The summer transfer window has seen Premier League clubs splash record amounts of cash on new players, with total spending exceeding £3bn.
And with deals to be done, lawyers have been in the thick of the action, with specialist sports boutiques including Centrefield, Level and Onside Law among the firms stepping up to advise.
Total transfer fees paid by clubs in English football’s top division hit £3.1bn for this summer’s window, far surpassing the previous record of £2.36bn set in summer 2023.
‘It’s been a record-breaking window for us as well,’ Matthew Bennett, a partner at Centrefield told Legal Business. The Manchester-based boutique advised on deals worth almost £1.8bn across 30 countries, including some of the highest profile transfers on deadline day.
The British transfer record was broken twice this summer, both times by Liverpool FC, first with their £116m signing of Germany international Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen this June.
Travers Smith took a lead role on that deal, working alongside German law firm Seitz Partners to advise the Wirtz family on the UK legal issues connected with the transfer.
The Reds then signed Swedish striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for £125m on the final day of the transfer window, a deal that Legal Business understands Centrefield advised on.
Centrefield declined to comment on specific transfers, though the firm announced earlier this summer that it had advised England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold on his move from Liverpool to Real Madrid, with Spain’s Laffer Abogados also playing a role.
Bennett pointed to the dominance of the ‘powerhouse’ top-flight of English football as a key factor behind the record spend, with more than £1bn spent on transfers from one Premier League club to another, a trend which has been rising year-on-year in recent seasons.
Another key factor has been the influence of the profit and sustainability rules (PSR), which were introduced to prevent clubs spending more than they earn, but have also led to more sales as clubs look to balance the books.
‘In addition to volume, there’s a greater degree of complexity which is heavily influenced by PSR; the structure of deals, the timing of appeals, loans with options and obligations to buy – that adds a layer of complexity that didn’t exist five years ago.’
The complex nature and time-sensitivity of the deals makes the sector fertile ground for specialist boutique firms. London firm Level, which was co-founded by Daniel Lowen in 2017, acted on more than 250 deals across the window.
Lowen highlighted the importance of the sector-specific knowledge that boutiques have. ‘We’re aware of what arrangements certain clubs will accept and issues parties can push on,’ he said. ‘Where the firm is involved in deals from an early stage, a close forensic look can add commercial value to the transaction and improve the position of all parties involved.’
Jonathan Hyman, a managing associate at Level, added that there is an increasing trend of lawyers, accountants, tax specialists and other professional services advising on football matters. ‘With increasing money spent on transfers fees and agencies, everyone is of the understanding that it is sensible to have lawyers look at the paperwork,’ he said.
One of the other factors have has increased spending in the Premier League this year is the new £6.7bn domestic television deal with Sky and TNT Sports. ‘The revenues generated by the broadcasting deal puts the Premier League head and shoulders above the other major leagues in Europe,’ Bennett said.
Liverpool were the top spenders among Premier League clubs this summer, with a total outlay of around £450m. Intellectual property boutique Brandsmiths was involved in another of the club’s big summer deals, advising Dutch defender Jeremie Frimpong on his £29.5m transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, fielding a team led by Manchester-based partner David Seligman.
Alex Clarke, senior associate at Onside Law, noted that Liverpool’s relatively quiet transfer window last summer had allowed them to ‘effectively do two summer’s spending in one’, while still complying with PSR.
Onside, which was founded in 2005 and is ranked in the top tier for sport by Legal 500, is another boutique that acted on a number of high profile deals this window.
Co-founding partner Oli Hunt advised alongside Clarke on Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish’s loan deal to Everton, which included a £50m option to buy. Hunt also advised on the transfer of Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland to Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, continuing a longstanding relationship with the Bellingham family after advising Jobe’s brother, England star Jude Bellingham, on his £88.5m move to Real Madrid in 2023.
