“You can see it clearly in this winter market, where Chelsea have made almost half of the signings in the Premier League. It is quite dangerous that the markets are doped, inflated, as has been happening in recent years in Europe, because that can jeopardise the sustainability of European football. I am happy because our clubs are economically sustainable, and that means that we have a future for many years to come.
“Premier League clubs have outspent those within the rest of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues by almost four to one in this transfer window, allowing them to hold on to their key players, while attracting top talent from overseas.” On a hectic deadline day, Tottenham completed their move for Pedro Porro from Sporting, with the right-back joining on loan before a €45m transfer in the summer, while Arsenal signed Jorginho from Chelsea for €13.5m.
“The decline in spending across the English football system is likely to be of growing concern for members of the English Football League and could further fuel the debate around distributing finances more evenly across the pyramid,” said Bridge.