Transfer window spending drops 30% internationally, according to Fifa

Fifa announced that a total of £3bn was spent by clubs worldwide during the window

Kai Havertz warns up ahead of Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (EPA)

The amount of money spent on international transfers in the window which closed on Monday dropped by more than 30 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, global soccer body FIFA said in a report on Friday.

Fifa announced that a total of £3bn was spent by clubs worldwide between 1 June and 5 October in the transfer window this year, compared to £4.4bn billion a year ago.

The number of transfers also fell from 9,087 last year to 7,424, down 18%, the report said. The number of those transfers involving a fee was 1,623 compared with 1,222, a decline of 25%.

"Following the interruption of football for more than three months at the tail end of last season... spending on transfer fees in men’s professional football declined significantly," said the report.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought football to a standstill worldwide between March and June and, although it has restarted since then, most games have been played without fans or in front of very limited crowds, significantly affecting club revenues.

Kai Havertz was bought by Chelsea for around £70m (EPA)

It also caused the transfer window to be extended until 5 October to allow for a late start to the 2020/21 European club season.

European clubs were by far the biggest spenders with a total outlay of £2.9 billion. Of that £961m was spent by English clubs followed by Italian teams (£418m) and Spanish sides (£374m).

However, the report said the women's game seemed less affected and the number of international transfers rose from 385 to 522, up more than 35%.

Reuters