€10.9bn in transfers to form clubs' 2011-12 teams

The European first division clubs spent €10.9bn in transfers to build their 2011-12 teams (or 2012 teams for the championships taking place in the calendar year), it was revealed in the European clubs' sixth Club Licensing Benchmarking Report, published by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) on 17/04/2014.

Sixty-two percent of this amount (€6.7bn) concerns three championships: Premier League (nearly €2.9bn, 26.3% of the total), Serie A (€2.2bn, 20.3%) and Liga BBVA (€1.7bn, 15.4%). After that come Bundesliga (€878m, 8%), Russia's Premier Liga (€782m, 7.2%) and Ligue 1 (€704m, 6.5%).

On average, 48% of expenditure transfers have not yet been amortised by the clubs. The rate varies from 58% in Portugal to 40% in the Netherlands. As for the European Top 5 (England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France), the non-amortised transfer expenditures are 46% for the Premier League, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga; they are 51% for Liga BBVA and 53% for Serie A.

UEFA's benchmarking report on European clubs, Chapter 4: Transfers