£3bn v £10m – Premier League outlay ‘difficult to comprehend’ says Clough

Former England striker Nigel Clough claims that Premier League transfer spending has become incomprehensible and that it poses the risk of “pricing fans out” of watching the teams they support.

The 59-year-old lists his former clubs as record spenders, including Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool.

In the summer, those three top-flight clubs collectively spent £772 million, with Liverpool paying out just £415 million.

More than £3 billion was spent across the Premier League during the most recent transfer window.

The total expenditure in England’s third tier, where Clough is in charge of Mansfield Town, was about £10 million.

Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham, “It’s hard to understand when you’re talking about billions.”

“Millions were discussed many, many years ago, then hundreds of millions, and now it’s billions,” the statement reads.

The first British manager to sign a player for £1 million was Clough’s father, Brian, when he signed Trevor Francis for what was then the record fee in 1979.

Alexander Isak became the most expensive player in the history of the British game after signing from Newcastle United for £125m on Monday, making record soared in the decades that followed.

The Isak transfer is more than 25 times the size of the £1 million fee from 46 years ago, which is the equivalent of £4.95 million in 2025 terms.

When asked about the outrageous salaries that Premier League players receive, the former manager of Sheffield United, Derby County, and Burton Albion expressed concern that Clough hasn’t spent any money on transfers to strengthen his side this summer.

He said, “I know one thing that’s not going down is the prices for supporters to go watch football.”

You have to be careful not to force regular people to watch football, at the highest level, because that is going up too much.

Attendance at the One Call Stadium increased as a result of Mansfield’s rise to League One, which club had not played in the third tier for more than 20 years prior to their return to that level last year.

He insists there is no policy against spending, despite the fact that Clough and the Stags resisted charging recruits during the most recent transfer window.

Will Evans was brought in only a year ago when they paid one of the highest fees in the club’s history, paying them £200, 000.

Clough responded, “We don’t have any issues with paying transfer fees.”

“We paid a year ago for Will Evans, and it has turned out to be a very good value for us.”

We put in plenty of bids [this summer], but we won’t do that when people start talking about how much money is being spent. We won’t go over the top with a person we don’t believe will be worthwhile. That is the club’s exclusive policy.

Clough defends that position despite the fact that Birmingham City and Wrexham spent significant money on the division last season and earned promotion.

He continued, “Last season, Birmingham and Wrexham were out on their own.” And Charlton was promoted as well, which increased the three highest wage bills. That probably indicates something or what it means.

With those two out of the way, spending is much more even in the league. However, Huddersfield has already made significant investments, and others have already made more than £1 million in strikers.