Transfer spending in 2018 reaches record $7.1B

By Fatih Erel

ISTANBUL

Transfer spending in football reached new highs globally as summer spending by clubs of the Big 5 -- England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- surpassed $4 billion, a FIFA report said on Wednesday.

According to the summer 2018 edition of FIFA’s Big 5 Transfer Window Analysis, 8,401 international transfers were completed around the world this summer, and global spending on transfer fees was $5.44 billion with key statistics on transfer activity from June 1 to Sept. 1, 2018.

This brings the total global transfer fees for 2018 so far to $7.11 billion, already 11.5 percent more than the transfer fees for the entire year in 2017.

"Clubs of the Big 5 accounted for 77.5 percent of the global spending, having combined for a total of $4.21 billion," the report said.

Compared to last summer, spending by the Big 5 increased by 6.6 percent, driven by clubs from Italy (+74.7 percent) and Spain (+42.2 percent).

According to the report, England was again the world‘s biggest spender during the period with $1.44 billion.