Premier League clubs broke new records this summer with about £500million spent on transfer deals, an estimated £30million more than last year. According to figures produced by Deloitte, the business advisory company, the spending spree sparked by a new television deal 12 months ago has shown no signs of slowing.

"This level of transfer spending is far in excess of spending by other European leagues," Paul Rawnsley, director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said. "With the majority of their revenue streams already contractually secured, English football clubs are proving resilient to the current challenging economic environment.

"While football is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant."

According to Deloitte's research, Premier League clubs have spent about £215million on players from other top flight clubs, representing more than 40 per cent of the total transfer activity by Premier League clubs, a higher proportion than in previous windows.

Now there are TWO ways to feed your fantasy

We have built on last year's success of PlayTheGame by offering fantasy football managers double the fun this coming season

Multimedia

• Chelsea: On-the-job training

• Man United: You've been merked, Capello

• Reading: Is Lita's yesterday's man?

Related Links

• City land Robinho in £34.2m deal

• Ferguson pulls out stops to get Berbatov

• Club-by-club guide to every transfer

"Overall the Premier League clubs have spent around £675million in 2008, including £500million this summer, which is up on transfer spending in each year since the transfer windows were introduced," Rawnsley said.