Transfer spending of the 98 clubs of the European Top 5 leagues totals €4.2bn in 2016 (CIES)

The 98 clubs in the European Top 5 leagues (Premier League, Serie A TIM, Bundesliga, LaLiga Santander, and Ligue 1) spent €3.7bn during the 2016 summer transfer window, according to the September 2016 monthly report from the CIES Football Observatory, published on 12/09/2016.

In adding transactions from the 2016 winter window (€494m) to those of the summer, the transfer spending of Top 5 clubs totaled €4.2bn in 2016. This represents an increase of 10% compared to 2015 (based on the figures compiled by CIES for 2015, which state that €3.83bn was spent last year). In 2016, transfer spending by Top 5 clubs was almost three times higher than the amount spent in 2010 (€1.52bn).

The Premier League spent more than any other Top 5 league in 2016, with €1.77bn (+18% compared to 2015), which represents 42% of the total expenditure of all 98 clubs in the Top 5. In second place was the Serie A TIM (€855m, 20%), followed by the Bundesliga (€698m, 17%), then LaLiga Santander (€590m, 14%), and finally Ligue 1 (€279m, 7%).

LaLiga (-5%) and Ligue 1 (-23%) are the only two leagues where transfer…