The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced today, Friday, that the expenses of player joining deals between the beginning of last June and the beginning of September reached a historic rate, amounting to 7 billion and 360 million dollars.
This represents an increase of 26.8% from 2019, when the previous record was set, and an increase of 47.2% compared to the same period in 2022.
Emilio Garcia Silvero, Director of the Legal Affairs and Compliance Department at FIFA, revealed: “England occupied the throne of international transfers in the registration period for the middle of the year 2023, as the value of its transfer fees amounted to 1.98 billion US dollars, as the number of purchase deals reached 449 and 514 sales.”
He added, "As for Germany, it achieved first place in terms of revenues resulting from transfer fees (1.11 billion US dollars), and this is the first time that profits achieved by clubs affiliated with one national federation have exceeded the threshold of one billion US dollars in the mid-year period."
As for Saudi football, which allocated important investments during the summer transfer period, it invested a total of $875.4 million, and is ranked second in the transfer spending list.
Followed by France (859.7 million), Germany (762.4 million), Italy (711 million), and Spain (405.6 million)
As a result of these investments, the share of AFC clubs reached 14% of total international transfer expenditures
It is the first time that the share of clubs belonging to a continental federation, outside Europe, exceeds 10% of the total
On the other hand, women's football witnessed an unprecedented rise in transfer expenses, as they more than doubled compared to the Mercato in mid-2022, and reached a historic figure of $3 million.