New research has shown that a number of major leagues lost money when it came to transfer expenditure over the summer, with the Premier League far out in front as the biggest spenders.
The summer window was another busy one for leagues across the world, with hundreds of millions pounds spent globally once again.
Several sizeable fees were dished out, from Julian Alvarez leaving Manchester City in an £81million deal, to Dominic Solanke swapping Bournemouth for Tottenham for the cost of £65m.
It wasn’t just the Premier League spending money, however, with the likes of the Saudi Pro League, Serie A and Ligue 1 teams also breaking the bank in bids to strengthen their squads.
And recent research carried out by Football Benchmark has shown that six major leagues worldwide lost money in total when it came to transfer fees, with two other divisions making profit through player sales..
Research has shown that the Premier League were one of a number of major leagues who lost money in transfer fees this summer
Chelsea were the biggest spenders in the division, splashing out over £200million on new players
Brighton, meanwhile, fronted the losses, losing £154m in transfer fees over the summer window
According to the report, last summer, six of the eight leagues finished the summer transfer window in positive balance overall when it came to transfer fees.
This year, however, six were in negative balance: the Premier League, the Saudi Pro League, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and LaLiga.
The Premier League were adjudged to have spent a total of just under £2billion, splashing out £1,966,319,080 on new additions between the 20 clubs.
As well as Solanke, other hefty deals included Leny Yoro’s £52m move to Manchester United, Joao Felix’s permanent move to Chelsea and Manuel Ugarte’s £51m swap to United.
The league did, however, also make a lot of money. The likes of Alvarez, Moussa Diaby and Michael Olise all left for sizeable sums, but those fees weren’t enough for the top flight to end the summer in profit.
The report suggests that clubs made an average of £66.9m each, though spent an average of £98.3m each.
14 of the 20 clubs in the league ended the summer with a negative balance compared to what they started it with in regards to transfer fees, with Chelsea leading the way in expenditure (201m) and Brighton fronting the overall balance loss (154m).
Leicester, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham and…