Clubs spend record £702m for international deals in 2023
Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich for an initial £86m in August
English teams account for almost a third of a record $888m (£702m) spent on agents’ fees in international transfers in 2023, says a Fifa report.
The figure represents an increase of 43% on the $623m (£493m) spent in 2022 and surpasses the previous record of $655m (£518m) from 2019.
English clubs were the biggest spenders this year with $280m (£221m).
More than $1m (£790,000) was spent on agents’ fees in women’s football for the first time.
The Football Agents in International Transfers report says there were a record 3,353 international deals this year.
It excludes domestic transfers such as Declan Rice’s £100m move from West Ham to Arsenal and Moises Caicedo leaving Brighton for Chelsea for £100m.
Harry Kane left Tottenham for Bayern Munich for £86m and Jude Bellingham joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in for £89m.
The report shows clubs in Europe accounted for 87% of spending on agents in 2023.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League spent $86m (£68m), with Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez among the players to move.
South Korea had the greatest share of outgoing transfers, with agents involved with selling clubs in the K League making up 32% of the total spent.
Women’s clubs spent almost $1.4m (£1.1m) on agents in a record 125 transfers.