ANOTHER CRAZY SEASON

Premier League clubs will smash the billion mark on transfers for a third straight season

PREMIER League clubs are set to hit £1 billion (RM5.32 billion) in summer spending on new players for a third year in a row — with 12 days of trading still remaining before the window closes.

Clubs have spent £935million this summer, with Liverpool leading the way with £167.9m spent (£155.4m net spend), followed by West Ham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Brighton and Chelsea.

One of the biggest deals has been Riyad Mahrez's £60m switch from Leicester to Manchester City.

The record for spending in one window by one division in global football was the £1.4bn spent last summer by the Premier League, but that figure could be broken this summer despite an earlier deadline on Aug 9, just before the new season begins.

One of the factors that has allowed clubs to spend so freely on transfers has been their increased revenue from shirt sponsorship.

Premier League shirt and sleeve sponsorship deals have risen to a record £360m this season, a rise of £50m compared to last year.

The 20 top-flight clubs have generated £313.6m in shirt sponsorships for 2018-19, an increase of £31.8m on last year. They have also pulled in a further £46m from shirt-sleeve deals, a rise of almost £20m.

Manchester United’s clubrecord deal worth £47m a year with Chevrolet remains the biggest deal in the Premier League, but Manchester City’s deal with Etihad has leapt £10m to £45m a year, meaning they now have the second biggest deal.

Liverpool's renegotiated deal with Standard Chartered has grown £15m to £40m-a-year, while Arsenal’s deal with Emirates has leapt £10m, also to £40m-a-year.

The international appeal of the Premier League is again demonstrated with 17 clubs having sponsors with overseas headquarters based in countries including the USA, China, Japan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, Kenya and the Philippines. Liverpool, Southampton and Watford are the only clubs with British-based sponsors.

Despite a ban on gambling within football, nine teams will carry shirt sponsorship from gambling companies.

This season 16 clubs will carry sleeve sponsorships. Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all have deals valued at £10m, while Chelsea’s deal with Hyundai is worth £6m and Liverpool’s deal with Western Union is worth £5m a year.