FIFA report reveals record spending on players

FIFA's annual transfer report shows the money spent on men's international soccer transfers in 2019 rose to a new high of $7.35 billion, a rise of nearly 6% on the previous year.

That figure was reached from only 15% of players moves, as the remaining number went through with no fee at all

In fact, 80% of all spending came from just 100 clubs.

The most expensive transfer was Portuguese wonderkid Joao Felix for a fee of $139 million dollars to Atletico Madrid, filling the boots of French World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann who left for Barcelona at a cost of $133 million.

Investing in youth players was another key trend, as more than one in every four transfers of players under 18 included sell-on fees, which are paid in event they move again for big money in the future.

For a second straight year, world soccer's governing body released a separate report for the women's game, where transfer activity was also on the up.

833 global transfers were completed in the women's game last year.

Almost 20% of all transfers involved a player from the USA, home of the World Champions and by far the most represented nationality in the transfer market, while the overall average contract length now sits at just over 12 months.

The vast majority of transfers in the women's game still involve players out of contract, and accounted for 86% of all transfers across the game in 2019.