Bristol City were one of six Championship clubs that didn't commit a single transfer fee this summer as the financial landscape in the second tier was laid bare.
Although there were some signs of a financial recovery following the crippling effect the pandemic has had on football's finances, it remains clear clubs are still working hard to balance the books.
City manager Nigel Pearson remained open and honest throughout the summer regarding the club's situation when it comes to signing players. Although he hinted some cash was available towards the start of the window, the club could only entertain a one-out-one-in policy.
City signed four players on free transfers, although worth noting Forest Green were paid a nominal compensation fee for Kane Wilson. Mark Sykes, Kal Naismith and Stefan Bajic all also joined following the expiration of their contracts.
According to Deloitte, £86million was spent across the Championship in total which is double the figure from 12 months ago. Although it is still way below the previous three-year average of £169.4m between 2017-19.
Revealed by the Athletic, out of the 191 transfers completed to Championship clubs this summer, only 47 of those came at a fee. That also includes 65 free signings and 79 loan deals.
Out of the £86m spent, Burnley contributed the most to that figure with an estimated spending of £28m. Manager Vincent Kompany was handed a generous transfer budget because of the parachute payments but they also recouped around £50m in sales.
The amount of money coming into the Championship was close to £190m so the fact that only half of that was spent was further evidence of clubs being more cautious with their cash.
Alongside City, Reading, Stoke City, Coventry, QPR and Rotherham were the other clubs not to have forked out a transfer fee. Preston made one signing for a small fee in keeper Freddie Woodman, as did Birmingham City with Tahith Chong and Wigan by signing Anthony Scully from Lincoln.
In total, nine Championship clubs saw their transfer income exceed transfer expenditures. Of the seven whose expenditure exceeded income, four recorded a net spend of less than £2m. Overall, net transfer gain in the Championship exceeded the previous year by 89%.
Norwich spent around £13m but had parachute payments to fall back on while Hull also spent over £10m. However, the Tigers raked in profit from the sale of Keane Lewis-Potter to Brentford for £16m.
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