Premier League clubs spent a record £815 million ($1 billion) in a frantic January transfer window -- nearly double the previous highest figure, according to sports finance experts Deloitte.

Deals came thick and fast in the final hours of the window on Tuesday, with big-spending Chelsea setting a new British record in signing Argentina's World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for 121 million euros ($132 million, £106.8 million).

The gross spend was 90 percent higher than the previous record (£430 million in 2018) and almost triple the previous January window.

Clubs from the English top flight also set a record for net transfer expenditure during a January window of £720 million.

Combined with the record £1.9 billion spend during the summer transfer window, Premier League clubs have splurged £2.8 billion during the 2022/23 season, a new all-time high.

Deadline-day expenditure by Premier League clubs of £275 million is also a new record for January, obliterating the previous mark.

Five of the top six revenue-generating clubs accounted for more than half of the total gross spend, with Chelsea responsible for more than a third of the total league expenditure.

The Premier League's huge spending is backed by record revenues for broadcasting rights for the 2022-2025 cycle.

For the first time international TV rights sales outstripped the figure for the UK domestic market, taking the total to more than £10 billion over three years.

Premier League clubs blew their European rivals out of the water, accounting for 79 percent of total spending across Europe's major football leagues in January -- the highest proportion ever reported.

Transfer spending fell across the rest of Europe’s "big five" leagues from 396 million euros in the January 2022 window to 255 million euros.