LONDON, Sept 3 — Spending by teams in Europe’s Big Five leagues totalled a record €5.5 billion (RM25.4 billion) during the close season transfer window, financial analyst Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said today.

The outlay was €0.9 billion more than the previous record set in 2018, with England’s Premier League clubs spending €1.55 billion with a net spend of €635 million.

Spain’s La Liga clubs spent €1.37 billion— exceeding €1 billion for the first time — while Italy’s Serie A (€1.17 billion) Germany’s Bundesliga (€740 million) the French Ligue 1 (€670 million) all set new records.

"Spending across clubs in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues has reached record levels in this summer’s transfer window,” said Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

"This unprecedented level of spend has been driven by a number of factors, including additional income from new league broadcast cycles, participation in, and subsequent distributions from, Uefa club competitions.”

Jones said club-specific factors such as management changes and improving playing squads to achieve on-pitch objectives were also contributing factors.

"The improved financial performance of European football clubs has also reduced the need for clubs to sell their best players,” he added.

Spain’s Atletico Madrid signed 19-year-old striker Joao Felix from Benfica for €126 million while Barcelona landed France international forward Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid for €120 million.

Real Madrid ended their long pursuit of Eden Hazard by signing the Belgium winger from Chelsea for a reported fee of €100 million.

Net spend in the Premier League fell by £50 million since the league’s deadline day on Aug. 8.

"Looking to the Premier League, this summer’s transfer expenditure fell narrowly short of record levels, and net spend was at its lowest level since summer 2015,” Jones said.

"While this level of net spend as a proportion of revenue of 11 per cent is the lowest since summer 2011, we still expect wages to increase at a greater rate than revenue in the next couple of seasons.” — Reuters