By David Owen
February 3 – Premier League clubs spent a moderate £130 million in the January transfer window, far less than the record £225 million disbursed in January 2011, in spite of the boost to income provided by the new cycle of TV deals.
Nevertheless, analysis by Deloitte, the professional services firm, shows that transfer spending by top-tier English clubs in the 2013-14 season as a whole did set a new record of £760 million, well above the previous high of £670 million, set in 2008-09.
According to Dan Jones, partner in Deloitte’s sports business group, “around half” of Premier League clubs spent nothing at all. By contrast, two clubs – Manchester United and Chelsea, both involved in the high-profile deal that took Juan Mata from Stamford Bridge to Old Trafford – were said to have accounted for more than 60% of the league’s total spend.
The acquisition of new players from overseas clubs accounted for exactly half of gross transfer spending, with purchases from fellow Premier League clubs adding a further 42%, or £55 million, and the remaining 8%, or £10 million, consisting of players previously operating in the English lower divisions.
Deadline day accounted for £35 million of the overall total.
Net transfer spending by Premier League clubs was put at some £35 million – just half of the January 2013 level. Transfers out of the league were said to have generated around £40 million of receivables for Premier League clubs, with the deals that took Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle United to Paris Saint-Germain and Kevin de Bruyne from Chelsea to Wolfsburg the most significant contributors.
The Cabaye deal was undoubtedly instrumental in making the French top division the second-highest January spenders, with around 40% of the Premier League total. Total transfer spending by Serie A clubs was put at about 30% of the Premier League figure, and by Bundesliga clubs at just 20%.
Transfer spending by Spanish clubs this January was so limited that it was said to have been exceeded by the amounts spent in Russia and Turkey.
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