Member Article

Premier League spending tops £60m

Football clubs in the Premier League spent around £60 million in the January transfer window, a 70% reduction on the record £225 million spend witnesses in January 2011.

This level of spending represents a return to a similar level as the January windows in 2004 and 2007, but is still ahead of the investment in players by top division clubs in other European leagues.

According to Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, this comparatively sober level of spending indicates that clubs are focusing on maintaining a strong balance sheet. He commented: “In the decade since the introduction of transfer windows, January has typically been a relatively quiet window with total spending driven by a few high value transfers, as was certainly the case with the chain of events on last year’s deadline day.

“As clubs are now in the reporting period that will count towards the first assessment for UEFA’s financial fair play break-even requirement, their comparative restraint is indicative of an overriding reflection on spending levels.”

The top spenders were found to be Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle, who contributed to over half of the total. In January 2011, 80% of spending was concentrated around just four clubs. No player was purchased for more than £15 million this January, in comparison with six such transfers in January 2011.

Despite this, Premier League spending still exceed other European leagues, which are typically at 80% of the level of British clubs.

Dan continued: “The focus on football’s future financial sustainability is more prevalent in Europe than at any time in the past 20 years and, going forward we remain keen to see that translated into a better balance between revenue and expenditure.”

While January has been relatively quiet, Dan now expects the summer 2012 transfer window to be a busy one following this summers Euro 2012 tournament.

He added: “The global popularity of the English game helps drive continuing growth for Premier League clubs’ revenues, with transfer spending further supplemented from the pockets of some owners.”

The Deloitte Football Money League is published later this month, and expected to show that several Premier League Clubs are amongst the Top 20 highest revenue generators in the world.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .