English soccer clubs splashed out a record £500m in transfer fees this summer in a spending spree bankrolled by higher broadcasting fees and ambitious foreign owners, a report showed today.
The amount spent by England's top four divisions, including the €36m spent by Liverpool in signing striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid, surpasses the previous record of £300m spent in summer 2006, the report from accountancy firm Deloitte showed.
'New owners at Premier League clubs combined with the increase in broadcast payments to clubs for the 2007/08 season are key drivers of the unprecedented rise in spending,' the report said.
Premiership clubs are set to receive around £300m of extra broadcast payments from broadcasters including Sky and Ireland-based Setanta this season, taking the total to £875m, Deloitte estimated.
New player signings have also accelerated as foreign tycoons snapped up English clubs.
US billionaire Malcolm Glazer owns Manchester United while fellow Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks recently bought Liverpool.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra acquired Manchester City earlier this year, while Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich owns Chelsea.
Twelve Premier League clubs spent more than £20m on transfers this summer, compared with just three - Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur - which spent that much last year.
Last season's champions Manchester United spent more than any other club, £51m, in the run-up to the 31 August transfer deadline, followed by Liverpool which spent £50m and Tottenham which spent £40m.
Newly promoted Sunderland spent £35m, according to the report.
Spain followed England as the top spending league, led by Real Madrid's £80m investment in players such as Gabriel Heinze and Arjen Robben, from Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.
Thierry Henry's transfer from Arsenal helped push Barcelona's spending up toward £50m, similar to Atletico de Madrid's.
