Premier League Breaks Summer Transfers Record
The summer transfer window saw English Premier League clubs spend a record £500m on transfer fees, according to figures provided by Deloitte.
Deloitte reports that clubs committed around £30m more this summer than in 2007 – a 6% increase and around double that of each of the previous summer transfer windows since 2003.
Among the biggest spenders were Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur who reportedly spent more than £30m each on player acquisitions over the period.
The biggest single deals were led by Robinho’s £32.4m transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester City and Manchester United’s purchase of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur for £30.75m
Director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, Paul Rawnsley, commented: ‘Last summer saw a new record level of transfer spending that was fuelled by the new TV monies and new owners. This trend has continued with this summer’s transfer spending £30m higher at £500m.
‘This level of transfer spending is far in excess of other European Leagues. With the majority of their revenues streams already contractually secured, English football clubs are proving resilient to the current challenging economic environment. Whilst football is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant.’
Premier League clubs have spent around £215m on players from within the league, according to the report. This intra-Premier League spending represents over 40% of the total committed transfer activity – up on the third of total spending it accounted for in previous windows.
Overall, the Premier League’s transfer spending far exceeded that of other European leagues – with clubs spending almost double the amount of their rivals in Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s Primera Liga.
