Men’s and women’s football transfer activity and spending are at all-time highs globally; According to the FIFA study, agent fees are also at record highs; Saudi clubs spend more than teams in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Transfer spending and activity across men’s and women’s football around the world has smashed new records, according to a FIFA report.
International transfers (moving from one country to another) by men’s football clubs cost a record-breaking £5.9 billion during the summer transfer window, a 47 percent increase from the mid-year window in 2022.
Over the same time period, transfer spending in women’s football more than doubled, setting a new mid-year high of £2.4 million. For the sixth year in a row, there were more transfers than the previous year, reaching a record-breaking 829 moves (+19.1% over the previous time), 66 of which were for fees (+83.3%).
Who spent what?
With £1.59 billion spent on international transfer fees during the window for men’s soccer, England came out on top. They also signed (449) and released (514) more players than any other nation.
Saudi clubs made a big impression this summer in more ways than one, coming in second with their £701.3 million summer spending spree, ahead of the other ‘big five’ European leagues: France (£688.8 million), Germany (£610.8 million), Italy (£569.6 million), and Spain (£324.9 million).
The outcome was that clubs from the AFC region accounted for 14.0% of all global transfer spending, marking the first time organizations other than UEFA’s teams had exceeded a 10% share of the total.
Germany’s transfer business made a record-breaking £889 million profit during the mid-year window.
Agent fees for overseas agreements also hit a new record high, with £558 million paid during the month, bringing the total for 2023 to date to £683 million, which is more than in any other year and 36.9% greater than in the year of 2022.
Men’s game global spending on agent fees for international deals
Analysis of Saudi spending
Only the Premier League spent more than Saudi Arabia during the transfer window, which closed on September 7. Saudi Arabia spent more than four of Europe’s “big five” leagues combined.
Izzy Wray of Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said, “This is the first time since 2016 that another overseas league has outspent any of Europe’s ‘big five’ during a football transfer window.
European football remains the benchmark of the game worldwide, and Saudi Arabia’s investment in the game is shifting the focus to infrastructure, raising the level of football in Asia.
Earlier this year, the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund (PIF) announced a sports club investment and privatization project with league champions Al Ittihad, Al Ahli, Al Nassr and Al Hilal, with a number of key players moving to the league.
PIF owns 75 percent of all four clubs, while their non-profit foundations own 25 percent of each.
Saudi Pro League transfer spending
The biggest transfer of this window came from Saudi Arabia’s most successful club, Al Hila, who spent £86.3 million to bring in Brazil’s Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
Apart from Neymar, Al Hilal spent heavily on the signings of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Saudi Arabian Pro League champions Al Ittihad have signed Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr have signed Otavio, Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles.
Al Ahli, who returned after a season in the second division, also made a number of signings, including Gabri Veiga, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy, Alain Saint-Maximin and Merih Demiral.
“The implementation of the UK’s privatization program is likely to generate interest in SPL, potentially encouraging current spending in future windows,” Wray said.
“With the SPL’s purchasing power already surpassing some of Europe’s ‘Big Five’, it remains to be seen how this will affect future generations of football’s elite.”
With all that spending, the SPL fell short of some of their biggest targets.
Al Ittihad was targeted by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. The Premier League club have reportedly rejected a bid worth £150m, while Al Hilal’s ambitious bids for Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have failed to materialise.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made large investments in sports like soccer, Formula One, boxing, tennis, and golf.
Saudi Arabia is accused by some of engaging in “sportswashing” in response to harsh criticism of the nation’s record on human rights by exploiting the PIF.
