With one month of the transfer window left remaining, Premier League clubs are poised to push escalating fees closer to another new record this week. The projected move of France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus back to Manchester United for a world record one hundred million pounds ($132.3 million) would take spending by the 20 teams to almost 600m, adding to the 175m recorded by accountancy firm Deloitte in the January window.
Last year was the first in which annual fees reached one billion pounds.
So far this close-season Arsenal - criticised in the past by many supporters for not spending enough - have recorded the highest individual outlay by paying 35 million pounds for Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka.
But Pogba's proposed return to Old Trafford would dwarf that and all other sums in the history of the sport, smashing the world record of 85.3 million pounds that Real Madrid paid for Wales forward Gareth Bale three years ago.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is among those who are bemused by how high fees have risen but still believes there is no longer any limit.
"Since I've been in the sport I always thought it can't go any higher up and I've always been wrong," he told reporters.
"Maybe it will be 200 or 300m, who knows?"
Trevor Francis, the first million-pound player in English football back in 1979, said he was surprised the new world record might be set by a midfield player.
"I really thought if (100m) was paid, it was going to be for a striker who could be a match-winner and probably provide you with 30 goals a season," he told BBC Radio.
"Possibly the only two I thought could command that figure were Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi because people realise they are exceptional talents that will go down in the history of the game." With a lucrative new broadcasting deal coming into effect this season and new managers taking over at Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, it is perhaps not surprising that a spending spree has materialised.
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