Zurich: FIFA announced on Wednesday that sports clubs spent a total of $9.76 billion to attract players from abroad during the summer transfer, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the 2024 summer transfer window and far exceeding the previous record set in 2023.

According to Qatar News Agency, FIFA added in a report that English Premier League clubs, where Liverpool particularly excelled with the signing of German Florian Wirtz, Frenchman Ugo Ekitike, and Swede Alexander Isak, were the highest spenders, at $3.19 billion.

German clubs came in a distant second ($980 million), ahead of Italian clubs ($950 million) and French clubs ($730 million). Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, only came in sixth place after climbing to second place in the summer of 2023, when it concluded a series of impressive deals.

England also dominates the rankings with $1.55 billion in transfer spending, ahead of France ($1.27 billion) and Germany ($1.25 billion).

FIFA said that the women’s summer transfer market, for much smaller sums, continues to grow, with an 80% jump compared to the same period in 2024, reaching $12.3 million in compensation, including more than $4 million spent by American clubs.