UEFA warns Premier League spending creates dangerous 'two-speed' transfer market
UEFA has warned that European football is descending into a "clear two-speed system" due to the overwhelming financial dominance of the Premier League in the transfer market.
In its latest European club talent and competition landscape report, football's European governing body highlighted the immense disparity in purchasing power between English sides and the rest of the continent. Premier League clubs registered an estimated spend of €4.6bn (£4bn)—a figure larger than the combined totals of the next eight largest European countries.
Andrea Traverso, UEFA's executive director of finance, voiced significant alarm over the escalating market figures, stressing that English expenditure is distorting the broader European football landscape.
"Transfer values continue to rise sharply, particularly in the English market, increasing future pressure on club financial results," Traverso stated. "These developments also point to an increasing concentration of talent and a growing polarisation of the market, with the emergence of a clear two-speed system.
"English clubs were involved in more than 60% of the deals and paid an average of around €24m (£20.7m) per inbound player, compared with only around €4m (£3.4m) to €5m (£4.3m) in the other major European leagues, underlining a widening gap in purchasing power."
Traverso added that any prospective "correction in transfer values" or a "slowdown in buyer demand" could trigger severe financial consequences for heavily indebted clubs across Europe.
Widening Gap and Internal Trading
The report revealed that transfer spending across the 20 Premier League clubs accounted for 56% of their total annual revenue, up substantially from the pre-Covid decade average of 33%. Deals between Premier League clubs also surged by 44% to reach €1.55bn (£1.33bn), creating a domestic market flow larger in fee value than the next five continental market flows combined.
The shift towards ultra-high transfer fees was also heavily skewed toward England. Out of 35 global transfers exceeding the €50m threshold, Premier League clubs were responsible for 29.
To navigate profit and sustainability rules, clubs increasingly capitalised on the sale of homegrown academy talent to book pure profit, generating an estimated €6.8bn (£5.85bn) in European-wide sales over the summer window.
Meanwhile, UEFA found limited evidence of multi-club ownership models being exploited to bypass fair market valuations, recording €152m (£130.8m) in total fees across such networks against an estimated true market value of €159m (£136.8m), with the majority involving player movement between Chelsea and RC Strasbourg.