ZURICH (Reuters) - The number of international transfers in men’s football hit an all-time high as $5 billion was spent in total fees during the latest transfer window, a report by world soccer’s governing body FIFA said on Thursday.
The report, labelled the “International Transfer Snapshot”, included an analysis of international player transfer activity from Jun 1 to Sep 1 during the transfer window.
The key findings of the report showed that 9,717 international transfers involving male players took place during the mid-year registration period, which was 16.2 per cent more than in the same period in 2021 and a record high.
The $5 billion spent in total fees on those transfers was 29.7 per cent more than the same period in 2021.
Darwin Nunez’s move from Benfica to Liverpool was reported to be worth €100 million (US$99.98 million) by British media, while Aurelien Tchouameni joined Real Madrid from AS Monaco for the same amount.
In the women’s game, international transfers during the mid-year registration period reached an all-time high with 684 transfers, which was 14.4 per cent more than the same period in 2021.
The report also showed that Portuguese clubs made a particularly strong recovery, more than tripling their receipts from transfer fees compared to the same period in 2021 after back-to-back years of significant decreases.
The total amount of service fees for club agents declared in transfers was $494.4 million.
Over the last 10 years, the ratio of agent service fees to transfer fees during the mid-year registration window has grown from 6.1 per cent in 2012 to 9.9 per cent in 2022, the report said.