Deadline Day transfer news: Premier League spending reaches £1bn

A last minute surge in spending on Deadline Day took spending by Premier League to more than £1bn in a season for the first time.

Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, announced several hours before the deadline for January transfers passed that the landmark figure had been reached. And by the time the window closed the total stood at £1.045bn.

The previous record of £965m was established in 2014-15 and in a sign of the extravagance that now courses through the Premier League. BBC Sport reveals that the sums in 2015-16 "have nearly doubled compared to the 2011-12 season when only £565m was splashed out".

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A decade ago, a mere £70m was spent on total transfers in January 2005, when the biggest fee was the £8m paid by Newcastle to Glasgow Rangers for the services of Jean-Alain Boumsong. Eighteen months later the Frenchman was off-loaded to Juventus for £3.3m.

In total, approximately £145m was spent in this January transfer window alone with Newcastle United the biggest spenders on £28.5m, reports the Newcastle Chronicle.

One of the most striking features of this month's transfer window is the amount of money spent by clubs who, traditionally, haven't had much purchase power when it comes to overseas players.

Norwich, Stoke, Bournemouth and Sunderland have all spent more than £15m in the current window, a sign of their determination to remain in the Premier League so that they get their share of the £5.1bn TV deal that kicks in next season.

"Notably, this January's spending has been driven in large part by clubs in the bottom half of the table," commented Jones. "The promise of the new broadcast deal for Premier League clubs from next season onwards and the threat of missing out through relegation is contributing to clubs investing in an attempt to stay in the league."

Indeed, not one of the clubs currently in the top eight of the Premier League signed a new player on deadline day, but the clubs occupying the bottom six places spent £90m of the total amount of £145m in January. As the BBC points out "last year, the clubs in those positions spent £20m, less than 20 per cent of the total".

The two biggest deals of deadline day were hardly glamour signings with Stoke City signing Porto midfielder Giannelli Imbula for a club record fee of £18.5m and Everton landing Oumar Niasse from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow in a £13.5m deal.

Deadline Day: Premier League transfer deals and rumours

01 February

As ever, the final day of the transfer window has thrown up a series of red herrings, wild-goose chases and some actual deals for Premier League clubs.

While the confirmation of Pep Guardiola's move to Manchester City has dominated affairs, the well-oiled Sky Sports hype machine has kept the rest of the rumour mill turning.

Here are some of the reports doing the rounds:

• Chelsea have failed to offload unwanted striker Radamel Falcao to his former club Atletico Madrid. The Daily Mirror reports that the Colombian striker is in the Spanish capital as his agent, Jorge Mendes, tries to thrash out a deal, but it says it would be "very surprising" if he were to push through a move before the deadline. But the Mirror adds that Falcao could still be on his way as he "is understood to have a raft of lucrative offers outside Europe that could still come to fruition even after tonight's deadline". The BBC is not so sure and says his parent club "Monaco expect the 29-year-old to remain at Stamford Bridge until the summer".
• Chelsea are not having much luck shedding their unwanted strikers on Deadline Day. With Falcao stranded in Madrid, it seems that Leicester City's attempts to sign Loic Remy have also foundered, says the Daily Express. The Foxes and the player himself are said to be keen on a loan deal, but Chelsea want to sell him outright for £9m. His former club Newcastle are also said to be interested, but they too want a loan.
• Newcastle have signed Ivory Coast striker Seydou Doumbia on loan for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old joined Roma in January 2015, for a reported £10m, but made only 13 appearances in Italy before returning to former club CSKA Moscow on loan in August. The Magpies are understood to have an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign, although it must also get international clearance.
• Arsenal and Manchester United are slugging it out over Benfica youngster Renato Sanches, who has been dubbed the new Ronaldinho and has a £65m release clause in his contract, making it unlikely he will move.
• Newcastle and Stoke have had £21m bids for West Brom striker Saido Berahino rejected. Spurs, who previously bid £22m for the player, reportedly have no plans to make a new offer despite claims that they were poised to make a late move.
• Out-of-favour Arsenal full-back Mathieu Debuchy is to join Bordeaux on loan for the rest of the season, despite interest from Manchester United, who wanted the Frenchman as a stopgap to help combat their left-sided injury crisis. Gunners manager Arsene Wenger reportedly turned down an offer from United before sanctioning the Bordeaux deal

Other notable deals involving Premier League clubs include:

Emmanuel Emenike (loan, Fenerbahce to West Ham)

Patrick Bamford (loan, Chelsea to Norwich)

Matt Miazga (Undisclosed, New York Red Bulls to Chelsea)

Alexandre Pato (Loan, Corinthians to Chelsea)

Andros Townsend (£12m, Tottenham to Newcastle)

Emmanuel Adebayor (unattached to Crystal Palace)

Victor Valdes (loan, Manchester United to Standard Liege)

Papy Djilobodji (loan, Chelsea to Werder Bremen)

Mauro Zarate (undisclosed, West Ham to Fiorentina)

Costel Pantilimon (undisclosed, Sunderland to Watford)

Charlie Austin (£4m, QPR to Southampton)

Mohamed Elneny (£5m, Basel to Arsenal)

Steven Caulker (loan, QPR to Liverpool)

Jonjo Shelvey (£12m, Swansea to Newcastle)

Lewis Grabban (£7m, Norwich to Bournemouth) About £7m

Benik Afobe (£9m, Wolves to Bournemouth)

Marko Grujic (£5.1m, Red Star Belgrade to Liverpool)

Demarai Gray (£3.7m, Birmingham to Leicester)