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English Clubs Hit New Spending Record

Paul Pogba transferred from Juventus  to Man Utd for $126 million.
Paul Pogba transferred from Juventus  to Man Utd for $126 million.

Football clubs across the world splashed out a record $6.37 billion on players during 2017 with English teams again the biggest spenders, FIFA’s Global Transfer Market Report said.             

The total paid out was about 33% more than in 2016 as English clubs led the way with a net spend of $988 million on squad improvement, Reuters reported.

Deals such as Romelu Lukaku’s $106m move from Everton to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata’s $85m switch from Real Madrid to Chelsea put English teams at the top of the list.

But those individual deals were eclipsed by Brazilian forward Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer worth $277 million.

The fee was over double the previous record which took France midfielder Paul Pogba to Manchester United from Juventus for $126 million.

“Spending growth is driven by a relatively small group of clubs,” the report said, with over two-thirds of the total amount spent by 50 clubs in 13 countries.

The average transfer fee for a player in the top 50 most-expensive moves was $48.4 million, up from $35.2 million in 2016. The report shows that only 15.8% of transfers involved fees being paid from one club to another.

Fees paid to agents also increased significantly. English clubs forked out a reported $125.7 million on intermediary payments and $447 million was handed over worldwide – up from $387 million in 2016.

Brazil was the country most involved in international transfers with 1,755 of their players switching teams in 2017.

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