August 25 – With five days still to go before the summer 2017 transfer window closes Premier League clubs have smashed their previous spending records and there is more to come.
At 9am on August 24 total gross transfer expenditure by Premier League clubs stood at £1,170 million, according to analysis by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.
This set a new record for a single transfer window, beating the £1,165 million, set last summer. In the summer 2016 transfer window clubs spent £865 million.
Chris Stenson, consultant in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “We expect further significant expenditure in the next seven days as clubs seek value in the market. Last summer, Premier League clubs spent around £300 million in the final week of the window, more than they did throughout the entire January 2017 window.”
But Stenson says that while the numbers are huge, clubs can afford it.
“The level of transfer expenditure in this summer’s window has been extraordinary, but when analysed in the context of record broadcast, commercial and matchday revenues, Premier League clubs are spending within their means,” he said.
“Their ability to generate these record revenues and attract the world’s very best playing talent continues to drive the Premier League’s status as the most commercially successful football league in the world.”
This is a huge growth in spend from 2003 when Premier League clubs spent £215 million in the summer transfer window. (See transfer spending growth chart below).
Source: Sports Business Group, Deloitte
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734852687labto1734852687ofdlr1734852687owedi1734852687sni@n1734852687osloh1734852687cin.l1734852687uap1734852687