FIFA has published their annual Global Transfer Report for 2022, with English clubs leading the way in transfers and spending. The worldwide governing body of the sport claims that there was a total of 71,002 total player moves for the year. This includes men and women professionals, as well as youth amateur players as well.
On the men’s side, international transfers totaled a whopping 20,209 during this timeframe. This is an 11.6% increase over 2021. Also, this exceeds figured before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, 4,770 different clubs from 182 leagues made international transfers.
“The two-year negative trend in clubs’ spending on transfer fees was turned around in 2022, with last year’s total outlay reaching $6.5 billion, an increase of 33.5% compared to 2021, yet still below the all-time high of 2019,” said FIFA chief legal and compliance officer Emilio Garcia Silvero.
Premier League and English clubs dominate transfers
Topping the spending charts is perhaps unsurprisingly England. Led by the Premier League, English clubs spent about $2.2 billion in player transfers during 2022. This was more than three times any other country in the world. Italian clubs finished a distant second in spending with $671 million.
Premier League clubs accounted for six of the top 10 transfers during 2022. This includes Darwin Nunez, Antony, Casemiro, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Luis Diaz. The top ten player transfers were responsible for about 12.5% of all spending during this calendar year. And the top 100 transfers accounted for half of the total spending as well.
Women’s game clearly growing
Female player transfers were also up significantly as well. The sheer number of transfers in the women’s game has more than doubled since 2018 and has seen an increase of 19% since the previous year.
“All of this reflects the impressive strides being taken as more and more female players continue to turn professional,” continued Silvero. “Some 1,555 international transfers were recorded in 2022, an increase of 19.3% compared to the previous year, while a new high of 119 associations were involved in international transfers.”
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