PREM clubs splashed a quarter of the entire world transfer spending on “international” deals this summer.
Fifa’s latest audit of cross border deals – which must all be cleared by the world body’s new legal base in Miami – showed nearly 11,000 deals totalling £4.95billion across Planet Football.
Prem sides were responsible for £1.29bn of that total amount.
That included the £46m Chelsea paid to bring Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge for a second spell at the club and Manchester United’s combined £79.2m outlay on Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee.
Other big deals saw Arsenal paying £42m to land defender Riccardo Calafiori and Bournemouth spending £40m of the £65m they received from Tottenham for Dominic Solanke on Porto’s Brazilian striker Evanilson.
Fifa’s transfer management system only relates to cross-border deals, so Solanke’s move to Spurs, along with other big-money inter-Prem moves for PedroNeto, Elliot Anderson and Aaron Ramsdale were not included.
According to world chiefs, Prem clubs accounted for 526 “incoming” deals, although 523 players – including Romelu Lukaku, Conor Gallagher and Douglas Luiz left English shores for global destinations.
Prem clubs received a total of £950m in international fees, for a net spend of £340m.
That was slightly more than the net spend of the Saudi Pro League which has continued to recruit after the close of the main European windows and could yet surpass the Prem although with a far lower total expenditure – and Italy’s Serie A.
Once again Portuguese clubs took advantage of the market, making £185m net when sales were balanced against incoming international deals.
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But while the total spend on cross-border deals was the second highest in history, it was down by £540m on the all-time record of £5.66bn set in 2023.
The growth of women’s professional football, though, saw a record £518m spent on international deals, more than double the corresponding 2023 total, with more than 1,100 cross-border deals recorded by Fifa.
Fifa legal chief Emilio Garcia Silvera said: “This report provides a unique understanding of the key dynamics of the mid-year transfer window.
“We have just completed a very intense window which, among others, confirmed the steady development of transfers in women’s football.
“The current trends also highlight the importance of continuously enhancing the regulatory framework of the transfer system.”
