Winter Transfer Market: Italy Stands Sixth After Spending 1.46 Billion

The January transfer window drew to a close 12 days ago, with clubs spending an extravagant total of $1.46 billion in the player market. This information was brought to light by a recent study published by FIFA.

The lion’s share of transfer activity took place in Europe where clubs shelled out a whopping 77% of the total expenditure. Surprisingly, France’s Ligue 1 led the way with an expenditure of $272 million. Key contributory factors to this high spend were the acquisitions of Lucas Beraldo and Gabriel Moscardo by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for $20 million each, in addition to several transfers spearheaded by Lyon.

Lyon secured a host of lucrative signings, including Nemanja Matic, Gift Orban, Adryelson, Lucas Perri, Malick Fofana, Orel Mangala, and Saïd Benrahma. Also noteworthy were big spenders Rennes and Marseille that laid out $26 million and $22 million respectively.

Next in terms of transfer market activity was the Premier League, with teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United spending a total of $171.7 million. Meanwhile, Italy ranked sixth in Europe’s league table of January business, laying out $82.2 million on new recruits.

These figures offer a clear testament to the large sums of money clubs are willing to invest to secure top talent and strive for success. These recent transfers undoubtedly signal interesting times ahead with the reshuffling of club rosters promising an exciting second half of the football season.