£2.36 billion spent !

Premier League clubs spent an astonishing £2.36 billion! on new players in the transfer window that closed on Friday, according to analysis from the management consultancy company, Deloitte.

The summer window, which was open from June 14 to Sept. 1, exceeded last year’s record £1.92bn, with the top-flight clubs spending £255 million on deadline day alone, it said.

Premier League clubs were responsible for 48% of the spending across Europe’s top five leagues including LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

“A second successive summer of record spending by Premier League clubs suggests that year-on-year revenue growth could return following the pandemic,” Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said in a statement.

“Nearly three-quarters of Premier League clubs [14] spent more this summer than the last, reflecting the increased intensity of competition.

For example:

Moisés Caicedo broke the British transfer record when he joined Chelsea.

Chelsea have spent more than $1bn in transfer fees since the new ownership led by American Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover of the club in May 2022.

The London-based club broke the British transfer record for the second time in a year by signing Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo for a reported £115m, eclipsing the £106m they paid to sign midfielder Enzo Fernández in January.

Champions Manchester City signed midfielder Matheus Nunes for £53m this week, having earlier bought Jérémy Doku for £55m, defender Joško Gvardiol for £77m and midfielder Mateo Kovačić for £25m.

Last season’s runners-up Arsenal splashed out £65m on forward Kai Havertz, followed by £105m on England midfielder Declan Rice, and Manchester United spent £72m on striker Rasmus Højlund.

Newcastle United, who finished fourth last season, brought in midfielder Sandro Tonali for £55m and winger Harvey Barnes for £38m.

We spent in the region of £120 million on our new hot shots, but more importantly due to some revenue gained by sales we are on the credit side of the ledger.

Somewhat worryingly, almost half of the transfer fees received by Premier League clubs from overseas came from the Saudi Pro League club, which has the fourth-highest transfer spend of any league globally.

Also, is this spending frenzy going to continue to  be sustainable ?