A FFP claim is made by Nottingham Forest as transfer spending plummets.

Financial Fair Play and the potential points deductions facing the likes of Nottingham Forest are being blamed for a huge drop in transfer spending this January.

Financial services firm Deloitte has revealed that by January 23 last year £435m had been spent by the 20 top-flight clubs – 10 times more than by the same date this year.

And clubs seeking to avoid tough sanctions for financial rule breaches could be a big factor in the spectacular drop, according to a Deloitte football finance expert.

The relative quiet comes after Everton were handed a 10-point deduction by an independent commission for breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Forest and the Toffees are now facing new charges, while treble-winners Manchester City are also in the dock.

Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the Press Association: “It would be remiss not to talk about the impact (on transfer spending) of some of the regulatory moves that the Premier League and the independent bodies that work with the Premier League have made.

“You look at what’s happened with Everton, you look at what’s happened with Nottingham Forest, obviously there are ongoing investigations with other clubs as well. That will, I expect, have driven an underlying caution and also a real need to ensure that any value in the transfer market is as good as it possibly can be.”

Gustavo Scarpa, Danilo, Chris Wood, Felipe, Jonjo Shelvey, Keylor Navas and Andre Ayew were along the players arriving at the City Ground last January, either on permanent deals or loans, while this year so far the focus has been on trimming Nuno’s squad.

While Bridge did not rule out a “late flurry” of activity in the final week of the window, he added: “I do think that some of those deals that maybe we’re used to seeing in the window are either not being considered because of the regulatory challenge and the need to be compliant, which is a good thing, but also that element of the selling club really wanting to make sure that it drives the absolute value (of their players).”

Spending reached a record £815m by the end of the January 2023 window, but so far this month Tottenham’s purchase of Romania defender Radu Dragusin from Genoa for a reported £26.7m is one of a small number of permanent deals to have been completed, with loan moves dominating.