‘Almost $5 billion spent in transfer window’

PARIS, Sept 14, (AFP): The close-season transfer window saw $4.71 billion (3.96 billion euros) spent worldwide, over three quarters of which were from the top five European leagues, FIFA announced on Thursday.

Paris

Saint-Germain’s world-record signing of Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($264 million) dominated the headlines, but many of Europe’s other big clubs also broke their own transfer records.

“Between June 1 and Sept 1, 7,590 international transfers were completed worldwide,” FIFA said in a statement.

“Global spending reached $4.71 billion, meaning clubs spent almost as much during those three months as they had in the whole of 2016 ($4.79 billion).”

PSG also signed teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe from Monaco on a seasonlong loan, with an option to make him the second-most expensive player of all-time for 180 million euros.

Largely down to PSG, France saw the biggest increase in international transfer spending, with its clubs spending $604.1 million, an increase of 250 percent on last summer.

Five-time European champions Bayern Munich and Barcelona also broke their club records for Corentin Tolisso and Ousmane Dembele respectively.

FIFA’s report found that clubs in Europe’s top five leagues spent $3.67 billion, a new transfer-window record.

Syria will play Australia in the first leg of their crucial World Cup Asian playoff in Malaysia next month, football authorities announced Thursday.

Football Federation