Brazil is the main breeding ground for footballers in the world. This was certified by FIFA in a report on the transfer market during 2023, which concluded that Brazilian clubs had the most player departures (1,217) to other leagues through permanent sales or loans.
The largest flow of transfers during the past year was from Brazil to Portugal (414). In total, 2,375 Brazilians were involved in transfers worldwide, including those leaving from the local football and those from other countries. Three Brazilian clubs also top the list of those that spent the most on transfers among CONMEBOL clubs: Flamengo, Bahia (acquired by City Group), and Vasco Da Gama. Other three are in the top 10: Santos (who still couldn’t avoid their first relegation in history), Bragantino, and Botafogo.
Globally, the transfer market broke spending records in 2023, reaching $9.63 billion, about $2 billion more than the previous record set in 2019. This number is also nearly 48% higher than that of 2022.
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++ Neymar’s Al-Hilal breaks records and surpasses Barça, Real Madrid and PSG’s biggest spending seasons
++ Five Brazilians among the 15 most expensive signings in the history of Real Madrid
++ Flamengo is among the 50 most expensive squads in current football
The ten most expensive transfers of 2023
The ten most expensive transfers represent 10% of the total spent. These moves include Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid, Enzo Fernández from Benfica to Chelsea, Harry Kane from Tottenham to Bayern Munich, and Randal Kolo Muani from Frankfurt to Paris Saint-Germain.
Also in the top 10 are the transfers of Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea, Joško Gvardiol from RB Leipzig to Manchester City, Rasmus Højlund from Atalanta to Manchester United, Neymar from PSG to Al Hilal, Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig to Liverpool, and Sandro Tonali from AC Milan to Newcastle.
Similar to what happened in 2022, English clubs, led by Chelsea, were the biggest spenders last year, with nearly $3 billion. They are followed by PSG, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.
