Premier League spending smashes £1BILLION mark for first time

Deals on transfer deadline day took Premier League spending to a record £1.165 billion ($1.53bn), according to a BBC report using figures from Deloitte.

Wednesday saw a number of moves made before the close of the transfer window, with Chelsea among the big spenders as they re-signed defender David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported £35 million ($46.02m).

Chelsea also signed left-back Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina in a deal reportedly worth £23m ($30.24m), while Tottenham Hotspur completed a late move for Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle United for £30m ($39.44m).

PL #DeadlineDay spending: £150m+

PL summer spending: A record £1.165bn

Wow…

https://t.co/arLlAPAD0C%20pic.twitter.com/OgXzKQ5BJI

– BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 1, 2016

Premier League champions Leicester City, meanwhile, brought in Algeria striker Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon, with sources close to the club telling ESPN FC the fee for the 28-year-old was €35 million, a club record for the Foxes.

The moves saw Premier League sides spend more than £155m ($203.76m) on deadline day, adding to the £1bn ($1.3bn) spent already — with 13 teams breaking their transfer records — which made it the fourth successive summer that a new record had been set for top-flight spending in England.

In 2015, the Premier League announced a 70 percent increase in the value of its British television rights for the 2016-19 seasons with Sky and BT paying a combined £5.136bn ($7.8bn) to show games.

That agreement has swelled the money available for clubs to spend, with Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba from Juventus for £89.3m ($117.41m) setting a new world record.

“As has been the case for a number of years now, the increases in broadcast revenue, with the 2016-17 season being the first of the new broadcast deal cycle, is the principal driver of this spending power,” Dan Jones, a partner at financial analyst Deloitte, said.

Bundesliga clubs, meanwhile, spent a record €548m (£461m) this summer and Serie A clubs also broke their national spending record, racking up €708m (£594m) in transfer costs, while club’s in Spain’s La Liga spent €492.2 million (£413.89m) on signings in the summer transfer window, according to figures reported by AS.