Premier League clubs spent £180million (€206m) during the January transfer window — the first time the figure has fallen since 2012, according to football finance experts at Deloitte.
Nearly a third of the total expenditure was accounted for by Chelsea's £55million outlay for Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund.
Last year's winter transfer window saw top flight clubs shell out £430million (€492), with big money moves including Virgil van Dijk at £75million and Aymeric Laporte for £50million.
However, most of the major transactions this January saw players leaving Premier League sides, with Brahim Diaz moving from Manchester City to Real Madrid for £15.5million, Mousa Dembele moving to Guangzhou R&F from Tottenham for £11million and Schalke shelling out £9.6million for Manchester City's Rabbi Matondo.
Tim Bridge, director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "As we approach a decisive phase of the season, Premier League clubs' January transfer spending has been relatively muted in comparison to what we have seen in previous years."
January spending was at £225million in 2011 but fell to £60million in the following year.
It doubled the following year, and remained steady at £130million in 2014 and 2015, before jumping to £175million, £215million and £430million over the last three seasons.
The £180million transfer bill means total gross spending by Premier League clubs in the 2018/19 season is an estimated £1.4billion, the second-highest season ever following record spend of £1.9billion in 2017/18.
Other findings from Deloitte included the so-called Big Six accounting for 43 per cent of the January expenditure, lower than last January when this figure stood at 62 per cent.
Equally, those in the bottom six of the table spent £20million — compared to £70million in the same period last season.
Championship clubs spent £60million in the window, more than double last year’s total of £30million, Deloitte added.
