International transfers: Top 5 clubs spent $642.8m (-37.5%) during the 2019 winter transfer window

"Clubs from the Big 5 have completed 591 incoming international (+10.3% compared to 2018) the winter registration period of 2019, total spending on the international transfer market by clubs from the Big 5 was $642.8m (€559.5m on 31/01/2019), a sharp decrease (-37.5%) compared to the same period in 2018," said FIFA in the "Big 5 Transfer Window Analysis Winter 2019" report on 14/02/2019.

This report summarises the activity of the International Transfer Regulation System (ITMS) during the winter market 2019, focusing on the five major countries in Europe. Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy accounted for 59.1% of international transfers (from one national federation to another) from 01 to 31/01/2019. "Global spending on international transfer fees in January was $1.09bn (€948m), 19.4% lower than it was in 2018," stated FIFA in the report.

"Rather than an inversion of the long-term trend, the decrease in spending from January 2018 seems to be a consequence of exceptionally high spending that occurred last year, which was mostly due to the presence of a small number of big…