This Monday, FIFA delivered a report on the international transfers of the last 10 years, a classification led by Brazil and Argentina, but in which Colombia also plays a leading role, ranking below England and France. The report also highlights the transfers of James Rodríguez and Falcao garcia, who are part of the “100 million club”, led by Neymar for 200 million euros, when he went from Barcelona to PSG.
Soccer clubs invested 48.5 billion dollars in transfers between 2011 and 2020, according to a FIFA report that shows that Brazilian players were the most transferred (15,128) to foreign teams, followed by Argentines (7,444) and British ( 5,523).
The document published this Monday on international transfers and transfers in men’s football in the last decade confirms the uninterrupted increase, with a record of 11,890 transfers in 2011 and a maximum number of 18,079 in 2019 to complete a total of 133,225 operations.
The 30 entities that paid the most are European and Premier clubs lead the ranking: Manchester City (130 signings) and Chelsea (95), Barcelona from Spanish LaLiga (75), French PSG (59) and Spanish Real Madrid (55) and Atlético de Madrid (93).
FIFA data show that a total of 66,789 footballers and 8,264 clubs from 200 federations were involved in the operations, “figures that highlight the weight of football in the global economy” and that after Brazilians, Argentines and Britons as the most transferred to teams Foreigners are the French players (5,027), the Colombians (4,287) and the Spanish (3,922).
The extensive study also confirms that the English clubs are the ones that spent the most and that the Spanish ones are the ones that earned the most from these operations, at the same time that the commissions paid to the agents increased, who received a total of $ 3.5 billion. Payments to these went from 131.1 million in 2011 to 640.5 million in 2019.
Likewise, a decline in the solidarity contribution stands out, with similar amounts in 2020 (38.5 million) and 2011 (38 million), a trend that for FIFA “emphasizes the need to have the Clearing House that it is going to put into operation, to promote the payment of training allowances and reach some $ 300 million annually.
Europeans lead spending
The number of clubs involved in transfers grew more than 30% in the last decade. From 3,167 in 2011 it went to 4,139 in 2019, an amount that suffered a slight decrease in 2020 to 4,127. The list of the top 30 clubs in terms of transfer bonuses is made up exclusively of European entities led by England (twelve), Spain and Italy (five each), Germany (three), France and Portugal (two each), and Russia (a).
These 30 clubs spent a total of 22.8 billion on transfer bonuses, which represents 47% of the global total for the decade. Manchester City (130 transfers), Chelsea (95), Barcelona (75), PSG (59), Real Madrid (55), Atlético de Madrid (93), Manchester United (68), Arsenal (76), Juventus (137) and Tottenham (59) take the top ten places in this table.
A total of 2,634 different clubs received an international transfer fee and the top 500 recipients accounted for more than 95%. Among the top 30 clubs that received transfer rates are the Portuguese Benfica (311 transfers) and Sporting (226), followed by Barcelona (106), Chelsea (260), Atlético de Madrid (121), Real Madrid (90), Porto (224), Monaco (177), Ajax (100), Juventus (197) and Manchester City (307).
More than two thirds of the clubs involved in transfers had a positive net balance of their expenses and income from international transfers, a situation that affects 90.9% of the entities at Conmebol. Brazilians Sao Paulo, Santos, Fluminense, Corintians and Gremio, along with Argentines River Plate and Velez appear among the top 30 who are in this situation.
Brazilians and Argentines, the ones with the most transfers
Brazilian footballers top the list of players most transferred to foreign clubs by starring in 15,128 operations. In second place are the Argentines (7,444), the British (5,523), the French (5,027), the Colombians (4,287) and the Spanish (3,922). Nigeria (3,793), Uruguay -ninth- (3,341), Ghana (2,848), Portugal (2,598), Germany (1,916), Italy (1,891), Paraguay (1,800) and Japan (1,336) are listed among the 30 countries that most players export.
86.1% of the transfer fees were paid by footballers from those thirty countries and 44% were by Brazilians, French, Spanish, Argentines and Portuguese. The highest average annual salary was recorded in 2015 with 2.9 million and 57.1% of 24-year-old players finish their contracts in less than a year.
Neymar, the most expensive of the decade
The transfer of Brazilian Neymar, from Barcelona to PSG in 2017, remains the most expensive in history with a figure of 200 million, double the amount paid by Belgian Eden Hazard (2019) from Chelsea to Real Madrid, the Portuguese Joao Felix (2019) from Benfica to Atlético de Madrid and the Dutchman Frankie De Jong (2019) from Ajax to Barcelona.
The transfers in 2018 of the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid to Juventus, the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool to Barcelona and four years before that of the Colombian James Rodríguez from Monaco to Real Madrid, the Argentine Ángel Di María from the Real Madrid to Manchester United and Uruguayan Luis Suárez from Liverpool to Barcelona.
The “club of 100” was opened in 2011 by the transfer of Colombian Radamel Falcao from Porto to Atlético de Madrid and that amount was paid again in 2013 in operations such as the arrival of Uruguayan Edinson Cavani to PSG from Naples. The highest figure before reaching 100 million was 60 million, disbursed in transfers such as those of Argentine Sergio Agüero from Atlético to Manchester City in 2011 and Egyptian Mohamed Salah in 2017 from Roma to Liverpool.
83% of the transferred players would be between 18 and 29 years old; 94.1% of the transfer rates were paid by players between 18 and 29 years old and 21.6% of the operations with under-24 players were transfers 19,826, which represents 14.8% of the operations and the most of them (70%) without fees.
EFE
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