Premier League clubs once again dominated the international transfer market in 2013, topping the 1billion US dollar-mark for the first time, according to Fifa in its 2014 Global Transfer Market report. Transfers were up 51 per cent in value and Fifa attributes this to big television deals.
Premier League clubs once again dominated the international transfer market in 2013, topping the 1billion US dollar-mark for the first time, according to Fifa in its 2014 Global Transfer Market report. Transfers were up 51 per cent in value and Fifa attributes this to big television deals.
The English clubs, plus Swansea and Cardiff from Wales, spent 1.1billion dollars (£660million) on overseas transfers last year, and of that more than £50million went straight into the pockets of agents. Premier League figures released in November disclosed a total of £100million was paid to agents, including for domestic transfers.
After the Premier League, Italian clubs were the next biggest spenders on overseas transfers (£286million), followed by France (£253million), Spain (£192million) and then Germany (£144million). Spanish clubs, however, were the biggest net earners for transfers, with net income of £150million.
The report also highlighted the growing influence of ‘super clubs’ such as Manchester City, Paris St Germain and Monaco, where wealthy owners provide huge sums for fast-track team strengthening.
The report states that across the world there were a total of 12,309 international transfers in 2013, 4 per cent more than in 2012, and 90 per cent of these were free transfers with no fee paid.