English Clubs Drive Record Transfers

28 Jan 2015 | sigadmin

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Football clubs spent a record $4.1bn (£2.7bn) on international player transfers during 2014, according to a new report from the sport’s governing body FIFA, with spending rising above the $4bn mark for the first time.

The rise also represents a 2.1% increase on 2013.

The Global Transfer Market 2015 report examines the patterns and trends that have developed in the international transfer market across the calendar year.

According to the report, England was the world’s biggest spender, with its clubs paying $1.2bn (£795m) during the year – more than a quarter of the total spending worldwide and 67% higher than the second biggest spender, Spain.

In all, 13,090 international transfers were made in 2014.

The new global figures refer to international transfers and do not cover domestic transfers between two clubs in the same country.

Increasingly lucrative TV deals have given top-flight English clubs the financial power to bring in big-money stars such as Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria, with rights packages expected to continue to grow.

Bidding has opened for the next tranche of Premier League live domestic television rights up to 2018-19, and is expected to bring in more than the £3.02bn achieved previously.

The data was revealed by FIFA’s International Transfer Matching System (ITMS) organisation, which aims to make international football transfers more transparent and legally compliant.