LONDON: Premier League clubs’ spending has set a new record for a single transfer window as the historically lavish spree reached £1.17 billion ($1.57 billion, 1.27 billion euros) on Thursday.
With a week to go until the window closes, Deloitte’s Sports Business Group say the 20 English top tier teams have shattered the previous record of £1.165 billion for one league in a single window, which was set by the Premier League last year.
Fuelled by global broadcast rights deals totalling £8.4 billion, 12 Premier League teams have broken their transfer record since the end of last season.
Liverpool’s record went on £39 million Mohamed Salah, Arsenal broke theirs for £50 million Alexandre Lacazette, while Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton set new marks with the signings of Alvaro Morata, Davinson Sanchez and Gylfi Sigurdsson respectively.
Manchester City were the biggest spenders, with boss Pep Guardiola shelling out £221.5 million, including £54 million on Tottenham defender Kyle Walker.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho splurged £145.8 million on three players, with the marquee recruit, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, for a British record £75 million.
Everton are currently third in the spending chart after paying £139.9 million on new signings funded by the Lukaku sale.
Some fear the spending is unsustainable and could put the financial health of clubs at risk in the long-term.
But Deloitte consultant Chris Stenson believes the unprecedented fees are in line with reasonable expectations, given the riches available to Premier League clubs from the record broadcast deals which took effect last season.
“The level of transfer expenditure in this summer’s window has been extraordinary but when analyzed in the context of record broadcast, commercial and matchday revenues, Premier League clubs are spending within their means,” he said.
“Their ability to generate these record revenues and attract the world’s very best playing talent continues to drive the Premier League’s status as the most commercially successful football league in the world.”
Even newly-promoted Huddersfield have broken their transfer record four times as the impact of the television deal is felt throughout the top flight.
Despite Paris Saint-Germain paying a world record £200 million to sign Brazil striker Neymar from Barcelona, the Premier League teams have easily out-gunned the other top European leagues.
There is every chance the new record will climb even higher as teams fine-tune their squads with more spending in the final days of the transfer market, which won’t reopen until January.
“We expect further significant expenditure in the next seven days as clubs seek value in the market,” Stenson said.
“Last summer, Premier League clubs spent around £300m in the final week of the window, more than they did throughout the entire January 2017 window.”
Football: Premier League transfer spending sets new record
Football: Premier League transfer spending sets new record
Ferhat stars as Mouloudia get CAF Champions League boost
- Muslim Anatouf scored after 15 minutes and a Ferhat thunderbolt on 44 minutes gave Mouloudia a two-goal half-time advantage
- It would have been an injustice if the Sudanese club had snatched a draw
JOHANNESBURG: Zinedine Ferhat created the first goal and scored the second for Mouloudia Alger of Algeria in a 2-1 win over Al Hilal of Sudan 2-1 on Friday that threw CAF Champions League Group C wide open.
Muslim Anatouf scored after 15 minutes and a Ferhat thunderbolt on 44 minutes gave Mouloudia a two-goal half-time advantage before a near-capacity crowd in the 45,000-seat Algiers stadium.
Hilal rarely threatened to reduce the deficit in a cauldron of cheering, singing and flag waving until Mauritanian Ahmed Salem M’Bareck netted with 13 minutes remaining.
Ghanaian substitute Kamaradini Mamudu had a late chance to bring Hilal level, but his header from a corner flew wide.
It would have been an injustice if the Sudanese club had snatched a draw, however, as they were outplayed by quicker, slicker Mouloudia for long periods of an often scrappy, foul-ridden match.
Despite losing for the first time in the group after two victories and two draws, Hilal retained first place with eight points.
Topping the table in the most competitive of the four groups is a remarkable achievement by Hilal given they have to stage home matches in Rwanda because of the ongoing Sudanese civil war.
Mouloudia had just one point after matchday three, but back-to-back home wins over Saint-Eloi Lupopo from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Hilal have lifted them to second with seven points.
Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa have five points, one more than Lupopo, ahead of their clash in Lubumbashi on Sunday.
A win for Lupopo would leave Sundowns in danger of missing the knockout stage of the premier African club competition for only the second time since winning the 2016 final against Zamalek of Egypt.
In the final round on February 14, Hilal host Lupopo and Sundowns will have home advantage over Mouloudia, whose South African coach, Rhulani Mokwena, was formerly in charge of the Pretoria club.
