Mata’s £37.1m move helps English clubs smash seasonal transfer record

ENGLISH Premier League clubs were once again the biggest spenders in Europe in the January transfer window, splashing out around £130 million to break the record for the season as a whole.

Watmore and Haynes joined Hibs on loan. Picture: Neil Hanna

Figures released yesterday by football finance experts Deloitte showed that clubs in England’s top division spent £760m over the summer and January windows, shattering the previous record of £670m from the 2008-09 season.

“The transfer spending is supported by the record level of revenues of Premier League clubs, driven primarily by new broadcast agreements,” said Dan Jones, of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. Premier League television deals are generating more than 
£5 billion up until 2016. “This gives Premier League clubs the ability to continue to invest significantly in their playing talent.”

France’s top clubs were the second heaviest spenders in Europe in January, according to Deloitte, although their total outlay was only around 40 per cent of the English Premier.

Italy spent 30 per cent and Germany 20 per cent of the Premier League total, while the spending of top-flight teams in Spain – a country still gripped by the economic recession – was exceeded by the emerging markets of Russia and Turkey.

The outlay in the English top flight was skewed as signings made by two clubs – Manchester United and Chelsea – accounted for more than 60 per cent of the division’s total spending.

Juan Mata joined United for a club-record £37.1m from Chelsea, who spent nearly £50m on four players including Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Kurt Zouma.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham chose not to spend. Arsenal’s only signing was Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom on loan.