Records smashed in transfer window: Deloitte reports highest ever Premier League spend of £1.9bn

Premier League clubs’ gross transfer spend totalled £1.9bn in the summer 2022 window, the highest spend ever recorded in a single transfer window by a margin of £487.8m, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

The previous record was set in the 2017 summer transfer window, when clubs spent £1.4bn. In 2021, Premier League clubs spent £1.1bn during the summer window.

With the January transfer window still to come, the 2022/23 season already has the highest transfer spend since the two-window season began (£1.92bn), narrowly ahead of 2017/18 (£1.86bn).

Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, commented: “The record level of spending during this transfer window is a clear indication of Premier League clubs’ confidence, as fans return to stadia and a new broadcast cycle begins.

“It’s now become part and parcel of the Premier League that clubs are willing to pay significant sums to maximise performance. This season, the desire to acquire playing talent has reached new levels as the pressure for clubs to stay in the competition is higher than ever before.

“Recent years have demonstrated the risks of clubs sustaining high levels of spend while failing to get their financial house in order. Particularly in the current economic climate, as costs begin to rise, the importance of retaining financial stability off the pitch should be as much a focus for clubs as ensuring their success on it.”

New ownership acted as a catalyst for increased spending this summer. Chelsea spent more than any other Premier League club; £157.8m more than they did last summer (2022: £255.3m; 2021: £97.5m), and £53.3m more than the next biggest spenders (Manchester United: £202.0m).

This summer’s transfer window also saw a different demographic of clubs among the top spenders compared to previous years, with newly promoted Nottingham Forest recording a gross spend of £126.0m, marking only the third time Deloitte has reported any club spending over £100m upon promotion to the Premier League (Aston Villa, 2019: £124.9m; Fulham, 2018: £104.3m).

Bridge adds: “The high spend of those clubs looking to secure their place in the Premier League is an indicator of the widening gap between the Premier League and the Championship. This shift is partly attributable to the financial impact of the pandemic, which was felt more harshly by Championship than Premier League clubs.”

Although the highest value individual transfer in this summer’s window involved a lower fee than in summer 2021, the number of transfers valued at over £50m increased in comparison to 2021 and pre-pandemic years (2022: 7; 2021: 4; 2017-19 three-year average: 4).

With a season of full stadia helping to alleviate COVID-induced financial difficulties, fewer clubs have resorted to loan deals than in the previous summer window; just 10% of players-in to Premier League clubs were signed on loan deals in summer 2022, compared to 14% in the 2021 summer transfer window. The proportion of players being signed for no fee also declined, but only slightly (2022: 19%, 2021: 22%).

Net spend among Premier League clubs during this summer’s transfer window (£1.1bn) is the highest on record, surpassing £1bn for the first time. The increased margin by which Premier League clubs’ transfer expenditure exceeded their transfer receipts meant their net transfer spend constituted a greater proportion of their estimated revenue (18%) than the previous summer (2021: 10%) and the pre-pandemic average (2017-19 three-year average: 14%).

Spending across the ‘big five’

Gross transfer spend across Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues totalled €4.5bn in this summer’s window, a €1.6bn (52%) increase on the previous year (summer 2021: €3.0bn). Despite this growth, spending among Europe’s top leagues has not quite returned to pre-COVID levels (2017-19 three-year average: €4.7bn).

Premier League clubs’ gross spend (€2.2bn) stood at almost three times their closest peers’ (Serie A: €749.2m), and more than four times their furthest (Bundesliga: €484.1m). Premier League clubs were responsible for 49% of spending across the ‘big five’, during the window, the highest proportion since summer 2008.

Total gross spend among the rest of the ‘big five’ this summer (€2.3bn) only narrowly surpassed that of the Premier League alone (€2.2bn), and was €0.9bn below the average for the three summer windows prior to the pandemic (2017-19 three-year average: €3.2bn). 

Of total Premier League spending this summer, 39% went to clubs in either La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or Ligue 1 compared to a pre-COVID three-year average of 47%. Overall, 62% of Premier League spending went to clubs outside of the English system, with 17% received by Portugal’s Primeira Liga and Holland’s Eredivise, marking a record high.

The superior spending power of the Premier League is even more evident when considering net spend among the ‘big five’, which totalled €1.2bn this summer. While this is up on both the previous year (2021: €756.7m) and pre-COVID (2017-19 three-year average: €1.1bn) summer levels, it is significantly down on both when excluding the Premier League (2022: -€40.9m, 2021: €103.0m, 2017-19 three-year average: €312.5m). This year marked the only time in a decade that three of the ‘big five’ have recorded a transfer surplus (Bundesliga: €44.7m; Ligue 1: €40.6m; Serie A: €8.1m) in a summer window, and the first time Serie A has done so since 2013.

Chris Wood, assistant director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “Premier League clubs’ spending during this transfer window has dwarfed others’ within the ‘big five’, reflecting the increasing polarisation across European leagues. The coming months are likely to present similar, significant challenges for clubs across Europe as financial strains bite and budgets are stretched. Collaboration across leagues and clubs will be necessary to navigate hurdles and ensure that the benefits of the game continue to be enjoyed by fans, players and industry stakeholders for years to come.”

EFL Championship club spending

Gross spend among Championship clubs during the summer window (£86.0m) was more than double that of the previous summer (£35.1m), but still some way off pre-COVID levels (2017-19 three-year average: £169.4m). The number of Championship clubs spending during the window also doubled on the prior year, from seven to 14, but again was still behind what was typical before the pandemic (2017-19 three-year average: 21 clubs).

Premier League clubs signed 19 players from Football League clubs, up from just six in summer 2021, with 68% of these players signed for a fee.

Although Burnley recorded the highest gross spend (£21.5m) of any Championship club this summer it also recorded the second highest transfer surplus (£46.5m), with a number of players leaving the club in order to continue playing Premier League football.

Nine Championship clubs saw their transfer income exceed transfer expenditures. Of the seven whose expenditure exceeded income, four recorded a net spend of less than £2m. Overall, net transfer gain in the Championship exceeded the previous year by 89% (2022: £110.0m; 2021: £58.2m).