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On deadline day, Emerson Royal, Daniel James and Nikola Vlasic were some of the top movers
Cristiano Ronaldo made his shocking move to Manchester United after the transfer deadline. This helped push Premier League clubs' spending past 1bn, but overall spending is down for the second consecutive year.
Portugal's forward, the eye-catching Old Trafford back was one of the first moves to be rubber-stamped Tuesday before England's summer window closed.
Nikola Vlasic's move from CSKA Moscow from West Ham to West Ham was the biggest deal. Chelsea, however, waited too late to sign Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid on loan.
But, Kylian Mbappe would not be late as Paris St-Germain rejected two bids by Real Madrid to take the France World Cup-winning forward.
The window was open from 9 June to 31 August and saw Premier League clubs spend 1.1bn total on transfers. This was 11% less than the previous summer's total transfer spending of 1.3bn. It was also a 9% decrease from 2019.
Financial services firm Deloitte says this is the lowest cumulative gross spend of Premier League clubs since 2015. It's also the first consecutive fall since 2008, when the global financial crisis hit.
Among the other key findings of Deloitte from the window are:
Deadline day activity amounted to 150m. Premier League clubs spent more than 1bn in the sixth consecutive summer.
Premier League clubs signed 148 players in summer 2019, compared to 132 in 2020 and 128 for 2019.
Only 22% of Premier League players signed this summer by Premier League clubs were obtained on free transfers. This is up from 20% in the summer 2020.
Only four Premier League clubs didn't acquire a player via a free transfer; eight were in summer 2020.
The German Bundesliga is one of the five major European leagues to have increased its gross expenditures this year.
The Premier League's net transfer spending of 560m on players was more than that of La Liga (55m), Serie A (5m) or Ligue 1 (15m).
Dan Jones, Deloitte’s sports business group manager, stated: "This was a remarkable transfer window.
"Club spending records were broken, player moves -- including the two most important players of their generation [Lionel Messi] and Cristiano Ronaldo - have grabbed headlines. Premier League clubs have spent more than 1bn in the sixth consecutive summer.
"Perhaps the most amazing thing is that all of this was possible with less spending than what we had seen in previous summers."
What were the deadlines for signing?
Tottenham spent 25.8m to buy Emerson Royal Barcelona full-back, while Daniel James joined Leeds for 25m from Manchester United.
Brighton signed Marc Cucurella, a Spain defender from Getafe, to Brighton for approximately 15.4m. Senegal striker Abdallah Sima joined the Seagulls from Slavia Prague and moved to Stoke on loan.
West Ham signed Vlasic as well as Alex Kral, a loanee from Spartak Moscow for midfielder. Ademola Lookingman, a Leicester winger, was signed on a long-term loan from RB Leipzig.
Burnley signed their second full back in a matter of days when they brought in Wales international Connor Roberts, from Swansea. Crystal Palace signed striker Odsonne Eduard from Celtic for $15m.
Arsenal completed their busy summer with the signing of Takehiro Tomiyasu, a Japanese defender from Bologna. Hector Bellerin joined Real Betis and Reiss to move to Feyenoord on loan.
Everton announced that Salomon Rondon would be signing a free transfer agreement just as the window in England closed at 23:00 BST.
Film buffs will love Newcastle's signing of Santiago Munoz, a Mexican striker. His name is strikingly like Santiago Munez, who plays for the Magpies in Goal, 2005.
Major deals across Europe
Other European clubs were active at transfer deadline day. Real Madrid failed to sign Mbappe.
The Spanish giants instead signed Eduardo Camavinga, a highly-rated France midfielder from Rennes.
Juventus responded to Ronaldo's departure to Manchester United by signing Moise Kean, an Italy striker, from Everton on two-year loans.
Barcelona sold Ilaix Moriba and RB Leipzig to relieve financial worries. It then loaned Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid.
Except for Germany's Bundesliga and France's other "big five" leagues, the gross transfer spending is down for all European countries for the second year in a row.
Serie A, which has 475m in annual spending, is second to the Premier League. However, the Premier League's total gross transfer spending is more than twice that of Serie A's clubs.
What were the biggest summer transfers?
Romelu Lukaku and Jack Grealish were the most expensive Premier League signings in the window
In gross terms, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea were the four most expensive Premier League clubs. They also had the highest number of individual transfers.
Manchester City signed Jack Grealish, a 100m-valued transfer from Aston Villa, for the largest single deal in the window.
European champions Chelsea followed closely, signing Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan's striker, for 97.5m.
Manchester United spent 73m on Jadon Sancho, a Dortmund-based signing agent, and 34m to acquire Raphael Varane, a Real Madrid importer.
Arsenal was also a major spender this summer. They spent around 140m on players such as Ben White (50m), Martin Odegaard (30m) from Real Madrid, and Aaron Ramsdale (24m) from Sheffield United.
Liverpool spent 36 million to sign RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate. However, they did tie up new contracts for key players, including captain Jordan Henderson who signed a new 4-year contract on the deadline day.
The most striking deal of the summer was the free transfer. Lionel Messi broke down as he confirmed his departure from Barcelona after 21 years, before moving to Paris St-Germain.
They were the ones who got away
Jules Kounde, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe were all involved in big-money moves that never happened
It is also possible that the summer 2021 transfer window will be remembered for deals that didn't happen.
Manchester City spent much summer following England captain Harry Kane. However, the striker decided to join Spurs.
Real Madrid twice tried to sign Mbappe but Paris St-Germain rejected their bids of more than 100m.
Chelsea were interested in Jules Kounde (defender France), but Sevilla wouldn't entertain any bids below his 80m Euro release clause.
Ainsley Maitland -Niles tried to get Arsenal to move, but was unsuccessful. After a West Ham move failed, Jesse Lingard will continue to fight for his spot at Manchester United. Wolves also abandoned Renato Sanches, Lille's midfielder, in a last-minute move.
The Mbappe saga reveals where financial power is located
Simon Stone, BBC Sport, Analyse
What is the current financial position of European football? This can be summarized by looking at a transfer agreement that was not completed this summer.
Real Madrid was able to offer Mbappe more than 100m despite having to deal with well-publicised financial problems as the transfer window closed towards Tuesday's deadline.
Mbappe, who is known to long for a move to Bernabeu, has a contract that expires in less than 12 month's time. Real could then sign a precontract agreement and he could join Real next summer. However, PSG refused to allow him to do so.
The decision is not financially sound. It was a good move from a footballing standpoint, however, for a club that signed Messi and Sergio Ramos this summer in a determined attempt to win the Champions League.
PSG decided not to join the discredited European Super League plan. They didn't need to. They didn't require the additional revenue.
This could also be said for six Premier League players. Despite the huge impact of the coronavirus epidemic, Manchester City spent a British record 100m for Jack Grealish, Chelsea nearly as much on Romelu Likuku, and Manchester United more than that when they brought in Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Tottenham was able to reject City's offer to sign Harry Kane, while Arsenal spent the most on six new players.
Although there may be some humor about Arsenal's current situation, which is bottom of the Premier League table with no points or goals after three matches, it will not last.
If this summer's experience is any indication, it is clear that the European Super League and Project Big Picture are not as popular as they seem. The only difference is that currently there are fewer clubs that can compete on the same scale as the 15 that would have been allowed entry to the Super League.
