ANKARA: World football’s governing body, Fifa, said in its report on Monday that clubs have spent US$48.5 billion in transfer fees over the past decade.
Fifa said in its report 10 Years of International Transfers that this sum was spent in 2011-2020 and that clubs mostly increased their transfer fee expenditures from the beginning of the decade until 2019.
The report said US$2.85 billion had been spent in 2011, but that this figure had risen to US$7.35 billion in 2019, which was the peak point of the 10-year-term, reported Anadolu Agency (AA).
Coronavirus-hit 2020 saw a significant decline, with only US$5.63 billion spent between clubs.
The report also said that US$3.5 billion had been paid for player agents’ commissions in international transfers.
In 2011, US$131.1 million had been allocated for the football intermediaries. Meanwhile, this rose through years to US$640.5 million in 2019.
In direct proportion to the transfer fee paid in 2020, agent commissions also diminished to US$483.5 million last year.
Over the past decade, 66,789 football players were transferred around the globe between 8,264 clubs in the 200-member Fifa.
Brazilian players were the most popular in 2011-2020, representing 15,128 transferred players, followed by Argentina.
The report said 7,444 Argentinians were signed by clubs in this period. British players came third on this list with 5,523 players.
European clubs dominated the top of the transfer fee spending list. In the top-30 list, there were 12 English clubs, including latest English champions Manchester City.
Spain and Italy had five each in this group. Germany had three, France and Portugal had two each, and Russia had one, being Zenit St Petersburg.
“Those 30 clubs alone spent a total of US$22.8 billion on transfer fees in the period, representing a share of 47 percent of the global total,” the report read.
The English clubs – including Manchester City – spent US$12.4 billion for international transfers.
Spanish clubs spent nearly half of their English counterparts, with US$6.7 billion.
Italy came third on this list with US$5.6 billion in the 10-year transfer expenditures.
The report added that Manchester City signed 130 players in 2011-2020, 59.2 percent of them with fees, making for 77 transfers. – Bernama
