Premier League football clubs hit by £105m 'Brexit bill' after sterling slump
2 min read
Premier League football clubs have been forced to fork out over £100m more in transfer fees this summer thanks to the depreciation in the pound, pro-European campaigners have claimed.
Open Britain, a cross-party group campaigning for a soft Brexit, has calculated that clubs paid a total of £105m more than they would if the pound had remained at its pre-Brexit level.
Before the referendum vote on 23 June last year, the pound was trading at 1.30 euros, but has since slumped to just 1.08 euros, meaning clubs are having to pay significantly more for players from European clubs.
The worst-affected clubs were Manchester City and Chelsea, who have both paid some £22m more in fees, while Tottenham coughed up almost £11m more than they would have before the sterling's collapse.
It will be little skin off the nose of most Premier League clubs, however, as they have benefited from a massive TV deal and a transfer market inflated by huge injections of cash from foreign owners.
Francis Grove-White, the deputy director of Open Britain, said: “Football fans will be concerned that their clubs are having to fork out extra cash to bring in the best international talent and may even be failing to bring in new players because they have become simply unaffordable. It is a kick in the teeth for Premier League clubs and for football fans."
The Liberal Democrats conducted similar research but reached a figure of £114m overspend.
Former leader Tim Farron said fans were also being hit in the pocket with higher prices for tickets and merchandise.
“The fans who pay for their tickets, the club merchandise and their TV packages want the most value they can for their money – a weaker pound means that just isn’t the case," he said.
“I do recognise as a Blackburn Rovers fan this has affected my team less than some this year – but this is yet another reminder of the real cost there is to Brexit.”
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