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Premier League leads the spending frenzy
LONDON: Records tumbled in the transfer window as Premier League spending totalled £1.165 billion, financial analyst Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said on Thursday.
LONDON: Records tumbled in the transfer window as Premier League spending totalled £1.165 billion, financial analyst Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said on Thursday.
The outlay represents a 34 per cent rise on the previous highest in all windows of £870 million set 12 months ago and means the overall spend by clubs in 201617 already represents a record for a single Premier League season.
“This is the fourth consecutive year the summer transfer spending record has been broken,” said Business Group partner Dan Jones in a statement.
“At the start of the 201314 season, the summer transfer spending record stood at £500 million and the fact this record has more than doubled since then is a clear indicator of the financial growth of the league.”
Manchester United broke the world record when they re-signed France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus for a fee of £89 million, eclipsing the previous highest of £84.20 million paid by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale in 2013.
Manchester City were one of 13 Premier League clubs who surpassed their own transfer records when they paid £47.5 million to sign Everton defender John Stones.
“For those clubs traditionally at the upper end of the table who have been investing most significantly, their commercial revenue growth has also been a critical enabler of the increases in spending,” Jones said.
The combined outlay of the two Manchester clubs made up 42 per cent of the league’s spending in the window, according to Spreadex.com.
