Fear of missing out on the English Premier League's huge television money bonanza in 2016 has propelled transfer spending beyond £1 billion ($1.43 billion, 1.3 billion euros) for the first time. England's 20 elite clubs have collectively spent more than £1 billion on new players in the season's two transfer windows, financial consultants Deloitte revealed as the mid-season transfer deadline neared on Monday.
"We've seen Premier League clubs again use the January window to invest significantly in playing talent," said Dan Jones from Deloitte's Sports Business Group. "With a day left, the total gross spending this season has already reached £1 billion for the first time.
"Last January saw £45 million spent by Premier League clubs on the final day of the transfer window and with further spending expected over the coming hours, Premier League gross transfer spending looks set to comfortably exceed the £1 billion mark for the 2015-16 season." English top-flight clubs broke new ground by shelling out £870 million on new talent in the 2015 close-season transfer window - a rise of four percent on the previous record, established the previous summer.
Together they had splurged £130 million on players prior to Monday's final day of trading, tipping Premier League spending into 10-figure territory and further confirming England's status as football's financial powerhouse, where 17 of the world's 30 richest clubs reside according to the latest data. But whereas close-season spending was driven by the leading clubs - Manchester City twice breaking their transfer record to sign Raheem Sterling (£44 million rising to £49 million) and Kevin De Bruyne (£55 million); Manchester United betting the house on unheralded French teenager Anthony Martial (£36 million rising to £61.5 million) - in January it has been a different story. Sky and BT Sport's blockbuster £5.14 billion domestic TV rights deal kicks in at the start of next season, with the sale of overseas rights - expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks - set to swell that figure to £8 billion for the period 2016-2019.
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