunning counterattack involving and , finished in style by ||

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

Liverpoo…

Georgia Stanway believes England “absolutely need” to keep Sarina Wiegman after she guided the Lionesses to the World Cup final – insisting women’s football is not a stepping stone into the men’s game for top coaches.

Wiegman has been linked with a the vacant post as head coach of the United States – or a move into the men’s game – but the Dutch manager has said she intends to honour her contract with the Football Association.

The 53-year-old led England to the Euro title at Wembley last summer but could not mastermind victory over Spain – who won the World Cup final 1-0 on Sunday.

Wiegman had achieved the same record as Netherlands boss, winning the 2017 Euros before falling short in the 2019 World Cup final ahead of taking the reins of the Lio…

Raheem Sterling completed a season-long loan move to Arsenal from Chelsea at the eleventh hour on Deadline Day.

Sterling, who made 81 appearances for Chelsea since his move from Manchester City in 2022, was told he was not in the plans of new Blues head coach Enzo Maresca.

After not being involved in the squad for their opening day defeat to his former side, Sterling s representatives sought clarity over his future and he was linked with a move to Manchester United.

But instead, he reunited with Mikel Arteta, having spent time with him at the Etihad when the Spaniard was assistant head coach to Pep Guardiola.

During his two-year stint at Stamford Bridge, the 29-year-old netted 19 goals and added 12 assists in that time, with 18 of those goal involvements…

England goalkeeper Joe Hart has backed Manchester City team-mate Raheem Sterling to shine at Euro 2016 next month.

Sterling arrived at City from Liverpool for £44million in the off-season but struggled somewhat in his first campaign at the Etihad Stadium. 

The 21-year-old made just seven Premier League starts in 2016 but was still included as part of Roy Hodgson s provisional squad for the Euros in France. 

Sterling was a star performer in England s 2-1 friendly win over Turkey on Sunday, and Hart believes the young winger will only continue to get better. 

He s got no point to prove, Raheem, Hart said. I see Raheem work hard every day trying to improve. 

He s 21, he s fully aware of that and he s going to get better. And he s excited. He …

The Copa America is well under way, with the group stages already done and dusted.

Argentina made light work of progressing from Group A, even though Lionel Messi had to sit out their last fixture.

And key to their success has been the goalscoring form of Lautaro Martinez, who is making up for some bad misses at the 2022 World Cup.

Brazil also progressed, with Vinicius Junior their talisman as expected, while Darwin Nunez is the key attacker for Marcelo Bielsa s free-flowing Uruguay.

Ahead of the knockouts, how is the Copa America Golden Boot race shaping up?

Lautaro Martinez (four goals)

We ll start with the leader in the race, and that is Martinez.

The forward had an outstanding season for Inter, who he led to the Scudetto while…