Mercato: 9 billion euros in spending, the English in force, growth in women's football... The crazy figures for 2023

The global transfer market broke spending records in 2023, with 9.63 billion dollars (around 8.89 billion euros) injected, or 2 billion more than the previous record recorded in 2019, according to figures from FIFA published Tuesday.

This sum also represents a clear increase compared to 2022 (48.1%) when spending on the transfer market started to rise again after two years of decline, linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ten largest transfers represent 10% of the total transfer fees paid in 2023. In particular those of Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid, Enzo Fernandez from Benfica Lisbon to Chelsea, Harry Kane from Tottenham to Bayern Munich or again from Randal Kolo Muani from Frankfurt to Paris SG.

As in 2022, it was the English clubs, led by Chelsea, who were the biggest spenders with nearly three billion dollars paid over the entire year 2023 (2.96 billion euros).

Along with Chelsea, Paris SG, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the five clubs that spent the most on the transfer market in 2023.

In the opposite direction, German clubs, boosted by the sales of Bellingham or Kolo Muani, received the highest total in the world with transfer earnings of more than $1.2 billion.

With 1,017 arrivals in their leagues, Portuguese clubs welcomed the most players from clubs in other member associations, while Brazilian clubs accounted for the largest number of outgoing transfers, with 1,217 players leaving. monetize their talents outside Brazil in 2023.

The Fifa report also points to “the impressive growth” of women’s football in terms of investments in the transfer markets.

In 2023, 623 professional clubs were involved in international transfers, compared to 507 in 2022, for a total of 1,888 international transfers of professional players recorded during the year, compared to 1,571 in 2022.