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For the first time ever in a transfer window, clubs in the Premier League recorded net transfer receipts of £40m, as £215m was spent in the January 2017 transfer window, according to analysis by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

 

This estimate brings total gross spending by Premier League clubs for the 2016/17 season to almost £1.4 billion, surpassing the previous record of £1 billion set last season by one-third.

 

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, commented: “Spending by Premier League clubs in this January’s transfer window totalled £215m, surpassing last year’s total of £175m as the second-highest ever, behind January 2011.

 

“The sales of Oscar, Dmitri Payet, Odion Ighalo and Memphis Depay, as well as around £20m worth of sales to Championship clubs, have helped Premier League clubs record net receipts for the first time in a transfer window.

 

“As was the case last year, it is clubs in the bottom half of the table who have driven expenditure this January, investing in their squads in an attempt to secure survival. This is no surprise given clubs’ reliance on the revenues generated from the Premier League’s broadcast deals.”

 

The total expenditure of clubs currently in the bottom six of the Premier League was £110m, representing 50% of total spending. This follows a similar pattern to last January, when 56% of total January expenditure came from the league’s eventual bottom six, and contrasts with the summer 2016 transfer window, when almost 60% of expenditure came from the league’s current top six.  

 

Jones continued: “Expenditure in January 2017 took the Premier League’s total transfer expenditure for the 2016/17 season to almost £1.4 billion – an increase of 32% on 2015/16 and far in excess of any other league in world football.

 

“The spending activity by clubs in the Chinese Super League (CSL) has grabbed many headlines in recent weeks. CSL clubs have spent over £150m so far during their current off-season, which began in November 2016.

 

“However, with the CFA having recently announced that tighter regulations around player transfer and salary expenditure are to be introduced, as well as imposing limits on the number of foreign players allowed, it will be interesting to see whether CSL clubs match this level of expenditure in future off-seasons.”