Transfer spending in professional football has continued to increase in recent years, particularly in Europe's top 5 leagues. This article looks at transfer spending from the 2012/13 to 2021/22 seasons in the top 5 leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France).
In the 2012/13 season, transfer spending in the top 5 leagues totaled 3.9 billion euros. The English Premier League spent the most with 1.4 billion euros, followed by the Spanish La Liga with 906 million euros. In the years that followed, transfer spending continued to rise. In the 2013/14 season, the total value of transfers was €4.6 billion, in the 2014/15 season it was €5.5 billion and in the 2015/16 season it was already €6.6 billion. The highest transfer spending was in the English Premier League, which exceeded the €1 billion mark for the first time in the 2015/16 season. Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A also spent over €800m each on transfers this season.
In the 2016/17 season, transfer spending stagnated at 6.4 billion euros. In the 2017/18 season, they then rose again to €7.1 billion, with the English Premier League again having the largest share. In the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, transfer spending remained relatively constant at around 6.5 billion euros per season. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the transfer market. In the 2020/21 season, transfer spending fell to 3.7 billion euros due to the economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic, which is the lowest since the 2015/16 season. In the 2021/22 season, revenue rose again to over 3.8 billion euros spent.
Premier League:
2012/13: EUR 569.70 million
2013/14: EUR 705.60 million
2014/15: EUR 939.10 million
2015/16: 1.17 billion euros
2016/17: 1.39 billion euros
2017/18: 1.43 billion euros
2018/19: 1.57 billion euros
2019/20: 1.49 billion euros
2020/21: 1.02 billion euros
2021/22: 1.68 billion euros
La Liga:
2012/13: EUR 493.50 million
2013/14: EUR 515.10 million
2014/15: EUR 587.00 million
2015/16: EUR 655.80 million
2016/17: 1.04 billion euros
2017/18: 1.02 billion euros
2018/19: 1.32 billion euros
2019/20: 1.16 billion euros
2020/21: EUR 644.60 million
2021/22: EUR 379.22 million
Series A:
2012/13: EUR 322.10 million
2013/14: EUR 471.20 million
2014/15: EUR 635.80 million
2015/16: 1.01 billion euros
2016/17: EUR 970.30 million
2017/18: EUR 984.60 million
2018/19: 1.03 billion euros
2019/20: EUR 998.70 million
2020/21: EUR 740.90 million
2021/22: EUR 809.47 million
League 1:
2012/13: EUR 398.40 million
2013/14: EUR 413.80 million
2014/15: EUR 517.70 million
2015/16: EUR 631.20 million
2016/17: EUR 688.60 million
2017/18: EUR 836.90 million
2018/19: EUR 831.40 million
2019/20: EUR 603.90 million
2020/21: 474,60 Mio. Euro
2021/22: 464,44 Mio. Euro
Bundesliga:
2012/13: 374,50 Mio. Euro
2013/14: 398,40 Mio. Euro
2014/15: 484,90 Mio. Euro
2015/16: 570,60 Mio. Euro
2016/17: 627,10 Mio. Euro
2017/18: 614,90 Mio. Euro
2018/19: 706,50 Mio. Euro
2019/20: 644,70 Mio. Euro
2020/21: 470,80 Mio. Euro
2021/22: 487,15 Mio. Euro
In summary, it can be said that transfer spending in professional football has continued to rise in recent years. In particular, the English Premier League has a large share, followed by the Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A. It can be assumed that transfer spending will continue to increase in the future, as the top clubs are always striving to keep their teams strengthen and remain competitive. At the same time, however, economic factors such as the Financial Fair Play regulations will also play a role and possibly lead to an equalization on the transfer market. In any case, the transfer market remains an exciting and often controversial topic in professional football.
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