The year 2023 established a new record in amounts of international transfers of footballers of
$9.63 billion
, according to the
Global Transfer Report
published this Tuesday by
FIFA
.
According to this work, last year
74,836 international transfers
were made , which is the result of 23,689 operations with professional players (men and women) and 51,147 with amateur players.
After spending decreased in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,
the disbursement of $9.63 billion represents an increase of 48.1% compared to 2022
and exceeds the previous record recorded in 2019 by $2.3 billion.
The ten most expensive transfers generated more than 10% of the total amount.
Of the 3,279 that involved a cost, the 100 most expensive accounted for more than 45% of the money paid, an aspect in which
England once again topped the spending list with $2.96 billion
.
Saudi Arabia broke into that list for the first time in history with 970 (against 50.4 million in 2022).
Jude Bellingham
(from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid),
Enzo Fernández
(from Benfica to Chelsea),
Harry Kane
(from Tottenham to Bayern Munich),
Randal Kolo Muani
(from Eintracht Frankfurt to Paris Saint-Germain),
Mykhailo Mudryk
(from Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea),
Josko Gvardiol
(from Leipzig to Manchester City),
Rasmus Hojlund
(from Atalanta to Manchester United),
Neyma
r (from Paris Saint-Germain to Al Hilal),
Dominik Szoboszlai
(from Leipzig to Liverpool) and
Sandro Tonali
(from Milan to Newcastle) are the ten most expensive international transfers in 2023.
The German clubs were the ones that received the most money
in transfer money, with
1,209 million dollars
, followed by those from France (1,195 million), those from England (1,041 million), those from Italy (1,021 million) and those from Spain. (716 million. The Portuguese clubs were the ones that completed the most contracts with another federation (1,017) and the Brazilians transferred or loaned the largest number of footballers (1,217).
Real Madrid paid 103 million euros to Borussia Dortmund for the signing of Englishman Jude Bellingham.
Photo: Daniel González / EFE.
For the first time in history, according to the report, more than a thousand clubs invested in international signings: 1,024 paid bonuses to incorporate players from abroad.
And the record of entities that received money for a transfer was broken, with 1,241.
Likewise,
the increase in women's football continued
, with a 20% increase in transfers compared to 2022. There were 623 clubs that participated in international transfers, compared to 507 in 2022, which represented an increase of 7.4%.
Last year there were 1,888 international transfers of professional players, with 131 federations involved (record), 7.4% more than in 2022.
The transfer of the Dutch Jill Roord from Wolfsburg to Manchester City took place in July 2023 and was the most expensive in the history of women's football.
Photo: Manchester City.
The most expensive transfers were those of
Jill Roord
(from Wolfsburg to Manchester City),
Kyra Cooney-Cross
(from Hammarby to Arsenal),
Lindsey Horan
(from Portland Thorns to Olympique de Lyon),
Geyse Ferreira
(from Barcelona to Manchester United) and
Scarlett Camberos
(from America to Angel City).
In the section on international fan transfers, in 2023 more than 50,000 transferred to clubs in other federations, of which 91.7% were men.
Of FIFA's 211 member federations, 207 were involved in at least one such signing.
Germany leads this list.