Premier League clubs’ £1.9bn summer spend breaks record for whole season

theguardian.com:

Premier League clubs have broken their transfer spending record for a season in the summer window alone.

Estimates from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group show gross spending this summer of £1.9bn, surpassing by £487.8m the previous record spent across the summer and January windows of the 2017-18 season.

According to Deloitte, the gross spend is 67% higher than the previous summer transfer window’s £1.1bn and 34% higher than the previous record (summer 2017’s £1.4bn). “The 2022-23 season already has the highest transfer spend since the two-window season began, exceeding the previous record by 3% (2017-18’s £1.86bn),” the group said.

New ownership acted as a catalyst for increased spending, with Chelsea spending more than any other Premier League club. They spent £157.8m more than they did last summer (2022’s £255.3m; 2021’s £97.5m) and £53.3m more than the next biggest spenders (Manchester United’s £202m).

Liverpool’s and Manchester United’s respective moves for the forwards Darwin Núñez and Antony are the most expensive of this summer, both worth about £85m, and Chelsea signed Wesley Fofana from Leicester for an initial £70m.

Zal Udwadia, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said earlier in the window: “You’ve got the return of fans in full force and new broadcast deals coming into play, you’ve really got clubs with high amounts of confidence and certainty going into this window.

“You’ve got a new broadcast cycle that’s starting, where the international portion of the rights have exceeded domestic rights for the first time, and that really again highlights the global appeal of the Premier League.”

Premier League clubs signed 19 players from Football League clubs, up from six in summer 2021, with 68% of these