The year 2023 set a new record for spending on international transfers of $9,630 (almost €8.9 billion), according to the report (Global Transfer Report) published this Tuesday by FIFA.
According to him, last year there was 74,836 international transfers, resulting in 23,689 (31.7%) operations in professional players (male and female) and 51,147 (68.3%) in novices.
Spending has increased since the pandemic
After what in 2020 and 2021 spending will decrease due to the covid-19 pandemic, the disbursement of 9.63 billion dollars representing an increase of 48.1% compared to 2022 and surpassing the previous record of 2.3 billion registered in 2019.
The ten most expensive transfers generated more than 10% of the total value and of the 3,279 involved in a cost, the 100 most expensive represented more than 45% of the money paid, an aspect in which England once again topped the list of spending with 2,960 million dollars, where Saudi Arabia enters for the first time in history with 970, from 50.4 in 2022.
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund-Real Madrid), Enzo Fernandez (Benfica-Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham-Bayern Munich), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt-PSG), Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk-Chelsea), Josko Guardiol (RB Leipzig-Manchester City), Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta-Manchester United), Neymar (PSG-Al Hilal), Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig-Liverpool) and Sandro Tonali (Milan-Newcastle), will be the ten most expensive in 2023.
German clubs are the ones who received the most money in transfer money, with 1,209 million dollars, compared to 1,195 from France, 1,041 from England, 1,021 from Italy or 716 from Spain. The Portuguese have completed the most contracts with another federation (1,017) and the Brazilians have transferred or loaned the most footballers (1,217).
For the first time in history, according to the report, more than a thousand clubs have invested in international signings. Specifically, 1,024. And the record of entities that received money for a transfer was broken, with 1,241.
The increase in women’s football also continued, with a 20% increase in signings compared to 2022. 623 clubs participated in international transfers, up from 507 in 2022, an increase of 7.4%.
Last year there were 1,888 international transfers of professional players, with 131 federations involved (record), 7.4% more than in 2022.
The most expensive game
The most expensive transfer is that of Jill Roode (Wolfsburg-Manchester City), Kyra Cooney-Cross (Hammarby-Arsenal), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns-Lyon), Geyse Ferreira (Barcelona-Manchester United) and Scarlett Camberos (America-Angel City).
In the section of international transfers of fans, in 2023 more than 50,000 were transferred to clubs in other federations, of which 91.7% were men.
207 of the 211 member associations were involved in at least one such signing. Germany leads this list.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
