Nearly half a billion pounds has been spent by Premier League clubs on the final day of the January transfer window since its inception in 2003, new figures reveal.
With the 2017 January transfer window set to close at 11pm GMT on Tuesday, research by swipe-to-bet app Bookee shows that a total of £486 million has been spent in the final 24 hours before the deadline, at an average of £34.7 million each year. As a result, the betting company are offering odds of 15/1 for the January deadline day record to be broken this Tuesday.
The very first January window in the 2002/03 season saw just four players signed on deadline day by Premier League clubs, with Jonathan Woodgate's £9 million move from Leeds to Newcastle the biggest deal of the day. Inevitably, the amount of money increased over the years, culminating in a bumper year in 2011, when the purchases of Luis Suarez, David Luiz and then-British transfer record Andy Carroll saw Premier League clubs paying out £134 million on the final day. This is £82.6 million more than the year with the next highest spend in 2015, which saw MK Dons' Dele Alli move to Spurs and Wilfried Zaha switch back to Crystal Palace from Manchester United.
By contrast, Fernando Torres' 2011 switch from Liverpool to Chelsea (the highest ever January deadline day deal at £50 million) exceeds the average total deadline day spend of just £34.7 million and in terms of activity, the 2011 and 2012 windows were the busiest. A total of 10 players were signed by Premier League clubs in the final 24 hours before the window closed.
This January has seen Morgan Schneiderlin move from Manchester United to Everton as the window's most expensive signing so far at £24 million but Chelsea and West Ham might be looking to splash out on deadline day following their big money sales of Oscar and Payet respectively.
Adam Kalmanson, Bookee Co-Founder and Head of Sales and Marketing said, “We are anticipating a flurry of activity on deadline day and given the explosion in television reveneues in recent years, it's possible we could see clubs spending and it being a record year. Our deadline day bets are proving very popular and our users are discovering a range of great odds including 15/1 on a record-breaking deadline day."
