Deals done: Clubs are paying big bucks to meet transfer deadline

September 1 - It's been a busy week for Europe's top flight who have seen 17 major signings in the last three days before the transfer window closes today.

The whirlwind of competitive transfers at this late stage appears to have caused a number of clubs, notably England, to pay considerably too much for players on their wishlist.

Chelsea appear to have secured the final piece of their attacking puzzle, after weeks of searching, in a €45m deal that came out of nowhere for promising Man City youngster Cole Palmer despite being overpaid almost 30 million euros according to Transfermarkt.

It has been an unusually quiet week for Saudi Arabia with just one player with a market value of over €15m joining the SPL, the lowest number since the window opened.

That being said, the acquisition of 21-year-old Spanish midfielder Gabri Veiga from Celta Vigo will help restore the SPL's reputation as a retirement home for Europe's elite. Additionally, the SPL could be looking to take advantage of the coming days as their transfer window remains open beyond the European deadline, meaning they will be free to negotiate with clubs and lure star players with gigantic contracts.

Manchester City's recently signed deal for Portuguese midfielder Matheus Nunes is the biggest deal of the week at €62m: the result of weeks of deliberations and negotiations between Man City and Wolves which saw the fees go from 45 million euros to final costs. The deal was completed and announced this morning.

Ansu Fati's loan to Brighton is a real statement of intent for the south coast side, who will be looking to push further into the league's European places despite losing star players Alexis MacAllister and Moises Caicedo, whom they sold for a combined amount. 158 million euros. Ansu Fati is a bright young talent who will add a lot of quality to the Seagulls front line.

Chelsea continue their trend of having the longest contracts in world football, averaging 7 years for all of their acquisitions this summer. €115m signing Moises Caicedo tops the list with a deal that runs until 2031 when the youngster turns 30. On the other hand, the Saudi Pro League has on average the shortest contract length of all the leagues, as none of its new players has been granted a contract longer than three years.

Teams across Europe are using today as their last opportunity to look for options to strengthen their squad, with many deals still in the works ahead of the 11pm deadline tonight.