New transfer spending record for Premier League

The Premier League broke its own summer spend record during the August transfer window, which came to an end at midnight on Thursday.

According to Tim Bridge, of the Deloitte Sports Business Group, the recently ended window smashed the spending record of the top tier of the English game.

And he told Sky Sports News there is nothing to suggest this figure cannot increase further in years to come.

The total spend by Premier League clubs during the transfer window was more than £1.413bn, producing a net spend of £665m.

Bridge, a senior manager for Deloitte, explained: "It is an increase of 23 per cent on the previous summer transfer record and reflects the amount of money clubs have available to spend now on their long term future, such as players, stadiums and capital investments such as training grounds.

"About £0.7bn has gone overseas, which reflects the international image of the Premier League, as well as the overseas scouting networks clubs have.

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"Around £0.6bn was between Premier League clubs, with about £100m going to the Football League."

Bridge also pointed out that regarding percentages of available funds, this summer's transfer spend was similar to previous years.

He added: "This year the figures have really caught the attention because of the scale.

"The Neymar transfer took the headlines, but if you look at the trend in the Premier League and how much of a club's revenue they are spending on transfers, then this summer transfer window is not out of line with that trend.

"Clubs usually spend between 20-30 per cent of their revenue on transfers and this summer's window is around the 30 per cent mark.

"So when asked if this level of spending is sustainable, then it is sustainable if the revenues continue to grow at the level it currently is.

"And as we are coming into a new television broadcast cycle, the year after next, then potentially we might see further revenue increases and transfer spend will increase with it."

Bridge confirmed that the Premier League are the biggest spenders in Europe - by a hefty margin.

He added: "It's the biggest in Europe by a considerable distance, this summer, followed by Serie A where a number of clubs have new investment - and they have spent around £720m.

"The transfer window is still open in La Liga, where they have another day to go, but all three of the other big five leagues have broken the £500m spend mark."

Landmarks: Romelu Lukaku's £75m move from Everton to Manchester United was the biggest between Premier League clubs.

Tottenham received £45m from Manchester City for Kyle Walker and Everton spent a similar amount to bring Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool from Arsenal for around £35m.

Only eight players arrived from France but they included fees of over £40m apiece to take Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal, plus Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva to Manchester City.

Tiemoue Bakayoko's £34m move to Chelsea, and Serge Aurier joining Spurs on deadline day for £23m, helped Ligue 1 clubs rake in £205m from the Premier League.

Nine arrivals from La Liga totalled a reported £134.2m, with almost half of that spent by Chelsea on Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.

In contrast, 13 arrivals from the Bundesliga totalled less than £40m, with the bulk of the money going on West Ham's purchase of Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen and Oliver Burke's move from Leipzig to West Brom.