Arsenal and Spurs make net profit as five Premier League clubs end transfer window in the black

Alexandre Lacazette and Davinson Sanchez 
Alexandre Lacazette and Davinson Sanchez both moved to north London Credit: getty images

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were two of only five Premier League clubs to make a net profit in the transfer window.

The north London rivals were joined by Swansea City, Stoke City and Burnley in spending less than they brought in this summer, according to sports data website sportingintelligence.

Arsenal made the second largest profit of the 20 clubs, netting £17 million after spending £48.8m but bringing in £65.7m.

Only their refusal to sell Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City for £60m stopped them from making even more money - albeit they would have ended up in the red had they also landed Monaco’s Thomas Lemar for £92m.

Spurs’ late moves for Fernando Llorente and Serge Aurier prevented them turning the biggest profit of all during the window, although they still ended up in the black to the tune of £10.2m.

Selling Llorente helped Swansea end the summer £30.5m better off, with Stoke and Burnley netting £8m and £6m, respectively.

Manchester City had the biggest net spend of £130.9m, closely followed by Manchester United (£127m).

Champions Chelsea were next with £74.5m, followed by Everton (£54.6m), West Bromwich Albion and Brighton & Hove Albion (both £42.8m).

Premier League clubs’ net spend this summer was recorded by sportingintelligence as £639.4m.

The Sports Business Group at Deloitte, however, put that latter figure at £665m, £20m less than the previous year despite teams’ record £1.4 billion outlay on new players.

The SBG also found that gross spending by Premier League clubs had surpassed £10bn this summer since the first transfer window in January 2003.

Dan Jones, partner in the SBG, said: “Importantly, and when analysed in the context of generating record broadcast, commercial and matchday revenues, Premier League clubs are spending well within their means.

“For the last 15 years, annual transfer spending has remained within the range of between a fifth and a third, and averaged at around a quarter, of total revenues.

“With Premier League clubs’ revenue showing no sign of decreasing in the foreseeable future, we would expect to see spending continue to rise.”

Including the January transfer window, the 20 teams have spent an all-time high £1.65bn in the calendar year, while Paris Saint-Germain also fuelled hyperinflation in the market by splashing double the previous world transfer record on both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Despite this, Jones stopped short of predicting the advent of the first £2bn season in the Premier League ahead of the division’s next television rights auction.

He said: “Whilst Premier League clubs’ revenue show no sign of decreasing in the foreseeable future, and we therefore expect to see spending continue to rise, we think a £2bn season for Premier League transfer spending may still be some way off.

“History shows clubs collectively spend between a fifth and a third of revenue on transfers on average each season. If that trend continues, a £2bn transfer spend would imply a minimum of £6bn of revenue in that season, which in turn requires another big increase in media rights contract values.”

 

License this content