English clubs increased spending on overseas talent by more than two thirds in January compared to last year.

The signings of Bruno Fernandes by Manchester United and Steven Bergwijn at Tottenham Hotspur contribute to a spike of 69 per cent on international transfer values.

Overall, however, the number of such deals fell from 156 to 143, according to analysis of last month's transfer activity by Fifa.

The total spent by English clubs on international deals in January was $298.2 million (just under £230m), up from $176.5m in 2019. The 2020 figure was still well short of January 2018 though, when English clubs' spending on international transfers topped half a billion US dollars.

The biggest incoming deal in England was Manchester United's signing of Portuguese midfielder Fernandes from Sporting, for a fee which could rise to £68m.

Tottenham also spent over £50m combined to secure Giovani Lo Celso on a permanent deal from Real Betis and Steven Bergwijn from PSV Eindhoven respectively. Belgian side Genk also made a total of £32m from the sale of Mbwana Samatta to Aston Villa and Sander Berge to Sheffield United.

Clubs in Europe's 'big five' associations - England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - accounted for almost three quarters (71.8 per cent) of all spending during the January transfer window, the analysis found.