FIFA's latest report on international player transfers revealed that more than 12,500 transfer deals had been completed around the world, a record number compared to 11,863 deals last year, indicating that more than $9.89 billion was spent on international transfer fees for men's players this summer, while women's football also set new records, with spending on transfer fees doubling more than twice to reach a record level of $28.6 million.

Published on: 09/03/2026 - 19:48

FIFA announced on Thursday that football clubs spent more than $9.89 billion on international transfer fees for men's players this summer, which is the highest number ever recorded for the mid-year transfer period.

According to FIFA's latest report on international transfers, more than 12,500 transfer deals were completed around the world, which is also a record number, compared to 11,863 deals last year.

Once again, English clubs dominated the spending market, investing more than $3.02 billion in transfer fees for foreign players. This amount is much lower than the English Premier League record of $4.7 billion reported by local media, which also includes player transfer deals between English clubs.

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In second place were Italian clubs with $1.1 billion, followed by Spanish ($940 million), then German ($904 million), and finally French ($641 million).

French clubs achieved the highest transfer revenues, amounting to $1.7 billion. While English clubs collected $1.43 billion, ahead of Germany ($1.02 billion), Spain ($773 million), and Portugal ($642 million).

Likewise, FIFA said that the 2026 World Cup had a significant impact on the transfer market, as the value of the transfers of players participating in the tournament amounted to more than $3.3 billion. 267 players of 47 different nationalities transferred between June and September.

Women's football also set new records in both transfer spending and activity. FIFA reported 1,406 international transfers in professional women's football, an increase of 19.2 percent over the previous record.

Spending on international transfer fees more than doubled compared to the corresponding transfer period in 2025, reaching a record level of $28.6 million.

Here too, English women's clubs topped the list in terms of spending on transfers with $8 million, ahead of Spain ($6.6 million), Germany ($4.9 million), the United States ($2.9 million), and Italy ($2.1 million).

Swedish clubs received the highest value of transfer fees at $4.2 million, slightly ahead of English clubs ($4 million), while French and German clubs received $3.6 million each.

France 24/AFP

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