CIES Report: Financial analysis of big-5 league clubs’ transfers

Dear Club Representatives,

With the closing of the summer transfer window in most football leagues, we would like to share with you this interesting report published by the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) which presents a Financial analysis of clubs’ transfers during the last decade (2013-2022) from or to clubs in the big-5 European leagues.

The report showcases:

• The transfer fees paid by big-5 league teams “investments”

• the clubs and leagues having benefited from these indemnities “receipts”

• the net balances at both teams’ and leagues’ level “net spending”

It is noticeable that the Covid period characterized by more conservative spending seems to be a souvenir from the past, at least in a few markets. The report shows how the transfer fee investments of clubs from the five major European leagues strongly increased in 2022 in comparison to the pandemic years: +61% with respect to 2020 and +28% compared to 2021. A record spending for a calendar year was observed in the English Premier League: €3.0 billion (+€878 M with respect to the previous 2018 record).

Finally, the analyses shows that most of the money stays within the five major championships: almost two thirds of the total. Nevertheless, it is also important to stress that in 2022 top 5 leagues’ investment in players coming from other European countries (non-top 5) registered a 4% increase when compared to the average spending during the past decade.

• Link to CIES Report: Financial analysis of big-5 league clubs’ transfers

• To review the list of countries with the transfer window still open, please access the European Leagues transfer countdown: https://europeanleagues.com/transfer-windows/