Premier League clubs have tightened their belts - but for how long?

If there's one thing we've been able to count on in the most unpredictable Premier League season in recent memory it has been uncertainty.

Back in September there was uncertainty over whether the 2020/21 campaign would start at all and plenty of uncertainty over whether it will grind to a halt at any given moment ever since.

There's been uncertainty over teams and players and form and fitness and a great deal of uncertainty over results with bottom beating top with more regularity than ever before.

There's definitely been uncertainty over who can watch the games and when with fans allowed back into stadiums at last only to be shut out once again from then on.

That uncertainty on the pitch has been reflected off it too with the January transfer window that closed earlier this week no exception.

Teams combined to spend just £70million last month, a reduction of the £160m spent 12 months ago, with the ongoing uncertainty over the pandemic’s impact on their finances paramount in their thinking.

Permanent transfers were few and far between with only a handful of teams willing to commit to deals beyond those signed until the end of the season.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit football as hard as any sector, and while Premier League clubs are undoubtedly not suffering like those further down the pyramid, they too are having to adapt on the fly just the same with recruitment seemingly one of the first areas to feel the pinch.

"It's probably the toughest time ever to predict what the transfer market will look like in 12 or 18 months," Tim Bridge of Deloitte says.

"I think the way transfer departments within clubs work now, it's often quite scientific or quite analytical and now more than ever it's very challenging to make sure you've got the data correct.

"It's also challenging to make any sorts of estimates as to what the future of the market might look like. I think it depends on a number of factors.

"Getting fans back into the stadium is essential to the business model of football clubs, and then how the commercial model reacts."

Deadline day saw just £7m in transfer fees spent in England's top flight - down from £25m a year ago.

The same date in the calendar that once saw Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez trade places for millions was forced to make do with Joe Willock and Josh King doing so for pounds and pence.

That's not to say that shrewdness shouldn't be applauded, of course. A bit of patience has long been overdue in the Premier League with clubs all too ready to spend their way out of trouble before trying anything else.

Champions Liverpool, although one of the world's richest clubs, have been forced to tighten their pursestrings like those below them.

Without a Russian oligarch or Middle Eastern sheikh at the helm, self-sufficiency has been the mantra of the FSG era on Merseyside and with Premier League and Champions League trophies in the Anfield cabinet, it suggests they're at least doing something right.

The Reds were forced to dip their toe in on deadline day with Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak arriving as manager Jurgen Klopp scrambled to plug the injury hole in the centre of his defence.

Those deals, both done with the minimum of fuss and financial outlay, could be a sign of what's to come with bargains to be had for those clubs shrewd enough to find them.

"It's okay to have a period of revenue that you missed out on, but if that's consistent over time then steadily the business model of the clubs will have to change," Bridge adds.

"If that went to the 2021/22 season and beyond, then you would expect to see a natural shift in the transfer market.

"It's certainly going to be an interesting couple of windows and I think in relative terms, compared to what we've seen previously, some clubs will feel they've got bargains in the transfer market.

"Whereas previously they might have had to spend upwards of £50m, a player may be available for £30-40m based on the situation at the selling club at a specific point in time. It's one to watch with interest."