Member Article

Premier League transfer window sees clubs spend £130 million

Following the end of the January transfer window last night, Premier League football clubs spent an estimated £130 million

According to the BBC, the biggest spenders were Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, which between them accounted for around half of the total.

Deloitte said increased player spending by Premier League clubs was the result of increased broadcast revenue.

The rights to cover Premier League football between 2013 and 2016 were sold for £3 billion in 2012 which was a 70% rise on the previous deal.

Deals last night at the 11th hour of the transfer window were worth some £45 million helped to lift the total, which reached the same amount as in January 2014, research shows.

Deloitte said clubs in total had spent more than £950 million on acquiring players, easily surpassing the 2013/2014 season’s record of £760 million.

However, the amount for the January window was significantly less than the record £225 million seen in January 2011.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said: “Given the record level of spending seen in the summer, it is not entirely surprising that we haven’t seen a new record for the January window.”

Large deals yesterday included Chelsea’s £23.3 million payment for Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado from Italian club Fiorentina and Manchester City completed the window’s biggest purchase at £28 million for Swansea’s Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony.

All 20 Premier League clubs now rank in the global top 40 based on their revenue.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .