A focus on the cost of transfer fees is understandable when some of them are so large and their negotiation is surrounded by so much last minute drama.
However, a study by the Fifa Transfer Matching System, the body that oversees all cross-border transfers, found that clubs committed to spending £4,5bn in wages in 2015 alone, far outstripping the £2.6bn spent on transfer fees. The amount of money committed to salaries this year is more than a third higher than the same figure for 2013.
A focus on the cost of transfer fees is understandable when some of them are so large and their negotiation is surrounded by so much last minute drama.
However, a study by the Fifa Transfer Matching System, the body that oversees all cross-border transfers, found that clubs committed to spending £4,5bn in wages in 2015 alone, far outstripping the £2.6bn spent on transfer fees. The amount of money committed to salaries this year is more than a third higher than the same figure for 2013.
It estimates that the transfer market is worth about £6.5bn across the globe every year. Some 80 per cent of that money comes from Uefa, with the Premier League accounting for 29 per cent of transfers by value. Brazil is, however, involved in the largest number of numerical transfers.
When they move abroad, Spanish players command the highest wages. The average annual salary for a Spainard moving abroad is £563,000.