The winter 2019 edition of FIFA’s Big 5 Transfer Window Analysis is now available. The report is a summary of activity in the International Transfer Matching System (ITMS) by clubs from England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain (“the Big 5”) during this year’s January registration period.
Key statistics on transfer activity from 1 January to 31 January 2019:
162 of the 211 FIFA member associations had their registration period open at some point during the month of January
The Big 5 clubs accounted for 59.1% of the global spending during this period, with a combined total of USD 642.8 million spent
Compared to January 2018, the volume of international transfers to the Big 5 increased by 6.4%, with 282 Big 5 clubs completing an average of 2.1 incoming international transfers per club
Once again, England was the world‘s biggest spender during the period with USD 178.2 million spent, despite a 65% decrease in spending compared to a record breaking registration period in January 2018
Italy was the second-biggest spender (USD 144.6 million, +459%), followed by Germany (USD 112.5 million, +56.7%), Spain (USD 112 million, -70.1%) and France (USD 95.4 million, +104.6%)
The report also includes detailed information at association level including transfer types, origin and destination of transfers, nationality and age of the players involved, and historical comparisons with past registration periods.
The Big 5 Transfer Window Analysis Winter 2019 report is available for free download here.
The data published in this report is extracted from the ITMS used by all 211 FIFA member associations and over 7,500 professional football clubs around the globe for the international transfer of professional football players.