Xiaoba Yiyanjia | Targeting his own family? Why did BIG6 start to "pick peaches" in the Premier League crazy

Although the proportion of internal transfer transactions in the Premier League this summer hit a new low in the past five years, the operation of internal poaching of the Premier League BIG6 has become even more crazy. The Athletic author Ahmed Walid analyzed this issue.

If you feel that there are more players transferring to each other within the Premier League, this idea is understandable.

This summer, many Premier League players have indeed changed their clubs within the league, but the impression of increasing transfers within the Premier League is actually an illusion.

As of this writing, these internal transfers account for only 25% of the current transfer window of Premier League teams, which is the lowest percentage in the past five summers.

However, that feeling may be related to the importance of these transfers. Maduaike went to Arsenal from Chelsea, Mbemo and Cunha joined Manchester United from Brentford and Wolves respectively, while Newcastle United signed Ellanda from Nottingham Forest. At the same time, Tottenham robbed Kudus from West Ham United, while Chelsea brought in Brighton's Joao Pedro and Ipswich's Drapp.

Transfer to the traditional "BIG6" of the Premier League will always attract the greatest attention. In addition to the above mentioned, Kolkz, Ait Nuri and Noorgao join Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively, which also confirms a view: richer Premier League teams are recruiting talents from the league teams.

Although the proportion of internal transfers in the Premier League is slightly lower than the usual average, a large part of these transfers are "BIG6" signings from other teams in the league.

This summer window, 39% of the Premier League internal transfers belonged to "BIG6" to acquire players from other teams in the league - the highest proportion since 2010.

This situation is not just because the "BIG6" club generally bought more people.

Between 2015 and 2019, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City focused on buying people from abroad. The proportion of their summer window signings (excluding loans) from other Premier League teams has never exceeded 15%.

Acquisitions like De Bruyne, Salah, Son Heung-min, Saliba and Jorginho are all worth the money. During that period, the potential new stars of European teams were more valuable than those of non-BIG6 clubs.

However, the situation has changed in recent years, and "BIG6" is more focused on signings from other Premier League teams. This summer, 27% of the "BIG6" signings came from other teams in the league - the highest proportion since 2010.

Premier League "BIG6" is buying more from other league teams, and there are several reasons behind this trend.

The Elite Player Performance Program (EPPP) launched by the Premier League in 2012 helped England's youth training cultivate better talents. "We need to see change," Premier League football director Neil Sanders (who was the director of youth training program when EPPP was launched) said in a June interview with him.

"The birth of EPPP is that people believe that England players - and the players trained by our system - are not as technical and tactical as some European opponents."

Drapp transfers to Chelsea from Ipswich, following the footsteps of Solank (Boonmouth to Tottenham) and Rice in 2023 (West Ham United to Arsenal) - mature home-based youth training talents are flowing to the "BIG6" club.

These teams' financial resources allow them to do this, which leads to the second point: the crazy money in the Premier League.

According to UEFA's latest annual report on the Financial and Investment Structure of European Clubs (based on the 2023 audited accounts of 745 top clubs of 55 member associations), the total Premier League revenue (7.1 billion euros) is almost equal to the sum of the second (La Liga) and third (Bundesliga) leagues.

For this reason, potential new stars from non-BIG6 clubs usually stay in the Premier League, where high-income teams can offer higher transfer fees and salaries. The gap in TV broadcast revenue is also one of the reasons. The Premier League’s latest domestic four-year broadcast contract (starting from the 25/26 season) is as high as £6.7 billion.

Compared with the TV revenue in the 2016-2019 cycle (domestic broadcast rights of 5.1 billion pounds, only 3 billion pounds in the previous three-year cycle), the soaring revenue has enhanced the league's purchasing power, allowing non-BIG6 teams to enter the European market, signing players such as Tillermans (Monaco transfer to Leicester City in 2019) and Onana (Lille transfer to Everton in 2022).

In the three summer cycles corresponding to the new broadcast contract (2016, 2017, 2018), the proportion of non-"BIG6" teams signed from outside Britain and Ireland to 51%, and then fell to 46% between 2019 and 2022 and rebounded to 51% in the 2022-2025 cycle.

Since 2016, non-BIG6 teams have continued to sign ups from major European leagues, including the largest number of Ligue 1 (72 players landed in the Premier League), followed by La Liga (60 players), Bundesliga (59 players) and Serie A (43 players).

Digging treasures from the secondary leagues of these leagues may pay off, but the non-BIG6 teams in the Premier League are more buying people directly from the top leagues. Since 2016, 51% of their summer recruits have come from Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and Ligue 1.

Wolves loaned Cunha from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2023 with a forced buyout, and then sold him to Manchester United in June 2025. Another example is Cucurelia, who joined Brighton from Getafe in the summer of 2021 and was bought by Chelsea the following year.

In addition, the lowest weighted average age teams in the Premier League since 2016 are Brighton and Brentford, who are committed to finding young potential stocks from different markets and then selling them to mid-to-upstream teams at high prices..

Brighton's list is very long. In addition to Joao Pedro and Cucurella, there are Bisuma, Kesedo and McAllister (the latter two are signed in the winter window). Meanwhile, the success of Brentfordraya and Mbemo also proves their savvy in the transfer market.

What non-BIG6 teams love to buy people from abroad? Brighton ranked third with 74% (74% of its summer window signings (excluding loans) were from overseas in 2016).

The top of them is Leeds United (75%), who have signed six players from overseas this summer; and Wolves (81%), who have been focusing on introducing Portuguese players since their promotion in 2018.

Players joining these clubs increasingly include terms that allow "BIG6" to sign them at a specific price, whether it is a termination or a relegation clause.

Even if the cost is high, the financial resources of "BIG6" are enough to match. Instead of looking for the same level and cheaper potential stocks in unknown markets, they can pay a luxury of paying a "Premier premium" to get players who have proved themselves in the league and adapted to life in England.

"You can see how Mattus (Cunha) plays against the players you will face every week," Manchester United coach Amorin said last month. "This increases your confidence when you select people."

English youth training has developed better players, coupled with the ability of non-"BIG6" clubs to attract overseas talents, making the Premier League the perfect market for affluent "BIG6".

The summer of 2025 is the harvest season for the Premier League.