LONDON: English Premier League clubs spent £120m in the January transfer window, twice the amount they spent last year.
The transfer window closed at 11pm on Thursday after the usual frantic last day of spending, with £35m being spent on deadline day, according to Deloitte.
Queens Park Rangers, Liverpool and Newcastle accounted for more than half the total spent during the window.
The encouragement to greater spending came from the knowledge that clubs will receive an sharp increase in broadcasting revenues of £20m to £30m each from next season.
Last year’s £60m Premier League spend during the January window, fell well short of 2011’s record £225m.
Net spend this year, which includes money recouped on player sales, was £70m.
Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: “Clubs have been relatively restrained in their player transfer-fee spending, in spite of the upcoming uplift in their broadcasting revenues.
“Clubs are now in a reporting period that will count towards the first assessment of Uefa’s financial fair play break-even requirement for international competition, and Premier League clubs are also considering the implementation of additional cost-control regulation at a domestic level.”
Window shut
UEFA’s rules are designed to stop clubs spending more than they earn.
Ironically, the most outstanding move in Europe was a free transfer . . . David Beckham to Paris Saint-Germain. The 37-year-old former England captain signed a five-month contract and is donating his salary to charity.
AC Milan sealed the signing of Mario Balotelli from Manchester City for £19m while QPR broke the club record to sign centre-back Chris Samba for £12.5m.
Deadline day saw £35m spent on transfer fees with QPR spending the most in an individual deal by signing Congolese former Blackburn defender from Anzhi Makhachkala on a four-and-a-half-year deal.
QPR manager Harry Redknapp also signed ex-England midfielder Jermaine Jenas from Tottenham but missed out on West Bromwich’s Peter Odemwingie.
The Nigeria striker drove to west London in the belief he would join the Premier League’s bottom team but West Brom said he had “not been given permission to speak to QPR” and that the forward acted “wholly unprofessionally”.
New Gunner
Redknapp said: “I think he felt like we were trying to sign him and the deal had been done but it hadn’t. It was just unfortunate and I think the wires got crossed somewhere. It was a bit of a mistake.”
Arsenal signed Malaga left-back Nacho Monreal for about £10m as back-up for the injured Kieran Gibbs while Sunderland landed £5m striker Danny Graham from Swansea and Stoke City recruited England goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham City for £3.5m. The 19-year-old, England deputy to Joe Hart, stays with the Championship club on loan for the rest of the season.
Norwich signed striker Luciano Becchio from Leeds and Fulham completed the loan signing of AC Milan midfielder Urby Emanuelson, 26, for the rest of the season.
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