The overall amount spent by Premier League clubs on transfers in the 2019-20 season was the second-highest on record, recently released figures show.

Deloitte said the gross spend for the entire campaign was an estimated £1.6bn, which is second only to 2017-18’s total of £1.9bn.

That is largely down to a summer window which saw Manchester United make Harry Maguire the world’s most expensive defender at £80m and Arsenal spend £72m on Nicolas Pepe – moves that contributed to a total spend of £1.41bn.

“The numbers are really headline-grabbing. Two years ago we had £1.9bn of spending across the year, this year we’re at £1.6bn.

“If you look at those numbers and take them as you look at them, it’s kind of ‘Wow, this is huge’.

“However, in context, as a proportion of the revenue that the clubs are generating, it’s roughly a third and it’s been at a similar level throughout the last 15 or 16 years, since we had the introduction of the transfer window. We probably expect it to stay at that proportional level.”