Premier League clubs spend record £1bn in summer transfer window

Lucas Perez's move to Arsenal on Tuesday added £17.1m to the summer spending total

Premier League summer transfer spending has surpassed £1bn for the first time.

Clubs had spent a combined £1.005bn as of 08:30 BST on Wednesday's transfer deadline day, according to sports business group Deloitte.

The previous record of £870m, set last year, was passed on Thursday, six days before transfer deadline day.

Arsenal's £52m double signing of Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi on Tuesday helped push spending beyond the £1bn mark.

At this stage last year, gross Premier League spending was £780m.

• Read the latest live updates on transfer deadline day.

Premier League clubs are benefitting from a new £5.1bn television deal coming into force, meaning they have more spending power, and 12 teams have broken their transfer record this summer.

Earlier this month Manchester United set a new British transfer record when they spent £89m on Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.

But some managers have complained that British clubs are being asked to pay too much for players on the back of the TV deal.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte last week said the market was "crazy", and that he was being asked to "pay £50m for medium players".

The transfer window in England closes at 23:00 BST on 31 August.

Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.