Transfer deals set record figures

TRANSFER deals by Premier League clubs set record figures this summer with about £500 million (€614 million) spent on bringing players in, an estimated £30m (€36m) more than last year.

According to figures produced by business advisory firm Deloitte, the spending spree sparked by a new TV deal last year has shown no signs of slowing.

“This level of transfer spending is far in excess of spending by other European leagues,” said Paul Rawnsley, director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

“With the majority of their revenue streams already contractually secured, English football clubs are proving resilient to the current challenging economic environment.

“While football is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant.”

Rawnsley added: “Overall the Premier League clubs have spent around £675m in 2008, including £500m this summer, which is up on transfer spending in each year since the transfer windows were introduced.”

According to Deloitte’s research, Premier League clubs have spent about £215m on players from other top flight clubs, representing more than 40% of the total transfer activity by Premier League clubs, a higher proportion than in previous windows.