English clubs are dominating the world transfer market to such an extent that they are now involved in nearly as many deals as Brazil, the world’s biggest production line for players.
According to a Fifa report, of the 13,090 transfers in 2014, England was responsible for 9.6 per cent of transfers compared with just over 10 per cent for Brazil. The number of transfers involving English clubs increased by 193 over the previous year, while Brazil’s total declined by 101.
English clubs are dominating the world transfer market to such an extent that they are now involved in nearly as many deals as Brazil, the world’s biggest production line for players.
According to a Fifa report, of the 13,090 transfers in 2014, England was responsible for 9.6 per cent of transfers compared with just over 10 per cent for Brazil. The number of transfers involving English clubs increased by 193 over the previous year, while Brazil’s total declined by 101.
English clubs’ spending in 2014 totalled $1.17bn, or 28.7 per cent of the $4.1bn global spend. The next highest spenders were in Spain with $700m. China broke into the top 10 for the first time, spending $101m.
However, Europe dominates the market. The top 10 countries accounted for 81 per cent of total transfers, and all but two of them – Brazil and China – were Europeans. Portugal’s position as a first port of call for Brazilians meant that its clubs generated the highest level of net transfer receipts.
Portugal had a positive net balance of $289m last year. Holland, Brazil and Ukraine also had net balances of over $100m.
Transfer deals between English and Spanish clubs are the hottest. The flow of deals between the two countries’ clubs accounted for a total of $653m.
In contrast, French clubs’ involvement declined by nearly half – from $421m in 2013 to $222m. Previous high spenders Paris Saint-Germain reined in their activity after falling foul of Uefa’s financial fair play regime as did AS Monaco. The club have also been hit by the French government raising taxes on salaries above €1m.