LONDON: Premier League clubs dispelled the Covid-19 blues by achieving the the second-highest January spending spree since the window was introduced in 2003.

The dealing tally of £295m (£180m net) was the highest total since £430m in 2018. By contrast the spending last year by Premier League clubs was ‘only’ £70m.

Europe’s other top four leagues combined spent 380m euros (£317m), only £2m more than the Premier League and Football League combined.

Tottenham were the busiest club on deadline day. They signed two Juventus players for at least £24m, sold England midfielder Dele Alli to Frank Lampard’s Everton for a fee of up to £40m and loaned out three players.

Newcastle brought in two Premier League defenders, while Manchester City and Burnley recruited strikers for more than £10m.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal for Barcelona on a free transfer, while Juventus loaned Aaron Ramsey to Scottish champions Rangers.

Over half of the money spent by Premier League clubs (£150m) came from the bottom five clubs – Everton, Norwich, Newcastle, Watford and Burnley. Last year the bottom five spent a total of £5m.

Dan Jones, partner and head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “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.

“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.”

Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur joinded Spurs for £15.9m (which could rise by £5m) and Antonio Conte’s side have paid an £8.3m loan fee for Sweden winger Dejan Kulusevski with an option to buy for £29.2m.

Record signing Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon), Bryan Gil (Valencia) and Giovani lo Celso (Villarreal) have all left on a temporary basis.

Newcastle signed Brighton’s Dan Burn for £13m and Aston Villa’s Matt Targett on loan to end an impressive month of recruitment.

Manchester City signed River Plate striker Julian Alvarez for £14.1m – although he will go back on loan to the Argentine club until the summer.

Burnley signed striker Wout Weghorst from Wolfsburg for £12m.

His Netherlands team-mate Donny van de Beek became Lampard’s first signing as Everton boss, completing a loan move from Manchester United, and Alli became his first permanent recruit on an initial free transfer.

Crystal Palace signed two strikers – Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had been on loan from Mainz, for £9m and £1m Luke Plange, who goes back on loan to old club Derby.

Brighton signed Royale Union Saint-Gilloise forward Deniz Undav for a reported £6m but loaned him back to the Belgian club.

Brentford made the first signing of the day when they recruited Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen on a free transfer.

Championship promotion chasers Bournemouth were very busy with five signings. They signed Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell, Liverpool defender Nat Phillips and Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman on loan, plus forwards Kieffer Moore and Siriki Dembele for undisclosed fees.

Other Premier League players to move to the second tier on loan were Tino Anjorin (Chelsea to Huddersfield), Jed Steer (Aston Villa to Luton) and Charlie Goode (Brentford to Sheffield United).

Previously Liverpool made the biggest signing of the window in England the day before deadline day, with Porto’s Colombia winger Luis Diaz joining in a deal worth 45m euros (£37.5m), with a further 15m euros (£12.5m) in potential bonuses.

Newcastle had already sealed a deal for Lyon’s Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes for £35m with £6.6m in add-ons, Burnley striker Chris Wood for £25m and Atletico Madrid and England right-back Kieran Trippier for £12m.

There were four other Premier League signings worth £10m or more.

Aston Villa signed Everton left-back Lucas Digne for £25m, while Everton bought two defenders for a combined £27m – Rangers’ Nathan Patterson and Dynamo Kyiv’s Vitalii Mykolenko.

Wolves made the loan signing of RB Leipzig forward Hwang Hee-chan permanent for £14m.

The biggest signing in Europe came when Juventus signed Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic – who had been a target for several Premier League sides – for an initial £58m.

Villa signed Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho on loan, while Adama Traore (Wolves to Barcelona), Anthony Martial (Manchester United to Sevilla) and Amad Diallo (Manchester United to Rangers) all left the Premier League on temporary deals.

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