Global Transfer Report

Methodology

All transfer data provided in this report relates exclusively to international transfers of football players within the scope of 11-a-side football. The numbers that feature in this report have been rounded. All data is based on individual transaction data provided directly by football clubs and associations in the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS).

Transfer fees

All references to transfer fees in this report are to the sum of all fixed, conditional and release (buy-out) fees as declared in TMS. All fees are treated as upfront payments for calculation purposes, regardless of any instalment plans that may be agreed by clubs. All amounts are automatically converted into USD based on the conversion rate on the day when the transfer instruction was entered in TMS. The aggregate amounts of transfer fees spent and received are shown for each confederation and association unless the clubs from the respective region completed only one incoming or outgoing transfer that included a transfer fee.

Transfer types

We distinguish between four types of international transfers:

  1. Out of contract: when players who are no longer contractually bound to any former club sign an employment contract with a new club in a different association and no transfer agreement between clubs has been signed.

  2. Loan: when players are temporarily engaged by a new club: a) on the basis of a loan agreement between the club with which they have an employment contract and a club of another association, during the term of their employment contract with their parent club; or b) when the loan is extended by the new club with the agreement of the parent club.

  3. Return from loan: when players return to their parent club after a loan spell at another club.

  4. Permanent: when players are permanently engaged by a new club and a transfer agreement is signed between the new club and the former club, or when a club permanently engages players it has had on loan, with the agreement of the former club.

Last updated: Wednesday 29 January 2025 at 18:28