Next year the new £1.7 billion Premier League television contract kicks in, an increase of 70 per cent on the present contract. Even so, a few exceptions aside, Premier League clubs were relatively restrained in their spending in the summer transfer window.
The Premier League’s net spend over the last three seasons was £427.1m, £369.1m and £414.6m. They paid just £12.5m more than they did two summers ago. If the David De Gea deal had gone through, they would have spent less than in 2013.
Next year the new £1.7 billion Premier League television contract kicks in, an increase of 70 per cent on the present contract. Even so, a few exceptions aside, Premier League clubs were relatively restrained in their spending in the summer transfer window.
The Premier League’s net spend over the last three seasons was £427.1m, £369.1m and £414.6m. They paid just £12.5m more than they did two summers ago. If the David De Gea deal had gone through, they would have spent less than in 2013.
Writing in The Times yesterday, Gabrielle Marcotti commented, ‘The impression is that the Premier League is achieving some sort of maturity, some sense of living within its means and offering owners a return, rather than engaging in a spending arms race, even though it could afford to do so.’
If so, why? Financial fair play has probably had some effect. Benefactors in many cases consider that they have spent what they should and are looking at break even targets.
It will, however, be interesting to see how relegation threatened clubs react in the January transfer window, given the sums that are now at stake.