Record of £710 million was spent during epl transfer

ANALYSTS have revealed that
2011 was a record year for
Barclays Premier League
transfer spending, with a
staggering £710million being
spent over the course of the
year.
Research by the Deloitte
group shows that Premier
League clubs spent
£485million this summer - an
increase of 33% on last year's
spending - and £225million in
January, making this year a
record for transfer
expenditure.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester City and
Manchester United have all
spent over £50million on
signing players this summer
alone as football continues to
defy the economic difficulties
experienced by the rest of the
country.
The previous record spending
level was £675million in 2008,
when Sheik Mansour's
takeover of Manchester City
heralded a new era of
spending at Eastlands which
has not stopped since.
Analysts put the record down
to increased expectations
among top clubs and predict
that the high spending will
continue.
"Apart from last year, summer
spending has held up around
this £400million-£500million
mark. That seems to be the
norm for the last four or five
years and there is no
compelling reason to think
why it's going to drop," said
Dan Jones, partner in the
Sports Business Group at
Deloitte.
"Football is not immune to
what is going on in the wider
economy but it is pretty
resistant to it. Football's
revenues are continuing to
increase and I don't think it
will fall.
"This is a record calendar year
because if you look at the top
five clubs they have all had
reason to spend.
"There is a new-ish manager
at Liverpool, a new manager
at Chelsea, ambitious owners
at Manchester City, a team
looking to refresh in
Manchester United after a lot
of retirements, and Arsenal
needed to spend too."
Liverpool were one of the
most active clubs in the
transfer market this summer,
with Craig Bellamy completing
his return to Anfield from
Manchester City just minutes
before Wednesday night's
11pm deadline.
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