Premiership clubs splashed out in the transfer window with total spending of £485m up a third on a year ago according to figures from Deloitte, a pattern that was reproduced over four of the five top leagues in Europe, Germany being the exception where spending held steady. Qualifying for and succeeding in the Champions League appears to be a major motivation for spending. Although spending was up, it did not reach the 2008 record of £500m.<
Premiership clubs splashed out in the transfer window with total spending of £485m up a third on a year ago according to figures from Deloitte, a pattern that was reproduced over four of the five top leagues in Europe, Germany being the exception where spending held steady. Qualifying for and succeeding in the Champions League appears to be a major motivation for spending. Although spending was up, it did not reach the 2008 record of £500m.
Three clubs in the north-west spent over £50m with Manchester City leading the way with £63.6m followed by Manchester United with £53.1m and then Liverpool in third place. Chelsea came fourth with spending of £40.6m. Two-thirds of the spending in the Premier League was by the top five clubs. £100m was spent on deadline day.
Spending on foreign players was down by 25 per cent on a year ago but still accounted for 42 per cent of the total spend. The increased spend on home grown talent reflects the regulatory encouragement given by the football authorities.
17 clubs in the Champions League had a net spend of £350.3m which will leave them little leeway under Uefa’s financial fair play rules once wages are taken into account. This poses Uefa with a challenge in terms of enforcing the rules. It is one thing to make an example of an arriviste like Manchester City, another to start excluding the likes of Bayern Munich. Exclude too many top clubs and you don’t have a meaningful competition.