Jan spending hits 5-yr high
English Premier League clubs' gross spending on transfers in the January transfer window reached a five-year high of £175 million ($250.1 million, 230.1 million euros), financial consultants Deloitte said on Tuesday.
The figure represented the biggest collective mid-season outlay by English top-flight teams since 2011 (£225 million), when Liverpool sold Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a then British-record £50 million and used the proceeds to buy Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.
Teams at the bottom of the table were the most active, reflecting the importance of avoiding relegation in a year when new television rights deals worth up to £8 billion are due to take effect.
The combined spend by the Premier League's bottom six clubs was £90 million -- over half of the league total -- whereas the equivalent figure in January 2015 was £20 million, less than 20 percent of the total.
Overall, spending in January took the Premier League's transfer outlay for the 2015-16 season to £1.045 billion -- a new record.
Stoke City's £18.3 million capture of French midfielder Giannelli Imbula from Porto, concluded late on Monday, was the biggest deal.
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