The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has published its Global Transfer Report 2022, which shows the numbers of footballers transferred from one country or team to another during the last year, and upon which feature several Latinos.
Among the top 10 international transfers of 2022 are five Latin American players: three Brazilians, one Uruguayan and one Colombian.
The most expensive players in 2022:
- France’s Aurélien Tchouaméni (22), who moved from AS Monaco to Spain’s Real Madrid.
- Uruguay’s Darwin Nuñez (23 years old), who moved from Portugal’s Benfica to Liverpool.
- Brazilian Antony (22 years old), from Ajax Netherlands to Manchester United.
- Brazilian Casemiro (30 years old), from Real Madrid to Manchester United.
- Dutchman Matthijs De Ligt (23 years old), from Italy’s Juventus to Germany’s Bayern Munich.
- Spain’s Ferran Torres (22 years old), from Manchester City to Barcelona.
- Norway’s Erling Haaland (22), from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City.
- Sweden’s Alexander Isak (23), from Spain’s Real Sociedad to England’s Newcastle.
- Colombian Luis Diaz (26 years old), from Porto to Liverpool.
- Brazilian Raphinha (26 years old), from England’s Leeds United to Barcelona.
FIFA did not break down the value of each transfer in its report.
However, the federation states that the 10 most expensive transfers alone generated 12.5% of the total amount spent on transfers during 2022. Likewise, of the 2,843 transactions that involved a fee, the 100 most expensive players accounted for almost 50% of all the money spent on transfers.
Historic transfer figures
The report reveals that there were 71,002 international transfers of footballers last year, a historic figure, encompassing 21,764 transactions involving professional footballers (between men and women) and 49,238 amateur players.
In 2022, 20,209 international transfers were recorded in men’s soccer, a figure that represents an increase of 11.6 % compared to 2021 and even exceeds the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Those transactions, of which 2,843 carried a transfer fee, involved 4,770 teams from 182 federations, which is a new record by surpassing the 4,538 clubs in 2021. A total of 17,291 players of 183 nationalities changed teams in 2022.
This is the first time that 20,000 transfers have been exceeded.
“The negative trend in transfer spending of the last two years was reversed in 2022, with total investment reaching US$6.5 billion which represents an increase of 33.5% over 2021, although still below the record set in 2019″, said Emilio Garcia Silvero, head of FIFA’s Legal Services and Compliance Division.
English clubs, the biggest spenders
English clubs once again topped the spending list, surpassing the $2 billion mark in total expenditure for the first time (in men’s soccer), and setting a new record with an overall investment of $2.2 billion.
English teams were followed by the Italian league, which spent $673 million, the Spanish league ($592 million), the French league ($545 million) and the German league ($537 million).
Growth in women’s soccer fees
The number of international transfers of female footballers has doubled since 2018. In 2022, the number of clubs active in international transfers rose from 410 in 2021 to 500 in 2022, an increase of 22%.
On these figures, Garcia Silvero stated, “This highlights the huge strides that have been made since more and more female players are turning professional. In 2022, 1,555 international transfers were made, an increase of 19.3% over the previous year, while we saw a new record number of federations involved in transfers, with a total of 119″.
