By David Owen
September 1 – Europe’s top football clubs shelled out increased amounts on new players during the summer transfer window, as the sport shrugged off the effects of the continent’s sluggish economic growth.
Figures compiled by Deloitte, the business advisory firm, show that gross transfer spending during the window just closed was higher than a year ago in four of the big five European markets.
Germany – seen by some as a paragon of enlightened management practice – was the exception, with spending said to be at similar levels to summer 2010.
The clubs in England’s Premier League spent particularly freely, with deals involving players like Sergio Agüero (pictured above) – now with Manchester City, Jordan Henderson – Liverpool – and Per Mertesacker (pictured below) – Arsenal – helping to push the total to some £485 million ($784 million/€550 million) – up 33 per cent on a year ago.
Italy’s Serie A was not far behind at around £400 million ($646 million/€454 million), while spending by clubs in Spain’s La Liga reached £300 million ($485 million/€340 million) and France’s Ligue 1 £165 million ($267 million/€187 million).
Deloitte said that spending in each of those three countries was up by a higher percentage than in England.
Pressure to achieve Champions League qualification appeared to spur spending at the summit of the English game, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs all said to have exceeded £50 million ($81 million/€57 million) of transfer spending during the summer.
Of course, not all of those clubs can achieve that aim, raising the question of whether this heavy spending might store up problems for later for those that miss out.
Spending by Premier League clubs was still somewhat below the level attained in the 2008 summer transfer window, when deals valued at £500 million ($808 million/€567 million) were completed.
Dan Jones, partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “The football authorities’ encouragement for home-grown players has contributed towards the increased scale of fees for the transfer of young English talent this summer.
“The resurgence of transfer spending is also apparent in other top European leagues.
“Despite domestic difficulties delaying the start of their seasons, transfer spending is considerably up amongst clubs in Serie A and La Liga.
“As in England, in order to meet [European governing body] UEFA’s break-even requirements, clubs will need an appropriate balance of revenue generation against these expenditures.”
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