This exceeds the previous record set in January 2011 by £205m (91%), according to data from the firm’s sports business group. Deadline day expenditure by Premier League clubs totalled £150m (2017: £60m), representing the highest ever January deadline day spend, exceeding the previous record set in January 2011 of £135m.

As a result of two consecutive record transfer windows, the first time this has happened in a decade, Premier League clubs’ total spending for the 2017/18 season is an estimated £1.9bn, growing for the sixth consecutive season and eclipsing last season’s previous record high by 35%.

Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said, ‘International trade has flourished, with the highest ever January gross overseas outlay in Premier League history (£260m), but also the highest amount of January receipts from abroad (£185m), with names such as Coutinho and Costa leaving the UK and Laporte and Aubameyang arriving from abroad.’

Despite the large sums spent in the transfer market, Deloitte says Premier League clubs’ expenditure continues to be well within their means in the context of revenue generated. Estimated 2017/18 net spend of £755m represents just 17% of forecast 2017/18 Premier League revenue, in line with the average over the 15 years since the first transfer window in January 2003, as clubs’ increase investment in players in proportion to the overall growth of the football business.

Recent January windows have seen the Premier League’s bottom six clubs contribute the majority of gross expenditure, as they invest in an attempt to ensure survival. However, the January 2018 window produced a trend more commonly associated with the summer windows, as total expenditure by clubs in the ‘big six’ came to £265m, representing 62% of total gross spending, contrasting against January 2017 when half of gross expenditure came from the relegation threatened bottom-six clubs.

Jones said: ‘Such is the level of competition for a coveted top-four position in the Premier League, as well as ongoing European battles, that top clubs have been willing to break with more traditional summer investment strategies to steal a march on their rivals mid-season, with several club transfer records being broken in this window.’

According to Deloitte’s figures, the Premier League was again the highest-spending league in European football during the January transfer window (£430m/€490m). The next-highest spending league was La Liga, with total transfer expenditure of around £250m/€285m. Clubs in the Bundesliga spent around £65m/€75m, with Ligue 1 clubs spending around £50m/€55m. Serie A clubs spent around £20m/€25m.

Report by Pat Sweet