Spending in the summer transfer window has increased year-on-year in England's Premier League, France's Ligue 1 and Germany's 1.Bundesliga, but has reduced in Italy's Serie A and Spain's Primera Division, according to analysis by Deloitte, reports SportBusiness. The business advisory firm said that player transfer spending by Premier League clubs was around £490 million in the 2012 summer window, marginally up from the £485 million spent in summer 2011 but just short of the £500 million record of 2008.
Transfer fees to overseas clubs were around £300 million, almost 50% up on the level seen in 2011. This represented 61% of total transfer fees committed by Premier League clubs, as compared with 42% in 2011.
Deloitte said that spending in Ligue 1, mainly boosted by the financial might of Paris Saint-Germain, rose to around £190 million and the 1.Bundesliga increased to around £210 million. However, spending in Italy (around £310 million) and Spain (around £110 million) is at lower levels than the last summer window.
Commenting on Premier League spending Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "While the highest levels of spending continue to be at those clubs competing at the upper end of the Premier League and in European competition, we have also seen significant investment by the newly promoted teams, looking to establish themselves in the Premier League.
While the new broadcast deals further demonstrate the commercial strength of the Premier League, the key challenge for Premier League clubs is how they manage their costs - notably transfer expenditure and players' wages - so as to retain more of this increased revenue, address falling profits and, in the case of the top clubs, continue on the road to compliance with UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations."
Alan Switzer, director in the Sports Business Group, added: "While the total spending this summer is still high, it should be considered in the context of increases of over 70% in the Premier League domestic broadcast deals announced earlier this year.
"Once overseas broadcast deals are factored in, the average Premier League club looks set to benefit from at least an additional £25 million of revenue per year from next season."
