English clubs hit new high of $2.2bn for transfer outlay in 2022

Transfer spending from English men’s clubs reached a new high in 2022, with their total outlay reaching almost $2.2billion (£1.78bn).

The figure was recorded in FIFA’s annual Global Transfers Report and was the first time that English football spent over $2billion in a year on transfers.

France received the most money from transfers, with $740.3million brought in.

The report shows just how powerful the Premier League has become. The top six transfer streams from one nation to another all involve England as the engaging country, with France to England first ($354.6m), followed by Germany ($324.9m), Spain ($310.7m), Portugal ($300.1m), Italy ($285.8m) and the Netherlands ($234.6m). The next-highest stream is from England to Spain, which comes in at $151.3m.

The report details that 20,209 international transfers were made in the men’s game last year — but the 100 most expensive of those accounted for 50 per cent of the $6.5billion total spend. The top 10 transfers, meanwhile, represented 12.5 per cent of the total outlay.

That total is the first time the global transfer fees have increased in two years, in large part due to the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emilio Garcia Silvero, FIFA chief legal and compliance officer, said: “The two-year negative trend in clubs’ spending on transfer fees was turned around in 2022, with last year’s total outlay reaching USD 6.5 billion, an increase of 33.5 per cent compared to 2021, yet still below the all-time high of 2019.”

(Photo: Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images)