Premier League clubs have broken the record for transfer spend over a season, as they crossed the £1 billion mark in the January transfer window. The English top flight had set a record last season as well, spending a total of £965 million in the 2014/15 season, which has now been eclipsed.
According to Deloitte, the Premier League clubs had spent £130 million in the January transfer window by the time deadline day came around, which meant that added to the £870 billion spent in the summer transfer window, the English league has spent in excess of £1 billion for the first time ever.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, commented on the Premier League crossing the 10 figure milestone, saying “Premier League clubs have chosen to spend significantly in this year's January transfer window. A total spend of (almost) £175m this window has contributed to Premier League clubs passing the £1billion threshold for spending in a season for the first time.”
“Notably, this January's spending has been driven in large part by clubs in the bottom half of the table. The new broadcast deal for Premier League clubs from next season and the threat of missing out through relegation is contributing to clubs investing in an attempt to stay in the league.”
Breakdown of Premier League spending in January
Despite a relatively sedate deadline day last night, significant investment was made by a variety of clubs, with Stoke City breaking their club transfer record to sign Giannelli Imbula from FC Porto for the sum of £18.3 million, while Newcastle United ended up spending £29 million for the services of Jonjo Shelvey, Henri Saivet and Andros Townsend, thus outspending the entirety of La Liga in the January market.
Despite the £90 million spend by the bottom six clubs, Aston Villa were notable in their failure to lure anyone to the club, which has reportedly led to Remi Gard reconsidering his position as manager of the Birmingham club.
Here are the January spending totals of each Premier League club
| Club | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| Newcastle United | £29 million |
| Norwich City | £20.3 million |
| Stoke City | £18.3 million |
| Watford | £18.2 million |
| AFC Bournemouth | £17.2 million |
| Everton | £16.5 million |
| Sunderland | £14.75 million |
| Leicester City | £8.95 million |
| Swansea City | £8 million |
| Liverpool | £5.1 million |
| Arsenal | £5 million |
| Southampton | £4 million |
| West Ham United | £3.75 million |
| Chelsea | £3.5 million |
| Manchester City | £0.15 million |
| Crystal Palace | £0 million |
| West Bromwich Albion | £0 million |
| Manchester United | 0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0 |
| Aston Villa | 0 |
