EPL spending spree breaks January transfer records

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Premier League clubs spent a record £815 million ($1 billion) in a frantic January transfer window - nearly double the previous highest figure, according to sports finance experts Deloitte.

Deals came thick and fast in the final hours of the window on Tuesday, with big-spending Chelsea setting a new British record in signing Argentina's World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for 121 million euros ($132 million, £106.8 million).

The gross spend was 90 percent higher than the previous record (£430 million in 2018) and almost triple the previous January window.

Clubs from the English top flight also set a record for net transfer expenditure during a January window of £720 million.

Combined with the record £1.9 billion spend during the summer transfer window, Premier League clubs have splurged £2.8 billion during the 2022/23 season, a new all-time high.

Deadline-day expenditure by Premier League clubs of £275 million is also a new record for January, obliterating the previous mark.

Five of the top six revenue-generating clubs accounted for more than half of the total gross spend, with Chelsea responsible for more than a third of the total league expenditure.

The Premier League's huge spending is backed by record revenues for broadcasting rights for the 2022-2025 cycle.

For the first time international TV rights sales outstripped the figure for...