Premier League clubs spent £180 million during the January transfer window but spending fell for the first time since 2012, report football finance experts Deloitte.
That number was slightly decieiving due to almost a third of the total coming from Chelsea, who splashed out £55 million to sign Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, who will arrive this summer.
This time last year, Premier League clubs forked out £430 million, with Virgil van Dijk for £75 million from Southampton and Aymeric Laporte for £50million from Manchester City the most prominent signings.
January’s business in 2019 appeared to be more about exits, with Brahim Diaz departing Manchester City to Real Madrid for £15.5 million, Mousa Dembele joining Guangzhou R&F from Tottenham for £11 million and Schalke’s surprise £9.6 million move Manchester City’s Rabbi Matondo.
“As we approach a decisive phase of the season, Premier League clubs’ January transfer spending has been relatively muted in comparison to what we have seen in previous years,” said Tim Bridge, director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.
January spending was at £225million in 2011 but fell to £60million in the following year.
It doubled the following year, and remained steady at £130million in 2014 and 2015, before jumping to £175million, £215million and £430million over the last three seasons.
The £180million transfer bill means total gross spending by Premier League clubs in the 2018/19 season is an estimated £1.4billion, the second-highest season ever following record spend of £1.9billion in 2017/18.
Other findings from Deloitte included the so-called Big Six accounting for 43% of the January expenditure, lower than last January when this figure stood at 62%.
Equally, those in the bottom six of the table spent £20million – compared to £70million in the same period last season.
Championship clubs spent £60million in the window, more than double last year’s total of £30million, Deloitte added.
