Premier League clubs spent a record £430 million in the January transfer window as top sides scrambled to boost their squads in the race to secure lucrative Champions League spots, according to analysis by Deloitte.
The sum spent was nearly double the previous record of £225 million, with deadline day alone, January 31, seeing clubs complete deals totalling £150 million, also a new record for the winter window.
Deloitte's Sports Business Group estimates spending by Premier League clubs in the 2017/18 season to be a record £1.9 billion, eclipsing last season's record of £ 1.4 billion.
Nearly two-thirds of the gross expenditure was by the top six, while the bottom six accounted for about a fifth.
The winter transfer window usually sees the bulk of spending by clubs at the bottom of the league as they attempt to spend their way to survival from relegation, although last month's splurge is more like a normal summer window.
"Such is the level of competition for a coveted top-four position in the Premier League, as well as ongoing European battles, that top clubs have been willing to break with more traditional summer investment strategies to steal a march on their rivals mid-season, with several club transfer records being broken in this window," said Jones.
He added that international trade had flourished, with the highest-ever Januaiy gross overseas outlay in Premier League history (£260 million), but also the highest amount of January receipts from abroad (£185 million).
La Liga was just behind the Premier League with 271 million euros spent, which included Philippe Coutinho's 160 million euro move from Liverpool to Barcelona.
ITALY HITS FIVE-YEAR LOW
At the same time, Italy's Serie A hit a five-year low for spending during a frugal January transfer window with ten-times less cash splashed than in the English Premier League.
Muted big-name transfers such as Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore to Inter Milan from PSG never materialised with Italian clubs spending an estimated 50 million euros -less than the English second tier.
The figure was half that spent last season and a five-year low, putting Italian football just ninth for money spent during the global transfer market, after the record one billion euros spent by Italy's top clubs during the summer of 2017.