Football: Record profit for Premier League clubs, despite £1.4b spending spree

AFP - Premier League clubs have shelled out a record £1.4 billion (S$2.49 billion) in transfers this season, according to a report on Wednesday that warned of over-reliance on big Chinese spending.

The Deloitte consultancy study said top-tier English sides made £40 million in profit from the January transfer window, the first time they have come out of the football horse-trading in the black.

The market closed on Tuesday night with Southampton swooping for Napoli's Italy forward Manolo Gabbiadini for at least £14 million while Burnley completed the reported club-record £13 million signing of Norwich winger Robbie Brady.

Deloitte said total gross spending by Premier League clubs for the 2016-17 season is now almost £1.4 billion, smashing the previous record of £1 billion set last season.

The latest eye-watering outlay was "far in excess of any other league in world football," said Dan Jones of Deloitte's sports business department.

In all, the 20 Premier League clubs spent £215 million on new players during the market from January 1 until Tuesday, Deloitte said, the second-highest amount for this window since 2011.

The bottom six teams fighting for their Premier League lives - Hull City, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Swansea, reigning champions Leicester City and Middlesbrough - accounted for more than 50 per cent of the January spending.

But the Premier League still came out in the black as a whole.

"The sales of Oscar, Dimitri Payet, Odion Ighalo and Memphis Depay, as well as around £20m worth of sales to Championship clubs, have helped Premier League clubs record net receipts for the first time in a transfer window," said Jones.

"As was the case last year, it is clubs in the bottom half of the table who have driven expenditure this January, investing in their squads in an attempt to secure survival."