PARIS: Europe’s big five leagues spent a record $4.21 billion (3.62 billion euros) in the summer transfer window, according to a study published on Wednesday by FIFA.

The total amount of money spent by clubs in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France was up 6.6 percent on the $3.95 billion spent in the same transfer window last year.

The English Premier League unsurprisingly contributed more than any other league, but while its 20 clubs spent a combined $1.44 billion, the increase in spending was greatest in Italy, where it was up almost 75 percent.

That was fuelled to a large extent by Cristiano Ronaldo’s 100 million-euro move from Real Madrid to Juventus, while spending by clubs in Spain’s La Liga rose 42.2 percent.

Worldwide, the amount of money spent between June 1 and Sept 1 hit a record $5.44 billion, as 182 of FIFA’s 211 member associations had their transfer window open.

The results are taken from analysis of FIFA’s own International Transfer Matching System, which registers all completed transfers.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2018