According to Fifa data, English clubs spent £1.78 billion on men’s international transfers in 2022, more than three times the amount of any other nation.
With a total expenditure of £543 million, Italian clubs came in second place.
The top 10 most pricey transfers accounted for 12.5% of the £5.24 billion in total transfer fees paid.
The most costly transfer was Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco to Real Madrid, while six of those involved players moving to English clubs.
The midfielder from France reportedly signed a deal with the Spanish team for over 80 million euros (£68.3 million), with another 20 million euros (£17 million) in add-ons.
The most expensive European club was Manchester United, which spent the most money on winger Antony from Ajax (£82m) and midfielder Casemiro from Real Madrid (£70m – £60m plus £10m in add-ons), respectively.
Five of the top seven European spenders were Premier League clubs, with Barcelona coming in second.
West Ham finished sixth, Wolverhampton Wanderers seventh, Liverpool third, Newcastle United fifth, and Manchester City ninth.
The second most expensive deal was Liverpool’s acquisition of striker Darwin Nunez from Benfica for an initial £64 million, which could increase to £85 million with add-ons. The seventh most expensive deal was City’s acquisition of striker Erling Haaland for £51.2 million.
51 players left Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine after Russia invaded their nation, making them the team with the most departures.
International transfers in the women’s game cost a record £2.7 million, a rise of 62% from the previous year.
Keira Walsh, an English midfielder, moved from Manchester City to Barcelona for a reported £400,000, making it the most expensive transfer in women’s soccer history.
Fifa reported that around 50,000 amateur football players joined teams in other nations last year.
Due to the nation’s ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine saw the most player transfers, at 5,910.
