CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
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 £20-million worth of sales to championship clubs, have helped Premier League clubs record net receipts for the first time in a transfer window,” said Jones.
The vast amounts thrown about by English sides was put into context by Germany’s Bundesliga. German clubs shattered their previous total record in splashing out €97.35-million (£82.84-million) in the January transfer window, easily beating the previous record of €65-million set during the 2014-2015 season.
This month has seen the increasingly wealthy Chinese Super League flex its financial muscles with Brazil international Oscar leaving Chelsea for Shanghai SIPG in a move worth £51-million. That followed former Manchester City and Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez’s £71.6-million switch to Shanghai’s top team, Shanghai Shenhua.
One of the few big deals in the closing hours of the window saw more Chinese spending as Watford striker Ighalo joined Changchun Yatai for a fee reported to be around £20-million.
But Deloitte warned the days of Chinese teams splashing out on players could be coming to an end.
“CSL [Chinese Super League] clubs have spent over £150-million so far during their current off-season, which began in November 2016,” Jones said.
“However, with the CFA [Chinese Football Association] having recently announced that tighter regulations around player transfer and salary expenditure are to be introduced, as well as imposing limits on the number of foreign players allowed, it will be interesting to see whether CSL clubs match this level of expenditure in future off-seasons.” — AFP 1 Warning — horse out of control in the Strand (9)
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