Nearly a billion euros were spent in the Premier League during this winter transfer window, a new record for this secondary transfer market, the British audit firm Deloitte reported on Wednesday, the day after the closing of these transactions. .
With 815 million pounds, or some 920 million euros, the most attractive football championship in the world practically doubles the previous record for a winter transfer window, set in 2017-18 (486 M EUR), before the Covid crisis.
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Completed on Wednesday evening in the last hours of the market, the transfer from Benfica Lisbon to Chelsea of Argentinian midfielder and 2022 world champion, Enzo Fernandez, for an amount of 121 million euros - an absolute record for the Premier League - symbolizes this new outbreak. .
The total amount is thus almost three times higher than that of last year at the same time, according to the study of the sports branch of Deloitte.
On Tuesday alone, more than 310 million euros were put on the table by English clubs.
Spending for this winter transfer window, however, remains below the record for all transfer windows combined, set last summer with some 2.2 billion euros.
By combining the two markets for the season - summer and winter - Premier League clubs spent 3.1 billion euros in 2022-23 - again a record.
Read alsoAnother "So British" transfer window
By way of comparison, according to the same study, the English clubs are at the origin this winter of 79% of the expenditure carried out among all the five major championships.
"
By securing the services of top talent, (English) clubs hope to improve their performance, which will enhance the attractiveness of the Premier League and cement its position at the top of world football
," commented Tim Bridge, the principal study partner.
However, he warned about the sustainability of this ultra-spending policy led by the half-dozen of the most prestigious clubs in the country.
In a tweet, Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish League (LaLiga), whose championship is England's main competitor in Europe,
".
“
We hear about the power of the Premier League, but (…) it is a competition built on clubs which record losses of several million
”, he judged.
Unlike the Premier League, the continent's other four main leagues have been rather wise this winter.
They “
had a more limited purchasing power, in particular because of the drop in their TV rights and the pandemic, from which they are still recovering
”, explained Calum Ross, the deputy director of the sports branch of Deloitte.
