According to Smith, the transfer deadline means many agents need to assess their financial well-being for the rest of the year.

“It has become a rabid world,” said Smith, founder of First Artist Management.

“There are too many agents trying to scrap over deals, and many aren’t making money. In some cases the agent has to think of himself rather than the player. Maybe it’s not the best move for the player, but maybe the agent needs petrol for his Jag.”

With four months until the next transfer window, Smith has detected a tendency of some clubs to “spend a year’s worth of income in a short space of time”, but he believes most are showing common sense in their dealings.

Analysts Deloitte expect Barclays Premiership clubs to rein in their spending on players to ensure the game’s current popularity with a worldwide TV audience results in more than fat-cat superstars and soaring transfer fees.

Smith claims “prudent financial management” is already apparent, even though spending by Premiership sides in 2006 rose by 16% to £330m (€490m).

Yesterday’s deadline day saw a flurry of late deals, but many were loans or swaps, and few high-profile players moved for big money.

Given that the Premier League have signed up to new TV contracts worth £1.706bn (€2.5bn), starting next season, some might have been expected to gamble.

“I was surprised by the lack of spending,” said Smith. “There wasn’t a consistent spend throughout the English market.

“With the Sky deal, what it does show is prudent financial management by the clubs who are not spending money until they have got it.”

First Artist were involved in deals involving the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, who joined Middlesbrough on loan from Real Madrid, and Thomas Gravesen, who left the same Spanish club for Celtic.

“The day is a bit of fun for fans, and it has focused the mind,” Smith added.

“The Ashley Cole deal has been forced to happen by the transfer window. Otherwise it might have gone on for another six months. We had Gravesen and having a window focused everyone’s mind to get things done. It wasn’t easy to do.”

Deloitte believe clubs will, as Smith suggests, give added consideration to the way they spend their TV payments.

There were big deals yesterday, such as the swap involving Cole, William Gallas and £5m (€7.4m), which ended weeks of negotiations between Arsenal and Chelsea.

And West Ham achieved what may prove the coup of the summer by signing Argentina internationals Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians on undisclosed terms.

Big-money deals were thin on the ground, but they had been widespread earlier in the summer.

Deloitte’s senior sports business consultant Alan Switzer said: “The levels of transfer spending again indicate the financial strength of the top level of English football.

“The arrival of more star names is great news for fans and reflects the Premiership’s status as the world’s richest league.

“Nonetheless, over the next couple of years there’ll be a continuing challenge to balance spending to ensure the benefits of revenue growth continue to be felt in areas other than player salaries and transfer fees.”

In May, broadcasters Setanta and BSkyB bought up rights to televise live Premiership matches from 2007-10.

The £1.706bn (€2.5bn) package represented a rise of 67% in revenue for the Premiership clubs, however the first payments will not reach clubs until next year.

There have already been signs of clubs applying common sense judgement to their spending, with wages in the 2004-05 season – the most recent figures announced – falling 3% compared to 2003-04.

According to an earlier Deloitte study, Premiership clubs are also now trading on average at break-even level in terms of their pre-tax financial results.

Those figures are reached by removing Chelsea from the equation, as owner Roman Abramovich's wealth makes their massive losses bearable, and include profits for Manchester United of £33m (€49m) and for Liverpool of £25m (€37m).