The 20 top flight clubs have surpassed the previous record
of £965million and the total could continue to grow on transfer deadline
day
Done deal: Jonjo Shelvey was one of the biggest transfers of the window so far
The seasonal spending in the Premier League has passed the £1billion mark.
January's transfer spending stood at £130million heading into transfer deadline day, taking the gross spending into the billions for the first time ever.
Clubs surpassed the previous record of £965million which was spent in the 2014/15 season before the final day of the window.
It means that spending this season has nearly doubled from the £545million in the 2011/12 campaign.
Premier League seasonal spending
Source: Deloitte - correct up to 10:30am February 1 2016
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte,
commented: “We’ve seen Premier League clubs again use the January window
to invest significantly in playing talent.
"With a day left, the total gross spending this season has already reached £1billion for the first time."
Last year, £45million was spent between the 20 clubs on transfer deadline day.
Premier League January deadline day spending 2011 to 2014
That total could be pushed again this year if the key
transfers are pushed through, such as Saido Berahino's potential switch
to Newcastle United.
The exact total spending will be confirmed by 11pm on Monday as the window slams shut.
The 23-year-old midfielder has arrived for a fee of
£8million from Rennes but will spend the next six months at La Liga side
Granada
Arrival: Doucoure has joined Watford - but will spend the next six months at Granada
Watford completed a club record £8m deal for Rennes midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure - and immediately packed him off on loan to Granada.
Instead
of forcing out an existing member of Quique Sanchez Flores' squad to
meet the maximum permitted quota on foreign players in the Hornets'
25-man Premier League squad, Doucoure will spend four months in La Liga -
at Spanish branch of Watford owner Gino Pozzo's family empire.
Doucoure,
23, will start life on the Pozzo dynasty payroll against Real Madrid -
and finish his loan spell with Granada against Barcelona.
Watford almost signed the France Under-21 international last
summer and made their move to land Doucoure to head off interest from
Liverpool - who had already lost out tothe Hornets in the chase for
Fiorentina midfield anchor Mario Suarez.
Hornets chief executive
Scott Duxbury said: "The opportunity to sign Abdoulaye Doucoure now was
one we wanted to act upon, given our long-standing interest in the
player.
"He is very much part of Watford's future plans, and in
the time between now and pre-season he'll be experiencing high-level
competitive football in Spain."
Watford fans will still be baffled that Flores can smash the
club's transfer record for the third time in seven months and decide
Doucoure is surplus to requirements for the rest of the season.
They
are within sight of Premier League safety and through to the last 16 in
the FA Cup but face a daunting double-header against Chelsea and
Tottenham in the next five days.
Bellerin has established himself as a key part of Arsene
Wenger's defence as Arsenal hunt their first league title in over a
decade this season
Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has opened up on life at the Gunners in this extensive Q&A.
From playing video games to winning the FA Cup, the Spaniard's move to north London has been a steep learning experience.
Bellerin
has established himself as a key part of Arsene Wenger's defence as
Arsenal hunt their first league title in over a decade this season.
The former Barcelona man reveals all on his life in the capital in this revealing interview.
Do you like Call of Duty more than football games?
“Yes.
I’ve played it a lot, especially when I first came to England. I came to
a new house, new country, didn’t know what to do outside of the
training ground and at home.
"I got very, very addicted to the
game. A lot of the team used to play the game a lot. Now I don’t have as
much spare time as I had before. But it’s nice to just chill for a bit
and play a bit of Call of Duty."
How do you look back upon 2015, it’s been such a big year for you?
Shaun Botterill
“It’s been a great year for me. Overall, at the beginning of
the year, I just started playing and didn’t know if it was going to be
of a few games just because of the injuries.
"Then winning the FA
Cup, this year starting the campaign really well, getting through the
next stage of the Champions League, doing well in the cup as well.
"There’s
not much more you can ask for. Getting the trust from the boss as well.
It’s been great for me. The stuff outside football has really worked
out as well. It’s been a great year and definitely one to remember."
For any young player, it’s all about opportunity isn’t it? How important has the manager’s support been in that?
“It’s a bit tricky, been a bit hard, as players we only get
opportunities when players get injured and you never want to see anyone
get injured.
"It’s hard to get the position in the team when
everyone is available and it’s hard, especially when you’re young and at
a big club like Arsenal where there’s players of such quality in every
position.
"It’s a hard thing but when you get your opportunity
you have to make the most of it and it’s nice that the boss, when he
needs new players, doesn’t just look in the market, he looks at what
he’s got in the under-21s, the under-18s and makes them players who can
play in the Premier League."
Is that why young players sign for Arsenal?
Shaun Botterill
“It’s definitely a boost. Every young layers wants to make it
and the fact that you have a coach who gives you every opportunity.
That’s definitely something that will attract you.
"Who wants to
go to a team that doesn’t play players when they are young? You can’t
see yourself playing for that team. It’s not just any club, it’s Arsenal
as well.
"One of the best clubs in England, massive club, you
don’t realise how big it is until you are really part of it. It’s great.
I had the chance to come here. I’ve had the chance to get game time as
well."
Was the FA Cup the highlight of the year for you?
Michael Regan - The FA
“Yes, definitely. It was a great year. But, for me, to be 20
years old, to get my first trophy and then getting the Community Shield
afterwards, that was definitely the highlight.
"I probably had
the best holiday of my life in that summer because just before that we
won the FA Cup, you could go home with a clear mind and knowing that you
had done everything you could.
"It was a great way to finish. An amazing season for me on a personal level and as a team. We managed it.
"In
the last few years, maybe the team wasn’t really performing, sometimes
in big games against big clubs, there was a lot of people not trusting
us when we played big games.
"But we showed that we’re Arsenal, we don’t care who we play, we can get a result against anyone, no matter who we play.
"We showed it again this year against Bayern Munich, there’s a lot of performances that have shown that we’ve got a top team.
"That’s
what Arsenal has been looking for in a while so I’m very happy to be
part of the team, to have such a great dressing room and to share it
with so many stars."
Has this been a more difficult season for you? This feels like your second season, so has that been hard?
“Not difficult, the Premier League is difficult, but I don’t think it’s been as hard as last year.
"A
lot of people talk about that second season thing, a lot of people know
how you play, know what you do, but at the same time you have more
games in the bag, you are more confident that you can play at the level,
but when you start you have some doubt whether you are good enough to
play in the Premier League.
"I mean, for me, I’m really, really enjoying it.
"We’re
having some very good performances, playing some great games and even
with the injuries the team has responded well and now we’ve got some
injuries coming back that will be a big boost for the team as well."
You’ve had injuries as well, is it nice to be back to full fitness and your best form?
“Yes,
there hasn’t been big injuries, it’s just been frustrating to lose a
couple of games when you’re in good form, feeling well and getting good
results.
"These things happen in football, I can’t complain,
there are a lot of people who are out for a few months and for long
periods of time.
"When you are back, you want to get back to
where you were and make sure you are back at your best. It can sometimes
take a few games to get back to your best level."
Southampton - what happened to Boxing Day. Can you explain it?
“It’s true what you say. You are playing every week, playing
top teams and it’s going to be difficult, won’t say impossible but very
hard week in and week out, more than once a week - especially two or
three times in a week at Christmas - to be at your top, top level.
"That
game, we didn’t perform the way we should, they performed really well,
credit to them, it’s not all about blaming us, it was a are game and we
know on Tuesday it will be another hard game as well."
Need to respond after Chelsea defeat?
“Definitely
and that’s something our team does really well, every time there’s a
defeat or a result that we didn’t want to have the team always responds
straight away in the next game.
"That shows the team’s character
and is really important. It’s normal for big teams to lose games,
especially in the Premier League when you have such quality in every
single.
"It’s not just about how many times you fall down, but
how quick you get up and our team does it really, really quickly and I’m
sure we can do it against Southampton."
The Man United game earlier in the season seemed to be a big response in that regard?
VIEW GALLERY
“I think that games proved the point. After not getting a
good result in the Champions League, playing at home in a big game
against Manchester United, in front of a big crowd, to produce one of
the best 20 or 30 minute spells that any team has had this year.
"When
the team is in sync, there’s no better team than us in the Premer
League. I think we just need to find that balance in some games when
it’s sometimes it’s lacking, sometimes it;s hard with injuries, people
coming back, people on the bench.
"Obviously you need to adapt to
the tempo, to the players and things like that. But we are in a good
position compared to where we were last year and you saw where we ended
up last year.
"We played really, really good football last year, had a great finish and hopefully we can do it this season as well."
Do those performances give you the confidence you can win the title?
“Yes,
definitely. Those games against Bayern and things like that, stay in
your head and you can say: ‘if we can do it against them, why can’t we
do it against every team?’
"For us, we played brilliantly and
beat and stopped the top team in the whole world. If we can show that we
can stop them, beat them, there’s nothing else left to answer or to do.
"The
only thing you need to do is recreate it each week. The whole level has
gone up and that means it’s very hard. The smaller teams are not that
small anymore, they have top players, they have a lot of options to
match the top teams.
"That’s why i think this year that’s why so
many top teams have struggled as well. It’s not just us who have
struggled in games, but many other big teams and suddenly you have
Leicester at the top and that shows you how open it is.
"It shows you cannot relax one little bit."
Have Leicester surprised you?
Chris Brunskill
“If you asked every single player at the beginning of the
season then I don’t think they could have told you they’d be top at this
time. But that’s credit to them.
"They’re a team full of hard working team players who work hard to get a result every weekend.
"Things
are working our for them and now it’s up to them to show that they’re a
team who can stay there when a lot of people are thinking they will
drop points. They look very strong. But now it’s our job to match them
and go above them."
Rivalry with Spurs, they surprised you?
“They
are doing really well, Pochettino has been there for a long time, he’s
risen to the challenge of building the team around him and of course
they are our rivals but if you look at the table you have to see where
everyone is.
"It’s not just Leicester, we’ve got Manchester City,
Tottenham, we’ve got a lot of clubs up there, everything is really
tight at the moment. We can’t relax and have to go for every single game
as if it was a final."
You’re still learning full back role, is there a player who you model yourself on?
Stuart MacFarlane
“There's a lot of players who you can pick up some stuff
from, not just only full backs or defenders. Even training with the top
players every week you can get good things from all of them.
"Nacho
Monreal, another full back, Spanish as well, top player, and he’s a
player I am close to. He’s one of the players who has helped me the
most.
"He is one of the most consistent players in the Premier
League, he showed last season he id doing it every week, this season
doing it as well. I’m learning a lot from him as well.
"Psychologically
as well on the pitch, he’s a very strong player and it’s nice to know
that you’ve got a player there, a defender next to you, who will do a
great job in every single game and that’s something you need to learn as
well."
Barcelona are on the horizon in the Champions League, how much you look forward to that?
Alex Caparros
“Yes, definitely. It’s the team of my childhood, it’s where I
started playing football and for me and my family it was great news
when the draw was made and we had to face Barcelona."
Did it feel like drawing Barcelona was destiny?
“I
mean it could have happened last season and it happened in this one.
You always think: ‘what if?’ This year we have the opportunity to go
over there and we are really look g forward to the experience. We know
they are a top team.
"But as I said before, we are not scared of
anyone. We are up for the challenge and you never know how it can turn
out. At the end of the day, it’s a great experience.
"It’s great to playbill such a venue, against such good players and even more special with the team mates we have now."
Will you relish it, rather than feel intimidated?
"As
a footballer, nothing can intimate you. If you were intimidated, then
you might as well stay at home. You have to take on the challenge. It’s
an obstacle that we have to go above, that’s the challenge and we have
to rise above it."
* Hector Bellerin was speaking at the launch of the new
Call of Duty Black Ops III DLC Pack, Awakening, containing 4 new
multiplayer maps and the next instalment of zombies. Awakening is
available on PS4 now
It is understood though that the £9m deal could yet be
resurrected with Boro still keen and the man himself now ready for a
remarkable late U-turn
Rover and out: Rhodes' £9million deal could be back on
Middlesbrough are refusing to give up on a deadline day swoop for Blackburn's Jordan Rhodes.
Scotland
striker Rhodes looked all set for a move to Teesside over the weekend
with Boro believing they had struck a £9m deal plus add ins for the
25-year-old.
However, they pulled the plug on Sunday after the player and club failed to reach an agreement over personal terms.
It is understood though that it could yet be resurrected with Boro
still keen to land the player and the man himself now ready for a
remarkable late U-turn, report the Gazette.
Rhodes reported for training at Blackburn on Monday morning, but left
swiftly, sparking speculation that his move could be back on.
Rhodes is now believed to be travelling back to Teesside for further talks.
Rovers boss Paul Lambert had already planned to spend the transfer fee on new players as he reshaped his squad.
“We have to build a team here to get up the league,” he said. “It
can’t revolve around one person. It’s got to revolve around an 18, 19,
or 20-odd man squad. “We’ve got to get that balance right and that’s
what we’ll try and do.”
Boro hope now to push the deal through quickly with most of the paperwork and the medical done.
And if it can be sealed then the striker could be set for a fairytale Riverside debut on Saturday against his former club.
Even that offer could not persuade West Brom to sell as
they held firm after also having enquiries from Stoke who were willing
to pay £21m
Michael SteeleIn the Bag - or not: Newcastle have seen an astonishing £24m bid turned down
West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace turned down Newcastle ’s stunning £24m offer for Saido Berahino.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley made three bids during the past week with the final offer being straight cash paid up front.
But even that could not persuade West Brom to sell as they held firm after also having enquiries from Stoke who were willing to pay £21m.
Berahino,
22, has just 18 months left on his contract, his transfer value could
go down as he has lost his starting place and yet Peace believes it
would be a bigger risk to sell.
West Brom are still not safe from relegation and know that
Tottenham also retain a long term interest and they could come back in
he summer.
Peace has also been looking to sell the club and
Berahino is their biggest asset - and they fought to keep him even
though manager Tony Pulis wanted to sell.
Transfer Deadline Day - January 2016
Club-by-club guide: What could happen?What's a medical like? ALL transfer news
Done deal: Jonjo Shelvey was one of the biggest transfers of the window so far
