The amount spent by Premier League clubs in the January transfer window fell for the first time since 2012, figures released by the Sports Business Group at Deloitte have shown.
Clubs in the top division spent £180 million ($235m) in the winter window, down from £430m last year, when £150m was spent on deadline day compared with £50m this year.
The figure takes total gross spending by Premier League clubs this season to an estimated £1.4 billion, the second-highest after last season's £1.9bn, while the league was the highest-spending in Europe ahead of Serie A.
Almost one-third of this January's spending came on one player -- Chelsea's £57m move for Borussia Dortmund's United States international midfielder Christian Pulisic, while Newcastle spent around £20m on Atlanta United's Miguel Almiron.
Last year's winter window featured a number of big-money moves including Virgil van Dijk's £75m arrival at Liverpool from Southampton.
In January 2012 Premier League clubs spent £120m, with that total increasing to £130m in the following two winters and then rising to £175m, £215m and £430m in the next three years.
The Deloitte figures showed that transfers by Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United accounted accounting for 43 percent of this January's expenditure, down from 62 percent at this time last year.
Neither Liverpool, United nor Tottenham added any new faces in January, while Everton and Southampton also did not add players.
Deloitte's figures also showed that clubs in the bottom six spent £20, compared with £90m in the same period last year.