By David Owen
February 3 – Premier League clubs continued to outspend their main European rivals during what was a far from record-breaking January transfer window. The £130 million that members of English football’s top flight shelled out was around double the total spent by clubs in the next highest-spending league – Italy’s Serie A, according to analysis by Deloitte, the professional services firm.
Gross outlays by leading clubs in both Spain and Germany were put at around 40% of the Premier League total, while clubs in France spent around a quarter as much, or little more than £30 million.
Overall Premier League spending matched the total for January 2014, but came in well below the £225 million record rung up four years ago in January 2011. Net transfer spend by Premier League clubs was put at some £40 million.
Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said it was “not entirely surprising” that January trading was below record levels, “given the record level of spending seen in the summer”. However, “with all Premier League clubs recording record revenues, we might have expected one or two more major deals”.
He went on: “Despite the relative restraint we have seen in the January window, 2014/15 is still a record season for Premier League spending. Last season saw Premier League spending surpass the £700 million threshold for the first time, and the revenue growth at Premier League clubs is such that they have been able to record a combined transfer spend this season of over £950 million.”
Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal were said to be the biggest gross spenders in the latest window, accounting for around 50% of the Premier League total. English top-flight clubs sourced £65 million of new talent from overseas clubs, £55 million from Premier League rivals and £10 million from English lower divisions. Premier League clubs concluded around £45 million of player transfer fees on deadline day.
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