Premier League clubs spend £1.4bn to break summer transfer record
Premier League clubs spent £1.4bn on players during the transfer window, including an unprecedented £210m on deadline day, to break the summer spending record for a sixth consecutive year.
Figures from the football finance experts Deloitte showed a total spend of £1.4bn by the 20 top-flight clubs – a 23% rise on the previous year. This took the league’s overall outlay on players since the first transfer window in January 2003 past the £10bn mark. Premier League clubs completed a total of 469 deals worth £1.62bn,including non-domestic outgoings, most of which were predominantly to European sides.
The Premier League’s highest spending clubs this summer were Manchester City (£220.5m), Chelsea (£187.5m), Manchester United (£146m) and Everton (£145m). Only five clubs ended up in the black on their transfer dealings: Arsenal, Burnley, Stoke City, Swansea City and Tottenham Hotspur. For comparison, spending in the Championship was down from £215m last summer to £195m.
While the total summer spend in England’s top flight was up 23% on last year’s record figure, with several major transfers falling through at the 11th hour on Thursday, the league’s net spend was £20m less than last summer’s record of £685m. Despite that slight decrease, the clubs combined to spend an estimated 31% of their revenues for this season, a significant rise on the average summer window spending-to-revenue ratio of 22%.
“Premier League clubs have broken their own record for transfer expenditure for the sixth summer in a row,” Deloitte’s Dan Jones said. “With the continued growth in clubs’ revenues, principally from broadcast rights, it is no surprise that Premier League clubs have continued to maintain their leading position in the world’s player transfer market.
In its own analysis of the window, the Premier League noted the average net spend per club was £33.25m, equivalent to 14.73% of total club revenue, compared to 14.35% last summer. The league also said the clubs will invest £443m “in supporting wider English football and communities” this season.
