Premier League clubs create history in winter transfer window

Not so long ago, the sports industry, like any other industry of the world was severely hit by the emergence of coronavirus.

According to a report published in Forbes, it was estimated that the two months of the shutdown of all the sporting activities in 2020 might have resulted in a loss of $5 billion, factoring dropped sales of tickets, concessions, sponsorship and TV broadcast.

Now, businesses around the world, including the sports industry, is looking to recover from the heavy hit they sustained due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

However, in such testing times, Premier League clubs have created history by spending the second-highest amount in the winter transfer window.

Premier League clubs splashed out nearly £300 million in January — the second-highest amount ever spent in the winter transfer window — boosted by a flurry of late big-money moves.

The arrivals of Luis Diaz, Bruno Guimaraes and Rodrigo Bentancur in the last few days of the month lifted the league’s gross spending to £295 million ($398 million) according to figures from finance company Deloitte.

January 2018’s figure of £430 million remains the record but this year’s outlay is more than four times higher than last year’s figure of £70 million when the coronavirus crisis hit budgets.

The clubs’ net expenditure –. player purchases less player sales — of £180 million is the highest since the January transfer window was introduced in 2003.

The five clubs currently at the bottom of the Premier League spent around £150 million, more than 50 per cent of the total.

Among the big moves, Liverpool signed Porto’s Colombia winger Diaz for a reported initial fee of £37.5 million while Newcastle paid an initial £35 million for Lyon’s Brazilian midfielder Guimaraes.

Newly wealthy Newcastle also paid Burnley £25 million for New Zealand international striker Chris Wood and signed England defender Kieran Trippier for £12 million from Atletico Madrid.

“This transfer window indicates that the financial pressures of Covid on Premier League clubs are easing, with spending firmly back to pre-pandemic levels and remarkably among the highest we’ve ever seen in January,” Dan Jones, head of Deloitte’s sports business group.

“The Premier League continues to lead the way globally, retaining its status as the world’s biggest domestic football league in financial terms, once again supported by full stadia and securing strong overseas broadcast deals,” he added.

He further maintained that other European football clubs are eyeing to repair the damages caused by the pandemic, but the Premier League clubs have up their game, spending almost double the amount spent by its closest competitor Serie A.

“Other large European leagues are also edging back to higher spending, but it is Premier League clubs that have notched up the largest total spend in this transfer window, spending almost £150 million more than Serie A clubs, the closest competitor.”

Total gross spending across Europe’s “big five” leagues (the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1) reached 735 million euros ($828 million), exceeding last January’s total by 460 million euros.

“In stark contrast to January 2021, the wider European transfer market appears buoyant,” said Calum Ross, assistant director at the sports business group.

“Many clubs are starting to bounce back from significant Covid-induced reductions, with rising revenues re-activating activity within the transfer market.”