Inflation in Football

A transfer in football is when a player under contract moves from one club to another; if the selling club accepts, a transfer fee is negotiated as financial compensation. Over the last decade the amounts paid for players have jumped dramatically, not only in headline megadeals, but across average fees and league spending.

How much money has been spent in the last 10+ years?

The long-term trend is clear: spending fell briefly during the pandemic but rebounded strongly. The 2019/20 season previously held the peak (~€9.70bn), with 2022/23 at €9.12bn. The 2023/24 season reached €10.2 billion, driven by renewed activity across windows and several very large cross-border deals.

Money Spent In Transfer Fees

What was the Average Fee of a Transfer?

The average fee for a transfer in 2013/14 was 3.17€M and increased till the 2019/20 season. It reached a peak of 5.01€M in 2019/20 before falling due to the pandemic in 2020/21 and then again increasing in the following seasons.

Average Fee of a Transfer

Where is the money being invested and who is spending the most?

There are two main criteria's a club looks at before investing in a player. That is the player’s position and their age. The distribution of investment clearly shows that forwards are the most sought-after position with 52.5% of money spent between 2013/14 to 2022/23. They remain the most in demand on the transfer market, accounting for almost half of the sums committed by clubs over the last decade. There was a clear increase in sums paid for players between 22 and 25 years with 45.1% of the money being invested in them. In terms of age groups, there has been a rise in the amounts paid for players who are 21 years old or younger when they are transferred. The same goes for footballers between the ages of 22 and 25. On the other hand, investments for players aged between 26 and 29 have seen a decrease. This shift is a result of more clubs adopting a player trading strategy to make profits in the transfer market. The English Premier League had the highest amount of investment among all the leagues. The English Premier League made up 28.5% whereas the rest of the big 5 leagues contributed 43%. Data clearly shows that the English Premier League is the highest paying league in the world.

Conclusion

Over the last decade, there has been a 116% rise of prices in the transfer market. The cost of buying a player increased by 13.8% annually between the 2013/14 and 2019/20 season. Due to the pandemic, there was a drop of 0.2% in the next three seasons but player prices resumed their rapid growth. The past decade, player prices have increased at an average rate of 9% approximately.