Premier League clubs broke all transfer spending records this summer, smashing past the £1 billion barrier for the first time as the result of a hugely lucrative new TV deal.
Because of the Premier League's newfound riches, European players were always going to be expensive. Some foreign clubs even use an acronym to describe the vast sums of money they can now demand from English clubs: SEM - Stupid English Money.
But research shows that the costs of European players were inflated even further when the pound crashed against the Euro in the wake of the EU referendum.
Foreign exchange company Caxton FX has examined the financial impact of the weak pound on clubs who purchased players after the June 23 referendum.
Its findings were:
- That UK clubs lost out 12% when purchasing players from Europe post-Brexit
- Manchester United was hit the hardest, with its post-Brexit purchase of Paul Pogba — a world-record signing — costing an extra £8.9 million
- Chelsea paid a total of £5.7 million extra for purchases of European players
Here's a chart showing the financial impact of the weak pound on some major post-referendum signings:
Greg Dyke, chairman of England's Football Association, said in June that it would take at least two years to determine the effect of Brexit on English football, but warned there could be "quite the impact".
"It would be a shame if some of the great European players can't come here, but I don't think that will happen. Whether the total number reduces will depend on the terms of the exit," he said.
Rupert Lee-Browne, CEO of Caxton FX, said: “Although they are multi-million pound organisations, football clubs are not immune to the fluctuations of the currency markets.”
