Winter spending hits record low

redout

Premier League clubs' spending in the winter transfer window was the lowest since the system began in 2003.

The record high of £170million a year ago has been replaced by a record low of around £30million, according to business advisory firm Deloitte.

Even the late signing of Adam Johnson by Manchester City for around £7million did not see the overall spending in the English top-flight beat the £35million spent in the first January window in 2003.

Previous figures were: in 2009, £170million; in 2008, £150m; in 2007, £60m; in 2006, £70m; in 2005, £50m; in 2004, £50m; and in 2003, £35m.

No surprise really. The recession obviously took its toll.

Mars Bar

Not a surprise, but that's still a massive drop!!

A Dub in Glasgo

Or maybe it showed that 2006 - 2009 were the years when EPL football clubs had more money than sense?

leninbenjamin

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Or maybe it showed that 2006 - 2009 were the years when EPL football clubs had more money than sense?

Actually they didn't have money. Most of the transfer activities of club was performed using the availability of cheap credit, i.e. bank loans etc. Indeed, I'd hazard this was a lot more common in January because of clubs finding themselves needing to make unplanned acquisitions due to injury. Now that the credit lines have been cut off, clubs are on their own and probably have to just work around it. So it was a bubble that burst, just like our own housing market. Players were bought on the promise of future earnings, in the same way houses were bought on the promise of future price rises.

Rekop dog

I think players are waaay too overpriced now, when times where good people didn't mind spending retarded amounts of money on very average players like Ryan Babel and Robinho. Most teams clearly don't have the means anymore to spend crazy money like this and until the value of players go radically down I can't see it changing for the next few transfer windows.

Chardee MacDennis

Rekop dog wrote: »

I think players are waaay too overpriced now, when times where good people didn't mind spending retarded amounts of money on very average players like Ryan Babel and Robinho. Most teams clearly don't have the means anymore to spend crazy money like this and until the value of players go radically down I can't see it changing for the next few transfer windows.

Robinho isnt average imo, not suited to the prem at all, and expensive because of his reputation.

babel also had just come off a very good season at ajax and capped with a magnificent display in the u-21 euros, at the time it wasnt an over valuation imo just another signing that didnt turn out well.

rednik

Huge drop ok, but just look at the likes of Portsmouth and Palace to name just two clubs in difficulty. The days of clubs spending big is over. They will no longer risk administration unless they are run by clowns and I for one wouldn't blame them.

redout

70% of all deals completed in January were loan deals only.

That is the highest amount ever.

HalloweenJack

About time is all I can say.

That doesn't make sense to me? I'm pretty sure that there is a fee between two clubs to allow a player move on loan, and due to the amount of them I'd say its above 30 million pounds.

A Dub in Glasgo

Why would you say every loan deal, or even the majoity of them, involve a fee?

Reganio 2

I would say the majority of them don't have fee's just pay his wages and possibly for younger players the guarantee of a certain amount of football.

Take Marcelo Moreno for example what on earth are Shaktar gaining from loaning him out to Fulham?

Bubs101

I actually think it's amazing in the year where there is everything to play for and virtually any team has something to gain and lose because of the tight league table nobody invested anything.