(Reuters) – Transfer spending in men’s soccer went up by 74.7% in the January window compared to last year as clubs signed more players in a sign of a recovery following two pandemic-hit years, world governing body FIFA said on Tuesday.
Clubs spent $1.03 billion on players last month, just shy of the $1.16 billion recorded in January 2020.
A total of 3,791 international transfers were completed across men’s and women’s soccer — a rise of 28% compared to 2021 among male players, and a new all-time high of 42.8% increase in the women’s game.
“For the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, transfer fees and the number of transfers experienced significant growth,” a study from FIFA said.
English clubs topped spending with an outlay of $349.5 million, followed by Italy with $113.6 million and Spain with $111.1 million. England was also the top gainer in terms of transfer receipts, earning $108.6 million.
Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic’s move from Italian Serie A club Fiorentina to rivals Juventus was reported to be the most expensive in the window, with the deal worth up to 80 million euros ($91.34 million).
Ferran Torres swapping Manchester City for Barcelona and Luis Diaz moving to Liverpool from Porto were second and third on the list, with the reported fees of 55 million euros ($62.79 million) and 45 million euros ($51.38 million), respectively.
($1 = 0.8758 euros)
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
