Jack Wilshere completed his season-long loan switch from Arsenal to Bournemouth as Wednesday's transfer deadline drew near, while David Luiz's remarkable return to Chelsea was on the brink of being wrapped up.
It was confirmed around 9.30pm that England midfielder Wilshere had made his move, three hours on from Chelsea announcing they had agreed terms with Paris St Germain for Brazil defender Luiz to rejoin them.
Luiz is set to move back for reported fee of around £30million, two years after leaving Chelsea to sign for PSG for £50million.
The Blues earlier completed a deal for Fiorentina’s former Bolton defender Marcos Alonso, understood to be worth £23million, as Premier League clubs — having already broken through the £1billion-mark in this transfer window, according to figures from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group — continued spending on deadline day.
Also ahead of the summer window closing at 11pm, champions Leicester announced they had recruited Algeria striker Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon, who said the deal was worth €30million, potentially rising by another €3million — which makes him the Foxes’ record signing.
Manchester City had a high-profile quartet of players leave on season-long loans as goalkeeper Joe Hart, striker Wilfried Bony, playmaker Samir Nasri and defender Eliaquim Mangala joined Torino, Stoke, Sevilla and Valencia respectively.
Meanwhile Mario Balotelli finally made a permanent exit from Liverpool as the striker signed for Nice, and another man departing the Reds was Andre Wisdom, joining Red Bull Salzburg for the season.
West Ham brought in former Liverpool full-back Alvaro Arbeloa on a free transfer, while West Brom completed the signing of defender Allan Nyom from Watford and looked set to also add Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu.
Tottenham made their second signing of the day as they announced the capture of goalkeeper Pau Lopez on a season-long loan from Espanyol, and Clinton Njie left White Hart Lane to join Marseille on loan until the end of the season.
That followed the arrival of Georges-Kévin Nkoudou Mbida, who joined form the Stade Velodrome in a deal worth €13 million.
