The collective buying power of English Premier League clubs remains unrivalled in world football, making the competition the richest football league in the world.
Heading into the last day of the 2014 summer transfer window, an analysis by Deloitte shows that gross transfer spending by EPL clubs has already reached £780m – surpassing last year’s previous record by more than £100m.
It is believed that transfer activities on the last day – which usually involve a host of big-money signings – could push the total spend by English clubs beyond £1bn for the first time in history.
The amount spent by EPL clubs dwarves the money dished out by rivals in the Spanish La Liga, with most of the £450m paid out by the league’s two giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
In total, EPL clubs have spent more than all the clubs in the German Bundesliga, the French Ligue 1 and the Italian Serie A put together.
Dan Jones, partner at Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, commented: “It has so far seen a higher level of spending than in any previous window, with a new record gross spend in a single window for a single Premier League club, and has included a record transfer fee for an individual player in English football (Angel di Maria to Manchester United).
“Considering that in each of the last two summer windows more than 20 per cent of total Premier League clubs’ spending has occurred on deadline day, there is still potential for a significant increase in that figure.”
Jones added that there are a number of factors contributing to this summer’s spend, including the showcase for global talent a World Cup provides.
Another driver of EPL spending continues to be the increased resources clubs now have as a result of improved broadcast deals. Last season the average Premier League club received around £25m more in central broadcast distributions than they did in 2012-13, which helped fuel a record transfer window last summer.
• The Sports Business Group will release its analysis of the 2014 summer transfer window on Tuesday 2 September 2014.
