Secrets of a millionaire industry: Argentines, the second most wanted footballers of the last decade

08/30/2021 8:43 AM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 08/30/2021 8:43 AM

Soccer clubs moved about $ 48.5 billion in transfers between 2011 and 2020, according to a FIFA report that shows that Manchester City was by far the club that invested the most money in transfers in the last decade - followed by Chelsea and Barcelona- and that Brazilian players were the most sought after by Argentine clubs followed by Argentines.

The document published this Monday on international transfers and transfers in men's football in the last decade confirms the uninterrupted increase, with a record of 11,890 transfers in 2011 and a maximum number of 18,079 in 2019 to complete a total of 133,225 operations.

FIFA data show that a total of 66,789 footballers and 8,264 clubs from 200 federations were involved in the operations,

"figures that highlight the weight of football in the global economy

.

"

The extensive report also confirms that

English clubs are the ones that spent the most on transfers

and that Spaniards are the ones that earned the most money from these operations, at the same time that the commissions paid to agents increased, who received a total of 3.5 billion euros. Dollars.

The payments to these went from 131.1 million dollars in 2011 to 640.5 million in 2019.

Likewise, a

decline in the solidarity contribution stands out

, with similar amounts in 2020 (38.5 million dollars) and 2011 (38 million), a trend that for FIFA "emphasizes the need to have the Clearing House that is going to implement operation, to promote the payment of compensation for training and reach about 300 million dollars annually.

Pep Guardiola, chat with Jack Grealish, the most expensive player, for now, in the current market.

Photo: AP

Europeans, the biggest spenders

The number of clubs involved in transfers grew more than 30% in the last decade.

From 3,167 in 2011 it went to 4,139 in 2019, an amount that suffered a slight decrease in 2020 to 4,127.

The list of the top 30 clubs in terms of transfer bonuses is made up exclusively of European entities led by England (twelve), Spain and Italy (five each), Germany (three), France and Portugal (two each), and Russia (a).

These 30 clubs spent a total of $ 22.8 billion on transfer bonuses, representing 47% of the global total for the decade: Manchester City (130 transfers), Chelsea (95), Barcelona (75), PSG (59) , Real Madrid (55), Atlético de Madrid (93), Manchester United (68), Arsenal (76), Juventus (137) and Tottenham (59) top ten of this table.

A total of 2,634 different clubs received an international transfer fee and the top 500 recipients accounted for more than 95%.

Among the top 30 clubs to receive transfer fees are the Portuguese Benfica and Sporting, followed by Barcelona, ​​Chelsea, Atlético de Madrid, Real Madrid, Porto, Monaco, Ajax, Juventus and Manchester City.

Otamendi plays for Benfica, the club that earned the most money through sales.

Brazilians rule

Brazilian footballers top the list of players most transferred to foreign clubs by starring in 15,128 operations.

In second place are the Argentines (7,444), the British (5,523), the French (5,027), the Colombians (4,287) and the Spanish (3,922).

Nigeria (3,793), Uruguay (3,341), Ghana (2,848), Portugal (2,598), Germany (1,916), Italy (1,891), Paraguay (1,800) and Japan (1,336) appear in the list of the 30 countries with the most players they export.

86.1% of the transfer rates were paid by footballers from those thirty countries and

44% were by Brazilians, French, Spanish, Argentines and Portuguese.

The highest average annual salary was recorded in 2015 with 2.9 million and 57.1% of 24-year-old players finish their contracts in less than a year.

Neymar, the most expensive

The transfer of Brazilian Neymar Da Silva from Barcelona to PSG in 2017 remains the most expensive in history with a figure of $ 200 million, double the amount paid by Belgian Eden Hazard (2019) from Chelsea to Real Madrid, the Portuguese Joao Felix (2019) from Benfica to Atlético de Madrid and the Dutch Frankie De Jong (2019) from Ajax to Barcelona.

Also valued at $ 100 million were the transfers in 2018 of the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid to Juventus in Turin, the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool to Barcelona and the Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Club to Chelsea.

The "club of 100" was opened in 2011 by the transfer of Colombian Radamel Falcao from Porto to Atlético de Madrid and that amount was paid again in 2013 in operations such as the arrival of Uruguayan Edinson Cavani to PSG from Naples and those from German Mesut Özil and the Welshman Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, after leaving Arsenal and Tottenham, respectively.

The highest figure before reaching 100 million was 60 million, disbursed in transfers such as those of Argentine Sergio Agüero from Atlético de Madrid to Manchester City in 2011 and Egyptian Mohamed Salah in 2017 from Roma to Liverpool.

83% of the transferred players would be between 18 and 29 years old;

94.1% of the transfer rates were paid by players between 18 and 29 years old and 21.6% of the operations with Under 24 footballers were transfers 19,826, which represents 14.8% of the operations and the majority of them (70%) without fees.

LaLiga, the one that won the most money

Although the Brazilian Soccer Association (CBF) tops the list in terms of the number of player transfers, it only ranks seventh in terms of transfer income with $ 2.8 billion, a figure that is less than half of what they earned from the 6,200 million Spanish clubs in that period.

England (5.2), France (4.9), Portugal (4.3), Italy (4.2) and Germany (3.4) appear below as operating income.

In the table of expenses for transfers, England appears in first place (12.4 million) -with a peak in 2018 of 1.95 billion and a slight increase in spending in 2020 despite the health crisis compared to 2019-.

Spanish clubs are second in this regard (6.7 million dollars) and the report points out that the pandemic reduced by more than half the figure to the levels prior to 2017. Italy (5.6), Germany (4.6) France (4) and Russia and China (1.7) are listed below.

Among associations, investment in transfers from Spain to England was the highest with 2,435 million dollars;

above that between France and England (2,133) and from England to Spain (1,642).

Agents win, clubs lose

As reflected in the reforms in the transfer system that FIFA is carrying out, the analysis confirms a clear decline in the solidarity contribution, with similar amounts in 2020 (38.5 million dollars) and 2011 (38 million dollars).

"This trend underscores the need for the FIFA Compensation Chamber, which is expected to promote the payment of training compensation to reach around $ 300 million annually."

The report, which can be viewed at legal.FIFA.com, adds that the decline in payment of compensation for training contrasts markedly with the commissions paid to agents, which went from $ 131.1 million in 2011 to $ 640.5 million $ in 2019.

Over the decade, agents were paid a total of $ 3.5 billion in international transfer fees.

Source: EFE