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The BBC also reported that clubs spent a record £210m on transfer deadline day, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Drinkwater and Mamadou Sakho representing Thursday's biggest deals.

Dan Jones, partner and head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, told The Times that the continued increase in spending was logical.

"These are the biggest numbers we have ever seen but these are the biggest revenues we have ever seen," Jones said. "It is absolutely not out of step on previous years and we don't anticipate revenues going down any time soon. I was asked in the mid-1990s, on the back of Euro '96, if this was sustainable and if the bubble was going to burst, but the fundamentals remain very strong."

Reflecting on the new figures, he added: "Importantly, and when analysed in the context of generating record broadcast, commercial and matchday revenues, Premier League clubs are spending well within their means.

"For the last 15 years, annual transfer spending has remained within the range of between a fifth and a third, and averaged at around a quarter, of total revenues.

"With Premier League clubs' revenue showing no sign of decreasing in the foreseeable future, we would expect to see spending continue to rise."