Isak’s record Liverpool move caps Premier League’s £3 billion transfer frenzy

LONDON (Agencies): Alexander Isak’s British record 125 million pounds ($169 million) move from Newcastle United to Liverpool on Monday completed an eye-watering summer of English Premier League spending. The Swedish striker’s move, along with several other big-money deadline day deals such as Newcastle’s 55 million pounds swoop for Brentford striker Yoane Wissa meant the cumulative spend for the world’s richest soccer league during the transfer window reached three billion pounds for the first time. Gross spending for the Premier League this season is already the highest ever, exceeding the 2.7 billion pounds spent in the 2022-23 season, and the January window is still to come. The 20 clubs have spent 650 million pounds more in this window than the previous highest summer spend in 2023. It has not all been one-way traffic with clubs also recouping some of their outlay in sales but the 1.2 billion pounds net spend is also the highest ever — a 114% increase on the previous summer and 13% higher than the previous record in 2022, according to Deloitte.

“A third record-breaking summer of Premier League spending in four years sends a strong signal that, despite subdued spending across the rest of the continent, clubs have no plans to slow down their investment in the on-pitch product,” Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group said. The financial muscle of the Premier League means it accounted for 51% of the gross spend from the big five European leagues which also includes Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1. The average net spend of the other four leagues, according to Deloitte, was 90 million euros ($105 million). While the Premier League splurge reached new heights, England’s second-tier Championship also soared to a combined 240 million pounds gross spend, 95 million pounds more than the previous season.

The figures come despite the Premier League’s strict Profit and Sustainability Rules — highlighting the huge income that even middle-ranking clubs enjoy from the league’s TV deals. “There continues to be a complex regulatory landscape from both domestic and European governing bodies, however, there is clearly still strong appetite for recruitment,” Bridge said. “However, financial sustainability should still be at the heart of all business to encourage the long-term success of any football club.” Champions Liverpool, who also signed Germany’s Florian Wirtz for an initial 100 million pounds, not surprisingly topped the list for Premier League spenders during the summer. Their outlay of 483 million euros, for a net spend of 264 million euros, was followed by Chelsea’s 328 million euros outlay and Arsenal’s 293 million euros opens new tab. Although Chelsea did recoup 332 million euros for a small net profit.