By CARL SETTERLUND
Although all the official numbers aren’t in, British financial analysts Deloitte think they’ve got a handle on roughly how much money exchanged hands this summer — and it’s quite a lot.
Deloitte estimates that English Premier League clubs spent a total of £835 million, or roughly $1.4 billion, smashing last year’s record EPL transfer window total of £630 million, which was the first time total spending eclipsed one billion U.S. dollars.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester United broke the spending record for a single club, racking up a tab believed to be in the range of £150 million. Headlining that group is, of course, British record signing Angel di Maria, who joined Louis van Gaal’s revamped side for $98 million.
Although having the World Cup as a showcase probably helped increase the cost of several transfers, much of the increased spending Deloitte attributed to television money, which allowed clubs outside of the tradition power concentration — Hull City, for example — to increase their spending.
More proof of that can be seen in the $500 million spent by EPL sides solely on players already playing in leagues within the United Kingdom.
Elsewhere in Europe, La Liga expenditures eclipsed $700 million, while spending in the Serie A ($430 million) and Bundesliga ($413 million) were roughly equivalent.
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Surprised by how much spending increased this summer in the or was it about what you expected? What does it say that EPL spending came close to the combined total of La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga? Which clubs spent the smartest money?
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